Charm City [IC] Options

[Koekepan]

<<We're coming up on the entrance right now. See you there!>>

""Lucky for them and for us, that's the business I'm in.""

Paul stops and contemplates the environment while waiting for Abby. ""I'd have been more surprised if they hadn't been keeping their eyes open. Many of the folks here have been the target of one thing or another, so that'll breed paranoia every time. As for the sanitation and the rest of it, this sort of place rarely gets much in the way of urban planning. I could probably rebuild it all, given a long enough time and enough money, but I don't reckon that they'd want me to. The city might complain too.""

[sunnyside]

Part of the process of going through the Union is sharing pictures of the workers, to prevent various scams. So Abby recognizes the two immediately upon entering the large mail room, and yells "Darlings! So glad your here!"

Abby is also easy to spot and there isn't much ambiguity there either. Her features actually aren't that striking, aside from being a dwarf, and are starting to show just a few signs of age under the makeup. If she wanted to blend in at a metahuman friendly accounting department should could vanish among the crowd.

But vanishing isn't her style. She wears boots like everyone else in the area, but hers have a distinct heel. But mostly it's the bright red dress,, hair and lipstick, contrasting with the black shawl, purse, and boots. Tight on her curves the dress isn't very revealing and aren't tight around the legs leaving her free to move. She hurries over to the two, goes in for vigorous handshakes and smiles, and then turns and starts heading back towards the entrance tunnel.

"I must admit I was quite stressed about not hearing back from the union! But then I realized you hard working boys must have had an incredibly long day and you still came to get this job done! I really appreciate that and will try to be as hospitable as I can in the circumstances." She looks over her shoulder and gives them another smile.

At first the tunnels she leads the pair through are plenty tall for Bongo to stand a full height, even a troll might manage, if they stood in the middle. Abby narrates that a bit "All this was done two hundred years ago. Maybe earlier. Mining and storage and they don't really know what. So there are some wide open areas. We're coming up on one now. Just follow me and don't bother anyone!"

She saunters through an expanded vault section. There are a bunch of what on the surface would simply be considered homeless people. But they have little tents and such set up off the floor a little on what look like shipping pallets. They eye the group, but Abby is clutching her purse, or, more accurately, is clutching something inside her purse that she's using the purse to hide.

She starts talking again as they get through that section.

"Watch your step and mind people's doors. You have to understand that there aren't exactly real estate agents down here. You just sort of have a place, and you're the only one with a key, and maybe you have some friends in there too to make sure it stays that way. People get very sensitive about potential uninvited visitors.

My area is much more relaxed and comfy. I try to bring a little of that delightful Norwegian Hygge to my place. Which is why it's so good your here.

See these spaces have the advantage of being over the water level. Gravity just does all the work for them! You'll see things get a bit more complicated where I am. Do watch your step. "

As the group descends occasionally she has to be silent. The tunnels are still old looking, so they went below water level long ago. The conversation also descends more into discussion of how Hygge her various pieces of furniture and candles are, apparently somehow that relates to her online business. Eventually the tunnels start looking more modern, and built more for living than for mining or storage in the sense that the tunnel proceeds in a straight line with doors at regular intervals. Most aren't so sophisticated looking. Not a lot of maglocks down here. There are occasional LEDs stung off a cable running along the ceiling. However the light would be inadequate in spots where a few LEDs have gone out for anyone with regular human vision and occasionally footing would be challenging for someone with only low light vision. The footing is further complicated by the ground generally being slightly slick. Not muddy, as dirt is some distance away, but something of a slurry from sandstone dust. Any spot that would have a puddle has something over it, so anyone wearing boots won't have much trouble.

Sharp ears (2 hits) could hear the sound of impact hammers at work on the sandstone further down the tunnel system.

Eventually she comes to a door, recessed into the cave by a foot made of wood and blackened metal with a couple substantial locks, which she operates with large keys taken out of her purse. Opening it, her place really is a contrast to the sandstone caves. Nearly everything is plush in the first room you come to, clearly meant to entertain quite a few sitting in large comfy chairs with a number of coffee tables draped in tablecloths and accent tables with coasters. Doilies and candles seem to have found their way everywhere, though there is plenty of diffuse light coming from a Chandelier in the surprisingly high ceiling for a cave. The place is in something of a disarray at the moment however because every bit of carpet is off of the floor and flopped onto something while bits of rock or wood keep the chairs a distance off the wet ground.

She opens one of the other doors to this room revealing a large bathroom. Here is the telltale sound of dripping water. She points at the ceiling. "All of my pipes in the room are fine as you can see. But water must be getting out somewhere above and pouring down into my house through the gap between the sandstone and the pipe. My friends said just to stop it up with rags and then plaster. But I don't know what's up there. I'm worried stopping it up will just lead to a column of water above my patch that will just tear out. If it holds that water all has to go somewhere down here. Folks tend to rely on me to try and make things better. Not redirect rivers into their tunnels. Anyway gravity has a way of making their river my river. It all heads downhill until whichever sumps are working do what they can.

I'm really hoping you darlings can figure something out! "

[Koekepan]

This isn't Paul's first rodeo, so once they're in the place he flips down his visor, giving him all the augmented view of the environment that a technician would have - thermographic, low light, flare compensation in case anybody is welding down here, and also visual augmentation of edge detection so that he can pick up on structural discontinuities. He also pops in the isolating earbuds for auditory filtering and management - and in case anybody decides to open up a jackhammer nearby. The data he chucks into his structural assessment software so that it will give more than just a map of their progress as measured by inertia, but also an architectural record just as if he'd sent a crawler into an abandoned house.

He's professionally cordial to Abby, but lets Bongo turn on as much charm as he cares to while Paul keeps his eyes on this structural engineering nightmare.

""It has been a long day, ma'am, but I saw that you're in need of some assistance and came along once I'd wrapped the previous contract up.""

He mostly ignores the design philosophy in favour of structural observation and analysis. Hydraulic effects obviously dominate, but he also, where the stone is exposed, takes note of it. Sandstone and limestone are both notorious for gradual erosion, especially where acidic contaminants accelerate the process, so he takes occasional pictures of seepage for his records.

""These folks with makeshift shelters could probably live better if someone arranged a prefab setup for rapid production and installation.""

As an aside to Bongo he says: ""Check out this electrical setup. It's what I call hyperactive DIY. It's not up to code, but it works. Remind me to get a meter on it and see whether it's AC or DC, but it's probably not uniform. DC might be most of it because of all the battery backups they'll have.""

In her bathroom, Paul nods and looks. ""Yup, not a job for rags and plaster. Try to do that, and the water and static pressure will just build up until it fails in a splash. We can definitely tackle this, but I want you to understand that while it's important, it won't be a small job.""

He hums to himself while he looks at the pipes, and the sources of seepage. Then he says to Bongo: ""OK, you see how these pipes are installed? They can't have excavated all the sandstone around the pipes to do complex fittings. The question is whether they used a small tunneling drill to drill curves and then thread flexible pipes through, whether they did piping only where accessible and drilled the rest and left it raw, or whether they used hard pipes and straight drilled lines. Probably a mix of all of the above. And there isn't much way to find out except going in to look. OK, so I want you to thread this endoscope line up the pipe here while I check the output and see what we're working with.""

At that he points at a drain pipe, and hands Bongo a long coil of optic fibre snake.

[pbangarth]

Bongo starts threading optical fibre into the pipe. As he does so, he looks over at Abby. "I have to say, you don't look like you are in the same ... league as a lot of the other dwellers down here. Your place is way more comfortable and attractive than what we walked through to get here. Are you, like, the local mayor or something?"

[sunnyside]

Abby seems really crestfallen at the mention of it not being a small job. She stands in silence while the two start to get to work, but then she gets some of her swagger back and says to Paul. "Well, take a look and be creative darling! As we say down here. Make do instead of get new. With your commentary you seem a very competent man." She starts to move over to put an encouraging arm around Paul but is distracted by Bongo.

"Well thank you honey! Now, you can't judge a book by its cover or a tunnel house by its door. Being ostentatious is a thing best handled in private. Maybe there's an eccentric billionaire a few tunnels over? " She gives herself a moment to imagine that scenario but quickly gets back to Bongo. "But I think you're probably right. About the being more comfortable and attractive. But I'm no mayor. There isn't anything like that down here, neither cops nor organized crime. We just chaotically carve out our lives, and our homes. People either pitch in or don't, and hope we can keep it going. "

At that she looks pensively at the work going on.

(OOC: between the endoscope and either really tiny drones or squishy soft body drones to work up in between the sandstone and pipe you'd be able to find the following.

The pipe goes up for about five feed and then enters an unlit opening. Not an especially big one. The primary purpose seems to combine a good fifty meters of pipes coming up, presumably pumping up sump and dark water, into a larger pipe that meets in the center, pretty close to Abby's house, at a tank, which has a small sump below it, also going back into the main tank. This main tank is then attached to a centrifugal booster pump. Probably they're using residential sump pumps in people's houses and a spots where water collects, and these doing have the head to push more than a floor. Most of the length is only big enough for someone to have crawled in. On the area with the pump is big enough for a dwarf to stand up. There's a single hatch in this area that looks pretty rusty.

Woven through here are also the fresh water pipes, these work by gravity, and electrical lines. All of these have an ad hoc appearance due to inconsistent use of materials. Normally a designer will make a choice in regards to lead, copper, PVC, etc. This is more of an "all of the above" approach.

Eventually the booster pump kicks on, and it starts shaking violently. Something is off kilter. It jostles a fresh water line passing close by. This wiggles a failing weld sending water to the floor and the sump in the little room. However the sump pump there seems to have failed, so the full little pool, barely deep enough for the pump, is overflowing and the water follows the irregular slope of the floor to where Abbys fresh water pipe comes in and the vicinity of where Paul and Bongo are.

A plaster job up at the top might work temporarily, but only because it would start draining down into someone else's place.

[pbangarth]

Bongo nods as he listens to Abby, and feeds cable as necessary. "I'm new to Baltimore and I've never seen anything like this underground community. It's like you folks have set up a whole separate town. Do you have schools and malls and entertainment places down here, too?"

[Koekepan]

Paul hums to himself and starts to check off items. Not as bad as he'd feared, but not as good as he'd hoped.

""OK, we'll need at least a new pump, probably a new mounting and check valves too. That we can get from stock. Hold the line right there, chummer, let me capture this. Some brazing, some welding, and honestly I'd also want to put some supplementary valving in there to rectify the weak joints and make maintenance easier. We can do ninety percent of it with drones, but it would be faster, easier and cheaper if we could get into this space directly.""

With this he nods to Bongo. ""OK, you can retrieve it now.""

Then he turns to Abby. ""If everything goes well, it's about a day's work for a basic fix. Two if there's extra pain, but if you want us to do it right, probably half a week at least. A lot of the piping clearly involved more enthusiasm than expertise, and some of the materials are failing. If you don't like the idea of us coming out repeatedly forever, you want the right fix. On the other hand, do you know the utility space above your place? It's not far up; a few feet at most. Can we get in there?""

[sunnyside]

Abby thinks a bit about Bongo's question "Well, I don't have any kids myself. But without local taxes there isn't anything official. I think some people share homeschooling type arrangements. Kids could probably get into a school topside if someone really wanted to. Kids can often get a SIN that way if they don't already. I think. I guess I'm just rambling on because you asked.

As for entertainment sometimes people will carve out something that can sort of serve like a bar or mini theater down here. But those aren't very official, and you might need to bring your own booze or projector. Things happen fairly regularly, and folks do invite friends over. It can really pay to have friends.

No shopping as in a store or mall. I think some folks have tried. It didn't end well. But lots of individual connections. If you want some creature comforts people know to ping me! "

She's obviously enjoying getting to chat up Bongo. Paul's assessment is something of a we blanket on her mood.

"Aw. Well, shoot. It gets complicated if its communal stuff, especially if it's expensive. Anyway the access would have to be the next tunnel up and over I guess, unless it curved around in some weird way. Ummmm. I think there was some old guy whose thing was taking care of this stuff. People would invite him to parties and stuff. I can probably figure out where they live and take you there. The doors don't have numbers generally.

Still, my clever helpful darlings, please think if there are other ways to fix the problems. Or maybe other ways to pay."

She runs her fingers along Bongo's chest

(OOC: Assuming he lets her. )

[pbangarth]

Bongo reels in the cable. Is this really what I want to do with my life? he asks himself. Well, he doesn't physically deflect the caress, but he tries to change the subject.

"Sure, let's go see what we can see over there. Abby, you got me thinking. This is my day job. I really want to get into playing music here in Baltimore. Are there any musicians here in the underground? Maybe who play at one of those bars or theatres?"

[Koekepan]

Paul nods. ""OK, we can see what we can work out. The weld fix is easy and quick, and I can inject some stuff to stabilise the broken base, and I can at least overhaul the pump in situ but all of that will be easier if we can get around there. It's worth a shot.""

[Thanee]

Selina grins. "Those games are quite fun, but this is really not the place."

She sits up. "So, how about this... we play some of their games, and once it gets boring, we can relocate to your place. After all, we are here to see the changes they made. Does that sound good?"

"And if you manage to challenge those tough guys to a dance off, that would be quite something..." she winks at him.

[sunnyside]

"Oh, we're actually very artistic down here!" She seems a bit distracted by Bongo's chest, perhaps finding it better defined than she expected. "The real chip heads tend to stay topside. It's something of a bother to set up down here, and requires initiative, and tolerance for risk. That's great for artists! I think folks down here are quite good. I'm not sure if any have hit it big yet. I suppose they'd either keep it quite or leave. But if you're looking for a place to visit to get a start just wander the halls and listen for something that sounds good for you! "

She thinks a little better of that. "Well, be careful just wandering around, but I suspect people wouldn't want to mess with union folks actually willing to come down here. Or at least others might help you out. "

After Paul speaks Abby frowns a little and says "Well, I suppose we might be needing folks to help out with whatever's happened. Let's go find the way in people will need pictures and stuff besides whatever you need to do. "

(OOC: If you head out with her she'll head back the way you came until you reach a junction, and then turn into the next cave over, then walking back in the direction of her nook just a little closer to the surface and a little more to the north. The matrix is spotty but not dead down here. This tunnel is tighter than the one she's in, but drier. It similarly has door periodically in the tunnel sides.

On a very easy perception check one of you can notice the hatch. It's at a 45 degree angle to level and is partly in the floor and partly in the wall. It opens upward, with some difficulty but you've got some muscle between the two of you, and it actually pretty wide relative to the small space, presumably needing to accommodate pumps and the tank. There isn't any lighting rigged up in there. )

-----------------------

Mike opens the door for Selina. Looking past Mike, Selina would probably notice a few seem surprised the two of them have left so soon, and still with their hair and clothes looking sharp, Reggie included. The ones who seemed to have been assessing the pair as security don't seem surprised. More of a nod as if that makes sense. Though these are all fleeting impressions. Particularly from Reggie, who quickly returns his gaze to the crowd.

Mike continues as Selina goes through the door. "Alright, we can try a little poker, and then see about some dancing. I don't know about a dance off, but maybe I can try and show some of these guys how it's done. "

He looks around and spots a table with a game going and a couple empty seats.

Possibly they are empty because the gangers in the game on the opposite sides of the table are showing the most signs of agitation of anybody in the club. The uptowners with them look a little on edge themselves. Mike does eye them for a while, but seems to quickly make up his mind to roll with it and sits down with broad smiles for everyone, taking a brief moment on each.

"Hey everyone. How many clams does it take to get some chips at this ritzy table? I'm Mike and I'm not just here with my ugly mug, this lovely doll is Kim. Do you want to play too Kim?" Either way he indicates the chair next to him for her.

The gangers are trying to size the group up. One of the uptowners, seemingly relieved at the company, says "Just five clams per white."

For his part Reggie stays standing.

[pbangarth]

Bongo gets an idea. (Oh, no!)

To Tubesnake he messages, << It just struck me these pipes all link throughout the cavern system. I bet a rhythm tapped out on a pipe anywhere would transmit sound a long way. Once we stop where the problem arises, I'm going to tap some tricky rhythms on a pipe, as if I were whiling away time waiting for you to figure out the best process. Don't let the rhythm distract you. I might throw a little magic into it.>>

His plan is to beat out a rhythm and weave into it the Morse Code for "VEX" repeatedly. See if anybody catches on.

(OOC: Hey, the Morse code for VEX is actually a good beat! Here's the symbolic form: ...- . -..-
Here's a link to hear what it sounds like: Morse Code Translator)

[Koekepan]

Paul cheerfully assents to a little stroll to find the utility space, and keeps his (goggle augmented) eyes and (protected) ears wide open. Paul himself isn't much taller, and in fact somewhat slenderer than most dwarves, so it's not particularly tight for him. A yank on the hatch handle to make a crack and then some hoisting and using a hammer handle to lever it open, and they'll be in.

""Okay, we'll get a worklight set up in here - not a problem - and we won't need more than a utility cart of tools. Let's go get that pulled in.""

More discreetly he answers Bongo: <<Different pipes, different destinations, so you can try it in different places. Give it a shot, and I'll cover for you.>>

""If this works for you, Abby, we can stop the leaks tonight and then give you a report on recommended advances and maintenance to prevent a near-term recurrence. You'll be good for six months I'm sure, so plenty of time to get that done if we get started right now. Sound good?""

[sunnyside]

Bongo knows enough music theory that the mixed materials and junctions for the pipes will keep them metal from transmitting vibrations cleanly. However at least the air cavity ought to sort of transmit sounds like a horn. At least kinda. Obviously better if it's done closer to someone's house as Paul noted.

Away from the main area with the tank, sump, and booster pump the pipes are only in a long crawl space, requiring one to lay on the ground as they move and work. On the plus side, with this area being sealed up underground and occasionally cleaned by spritzing water the sandstone isn't dusty or muddy, just clean and damp, except a few spots where there has been a little leaking form the blackwater pipes.

Bongo could do some good wrapping and sealing things up as he goes, even if that isn't the major problem down here.

Abby might not entirely be understanding Paul correctly in terms of the severity, but she brightens up at his statement. "Alright! You had me scared! I'll see if I can't rustle you guys up something cool to drink and some cookies, and I'll see if I can get together some folks to help with the bill. I'll be back in a while. "

(OOC: Unless one of you stops her, she saunters off with a little spring back in her step. She'll look back at the hatch periodically to see if anybody is watching) .

[Koekepan]

Paul actually steps back out and says aloud: ""OK, time to go get the cart of tools and supplies. You want to hang out while I go to get those? Won't take too long, but we'll need welding at least, and I'll fetch some of the working drones for the crawlspace.""

[pbangarth]

"Yeah, I'll wait here."

Once the others have gone on their respective missions, Bongo puts his idea to the test. He sees different sizes and materials of pipes, so he composes a drum solo that alternates the "VEX" lick onto different pipes. He's never tried the magic under these circumstances, so ... what the hell. Let's see what happens.

[ Spoiler ]

Percussion test: 19 dice: 8 hits Damn, the boy is good!

Enthralling Performance test: 20 dice: 3 hits Meh. (Really? 3 hits is usually a good outcome, PB.)

It should cause a pause or two anyway, and really he needs people musicians to listen.

Bongo actually likes the solo he's playing. he commits it to memory.

[sunnyside]

( Computer issues so a quick phone post.

Even on the questionable pipes Bongo is impressed with his beats, though nothing happens at least instantly.

To get through the tunnels unmolested Paul does need to get by everybody without getting bothered. Intimidation, urban stealth, etiquette, or a negotiation/fast talk test based on trying to do some good down there or some such (+2 in the last case for having corroborating evidence in their interest). A single hit on whichever angle he tries will do for now. )

[Koekepan]

Paul slides through the tunnels without particular difficulty. People who live in tunnels understand that pumped air, managed water and usable electricity are important and that people with skills to provide these things are friends. This makes it easy for him to head back to the van, and fill up a tool cart with drones (a couple of annelids and a couple of flatworkers), and then the usual basics - a portable mill-printer for small-scale on-the-spot fabrication, a welder, some stock and the usual ancillaries like wrenches, cutters and so on. As a bonus, he adds an extra reel of control fibres and electrical supplies, and then trundles it all back to where Bongo is experimenting with new modes of cosmic communication.

[pbangarth]

As Tubesnake is loading up on supplies, Willie wonders how things are going. "Looks like you guys have an actual job to do. Is Charm Boy having any luck finding his Ogglie Booglie people down there?"

[Koekepan]

""Frag me if I know. I guess he's looking 'round. It's not a big job, just some pump fixup. Honestly, they should have things in there properly engineered and rewired, but this is not what the lady's paying for, or what anybody wants. Just slap another patch on the rustbucket to keep it running. How have things been out here?""

[pbangarth]

"Quiet. Boringly quiet." Willie stretches.

[sunnyside]

Time passes relatively uneventfully for a while. Bongo realizing even if people are grooving out in their homes he wouldn't have a way of knowing exactly, unless they were drummers who started to play on the pipes themselves.

Paul eventually makes his way back, becoming somewhat known to the folks that loiter in the tunnels after having to talk his way past a few that were taking an interest in what he had on him. They seemed to get more worried about what trouble they might get into with their fellows than whatever they might be able to lift off of Paul. Not that they seemed incredibly tough to start with, but enough to be trouble for the alone and unwary.

After some time working Abby comes back with a pitcher of sweet tea and cookies. She heads down into the larger area, and appears disappointed that Bongo is down on of the lines where she can't really get at him. "Hello down there my hardworking boy! Come back and have a nice cool drink!"


She's followed not long after by a couple of male dwarves. They've got jeans and leather jackets, looking relatively nice for the typical dweller from those Bongo and Paul have seen so far.

She says "Hey! Are you here about helping to cover some of these repairs? This place floods up and we're all toast. Since you showed up first you could get a cookie!"

One of them replies "Well, maybe. Actually I'd heard some funky beats coming from the pipes, so I got a chummer of mine and figured we should check it out. "

The chummer in question gets a little interested in the pipes, and his eyes linger on the flooded sump pool. He asks Paul. "Is it really that bad. Don't fuck with me though. Like really, just inconvenience or fucking everybody drowns bad? "

(OOC: Normally this would be a hard perception/memory roll, but Bongo is specifically interested and more importantly has the Eidetic memory power. The second new dwarf. The "chummer" seems like he might very well be the male dwarf from vex. They always wore disguises and tuned their voices, so neither of those is any help. It's purely comparing height, musculature, posture, things hard to disguise.

------

Outside Willie is starting to notice the van getting some attention. It's definitely getting a look down by a crew of three led by a guy that looks like he might be Japanese. He's got himself a Katana in any case. Dressed too nicely to be gangers with suits and ties, but the suits are bulky like they've got armor they aren't trying to hide. The guys are out rather late and look a little tough for tourists. Willie isn't hidden (OOC: Correct? ), so they've mostly got eyes on him as they seem to be considering how to proceed for a ways down the street.

(OOC: If you want you can always sling perception tests to try and get a little more info about any concealed weapons and armor )

[pbangarth]

Willie has seen this drek before. This time, however, he is in Tubesnake's van, and what he does would reflect on Tubesnake as well. Bongo isn't here to sweet talk things, so Willie messages the van owner.

<<To Tubesnake: Yo, there are some japanagoons checking out your van. I ain't worried for me, but you might want to take note. I ain't the talking type. >>

Bongo comes back up and smiles at the sight of cookies. " A lovely lady, with treats! How lucky am I? Sorry, I was down there banging out a tune on the pipes." He looks at the dwarf who might be a Vex member. "Music is magic, and I like to make magic wherever I go."

[Koekepan]

Tubesnake answers Willie's call:

<<Got it. If you turn around there's a long hatch held shut with a simple latch bolt. Flip it open, let it fall open. There are drones in there that you can turn on. I'll take control, and in case you need them they'll give the kind of backup that goons really don't like. Just in case.>>

Inside the tunnels, he's setting things up, but pauses to answer the question:

""Sir, it's an inconvenience right now, but it could turn a lot uglier. We have a pump fixture that's leaking now, but if it fails completely you're looking at slow but serious flooding, including by sewage-contaminated water. Not an instant deluge, but the way that these tunnels are built if you get an airlock, there could be major rushes of water that will scour everything and everybody in the way. One of the repairs that I intend to do is installing a few check valves to improve safety. So, call it low effect but high risk?""