Pilatus

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

@KillBox@Tyler Night

You two are our main contestants for the cooking contest. If you don't mind, post here in the OOC, in a simplified form, what your prepared dishes for the contest will be (a simple bullet list will do). Tyler, your last post pretty much spells it out, but if you don't mind indulging us here, it would be helpful. Killbox has not posted Ryan's meal yet.

In the next post for Joel, I'm going to have some of the judging take place, so Ryan's next post needs to put him in the same time-frame as Charles which is near the start of the contest.

But let me get to the point of this post:

Someone has to win the contest.

It will be one of you two and thanks to one of your fellow players, who shall remain unnamed, we have come up with a fun and fair way of deciding a winner.

So for now, give us a breakdown here of your entries. This is going to end up being pretty fun and unique as it plays out. I honestly cant recall an rp where there was a cooking contest like this so thanks for making this continue to be a unique place here on the Guild.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

Joel Nicolosi

It was funny because he hadn’t really beaten her by a quarter mile in the race and Sio apparently thought he was being truthful and not facetious in his comment to Athena. He knew, even if they didn’t see it, Marlin wouldn’t be able to stand not trying to explain how things went down, but at the same time she’d have to admit to her friends that she had indeed, lost the race to him. Joel smirked a little at the thought as his redheaded “better half” gave his former blonde fawner, both barrels. Considering the company it entailed, they had never really talked much about the air race, but he resolved to later tell her the whole story and the Brit had even given him a reason. He loved when things fell into place so easily.

“Pssh, the Iron Chef took my cup,” Joel replied as they walked away. He took a swig from the thermos and being satisfied with the brew dumped the entire contents of the flask into the thermos and swirled it around a bit. There was more than enough to get Sio in a happy place since they were sharing the cup, but he doubted he was going to feel anything, even on an empty stomach. He shrugged as they walked. “I don’t have an agenda for the rest of the day,” He said, glancing around. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could remember coming to the market festival as a kid and at no point in time did he ever think he’d be a participant in any way. Things were changing and at times he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Sure the cars were great and the travel was fun, but sometimes he missed the simplicity of what he had before: Staying up all night, working when he wanted and generally being a drain on society. Listening to UFO abduction claims on talk radio and trying to figure out the wiring diagram to a Fiat while downing copious amounts of coffee at 3am was wildly satisfying. Now he had a regular “job” and a girlfriend. He mused about himself from a year ago not recognizing who he had become, though his mother was happy just for the girlfriend.

He shook his head a little and tossed the thoughts to the back of his mind as they continued. A few people recognized him as they walked and he returned casual nods and waves. Every so often someone would take a picture of the two of them with a phone or camera- something he still wasn’t crazy about. Photos by the track or the stage were one thing and were basically expected, but as particular as he was about photos of himself he still didn’t care for the public spotlight, though Tommy had warned him what was in store. He shrugged. “Might as well indulge while we’re here.” He said patting his stomach. “I could eat.”

@Almalthia

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

Paige Kennedy

“If you don’t quit your bitchin’, I’m gonna really give you somethin’ to cry about.” Paige shot back. She slapped his leg as if he were an old workhorse. “Now get to it.” She could instantly tell by his distraught expression that he had no clue what the hell he was doing. She knew she could have stopped him and probably done a better job, but the comedy that followed was completely worth it. As he floundered around cluelessly, hitting boxes, shelves, walls and generally making a mess of anything that wasn’t bolted down, she was right there with a wisecrack every - single - time. He smacked a piece of racking while attempting to turn with a pallet and several boxes of Sol City records hit the floor ungracefully. She cackled with laughter. “Nice drivin’ Mario!” It may have been childish, but giving Sol City a giant F-YOU in the records department, felt very satisfying. She wasn’t going to clean it up and by the looks of things no one would be noticing for quite a long while. Watching Tao make a fool of himself on the lift just topped things off nicely.

When the door came into view her smile quickly faded and her eyes narrowed sharply. She felt her heartbeat pick up and her hand felt for the gun on her hip. Though she doubted anyone was on the other side, after all the trouble they’d been through, there was no telling what they would find. She motioned for him to get off the machine and get behind her.

Approaching cautiously through the mess of broken banker boxes and papers strewn over the concrete floor, she kept one hand delicately over the grip of her pistol and eased up next to the door where the hidden transponder waited. Plain gray and black with a silver handle, there was nothing special about it, though the transponder itself looked different from all the others as if it were a newer model. She put her ear to the wall and listened- not a sound. The room was stone quiet. The forklift engine began to tick as the engine cooled. She glanced back at Tao to make sure he was out of the way and exhaling slowly, she moved the key up to the small box waiting for the affirmative chirp and release of the lock.

Nothing happened.

Confused, she looked at the transponder, and waved the card by it gain, still nothing. Not even putting the card flat against the surface did anything. Glaring at the device, the long string of violent cursing that was prepped to explode out of her mind was halted as memory jumped in front. The power was off. It was the only absent condition from that day. She sighed and her shoulders dropped in annoyance. Her ponytailed blonde hair rocked with the shake of her head. Perhaps it would be a test to see how good he really was at the whole “hacking” thing, but they had no other choice and she felt a sense of desperation in the words, though as she briefly thought more about it, if it came to it... she wasn’t above ramming the forks through door and ripping it off its hinges- whatever or whoever was on the other side be damned. It was almost like a game and she wasn’t going to be denied this close to the prize. “When we were here before, the power was out,” She said. As they had walked, she had told him bits and pieces of her story with Milo and other things, mostly about being a Marshal in Florida and how much she hated Sol City. “Can you make this thing ‘think’ that the power is off? And we’ll see it works.”

@Allycat

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

An Offer

Shannon smiled back winningly. She loved being complimented though there was some genuine humor behind her eyes as well. It was amusing when people didn’t know their fate was outside of their own control or how close they were to meeting it. She glanced briefly at her expertly manicured nails. The black polish was applied perfectly to a high gloss and she studied for any imperfections briefly while Alejandro attempted to explain the merits of Mara’s prostitute mother. Whores were details she didn’t care about and neither was John’s unamusing past. He seemed to be fairly longwinded, which was tiring, but no one was perfect. “I’m connected to a lot of people, Alejandro,” She said finally. The inflection in her voice changed slowly with her words into a thin tone of business as smooth as cigarette smoke while her face darkened with discernment as if she were making an assessment on a piece of property. “Disconnected from others.”

The atmosphere around them continued on happily. To onlookers, the group probably looked much like old friends catching up over lunch.

“It is precious isn’t it.” She said. “A lot like your present situation in this town.” Her focus was solely on Alejandro as she spoke. She could’ve cared less about the other two, but it seemed they were a package deal. “What you find yourself in, is what we call an unknown, unknown. She said. “You don’t know that you don’t know.” She brushed some of her hair aside. “You come in like a traveling salesman, cold-calling and then expecting an audience, but you don’t even know who you’re dealing with.and you were just sitting here wondering why all of your inquiries haven’t yielded a response.” The arrogance of it didn’t need to be mentioned. She could remember Sammy’s father, Frank, the patriarch of the Outfit for decades, had only a few simple “rules” to which he adhered and the one that came to mind in regards to Alejandro was, keep a low profile. Frank always liked her and he could tell that she was more apt to listen to his advice than his own son. “You’re lucky to be alive.” She said with some amusement.

She studied his reactions carefully. What he attempted to hide, what he tried to lie about and what truly motivated him. She needed more than brash opportunism. Integrity mattered. If he wasn’t made of the right stuff, she could always change her mind, but her gut was rarely wrong about people and she was willing to bet all three would be worth more alive than dead. “It’s simple, your flower shop property is worth about six-hundred thousand, you can buy in with me for six or you can sign over the deed… Or you can choose another way...” She paused for a moment to let the offer settle on the table. “You can sit here and wait for Nikki to find you and just take it all because that’s how he operates if you haven’t noticed already.” She said. “He’s already had his little sidekick close enough to put a bullet in the back of your head.” She said. There was no hiding the disgust in her voice when mentioning Nikki’s bodyguard. She placed her hands eloquently back in front her signifying the conclusion of her offer and that there would not be a second. “I’m done with this town Alejandro and there are only a small manner of things holding me here. If you decide to come with me, I will take care of everything you need and you will discover that your initial investment will pay dividends in a very short amount of time.”

@Pyxis

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

@PilatusPic added. I'll look to get a post up this evening.

@The Wyrm

It needed to be an anime style picture. Please correct.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

@The Wyrm

I think it's fine. We'll talk to you about what kind of goals and motivations you have for him when you're ready to start playing.

We do need a couple pictures though. Please add some.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

Yes, I noticed we’re at peace. I am well familiar with "garrison" duty.

@The Wyrm

You'd be surprised how many don't understand that.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

@The Wyrm

I dont know that anyone has ever played a regular military officer. That would be something new. Just keep in mind there's no wars to fight or battles, it's slice of life. We have had others that tried playing mercenaries and other military types, but it wound up going nowhere because they couldn't relate with the other characters. Just keep that in mind. Being in the military would be his/her profession along with whatever occupational service they chose.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

Joel Nicolosi

“Geez, they went through that coffee faster than Poland.” Joel said graciously accepting the thermos from Siobhan. The blaze of her red hair was a roar of color and she wore it the way he liked it- down and unfettered in its natural state. He greeted her with a knowing grin and patted his chest pocket to make sure the flask was still place. Check. They could wander off and he could try again on the libations. He at least wanted a small buzz before Bruno started judging the food competition. As he turned to put his arm behind Sio’s waist and head out for a bit, it seemed the Daedalus crew suddenly wanted to chat longer, namely Marlin who had apparently been eavesdropping on what was being said.

In truth, he hadn’t spoken to Marlin in several weeks and whatever was there from the past, good or bad, he’d mostly forgotten about as busy he’d been with the rally team. He didn’t have any ill-will towards her and still spoke fairly regularly with her grandfather though unfortunately she seemed to wholly want to pursue the route of jilted loser, stuck in the past. As she lectured into the conversation about the merits of flight versus racing he simply returned a cordial smile and firmed his reach around Sio’s hips. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost. He leaned towards Athena slightly as if he were about to share some devastating secret while Marlin talked about the race being a draw, but made no effort to hide his words. “Lot of sour grapes there, I beat her by a quarter mile, very embarrassing.”

Joel shrugged as the only male member trio piped in to discuss cars. “I just drive’em.” He said. “It’s a lot easier when you don’t have to fix what you tear up though.”

The peck on the cheek as the group moved to leave seemed a tad impertinent, though Joel had grown used to the fawning to some extent, however, he could tell Sio was not impressed. What was again, sad, was that on top of it, Marlin just couldn’t resist a parting shot and it reminded him of something his dad had told him when he was younger: You learn a lot about people when they don’t get what they want from you. He simply shook his head catching her gaze as she slinked away, disappointed with how pitiful she looked.

@PrinceAlexus@Almalthia

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

Paige Kennedy

Hearing the cover fall off the forklift, Paige glanced back briefly watching Tao forego sitting on the floor to rest his legs. She couldn’t blame him, he definitely wasn’t the physical exercise type.and they had covered a lot of ground. He was good company though- Hardly spoke unless it was business and whenever he did, it was with total confidence in his work. What was cute though was that he seemed to naively believe anything she said. She could have promised whatever he wanted in return for taking on the job and though her status as Federal Agent often carried the effect of trust, she could lie with the best of them. Letting him think that he had to be bribed to help her just added to the effect. Conversely, however, she thought they would have found what they were looking for long ago. The possibility that they may have embarked on a monumental wild goose chase was creeping.

Shifting her weight onto one foot, she steadied herself against a dusty pallet marked, Sol City GP, trying not to get her jeans dirty and wiggled her toes a bit under her Converses. She sighed at the momentary relief through her aching foot when Tao spoke up from the driver’s seat of the forklift. She cut her eyes over at him sharply for interrupting her temporary respite, but the quizzical look on his face was more than enough to garner her total attention. She walked over, feeling the stiffness return to her legs from the momentary break. Pulling herself up next to him she glanced at the steering column where he motioned. She didn’t know anything about forklifts other than seeing Milo operate one from time to time back in Delta City, but they usually had a key like a car or at least that’s what made sense in her mind. The machine beneath them only had a small mounted box, very much like a door transponder. “You gotta be shittin’ me...”

She glanced at Tao briefly with an exhausted sense of surprise and waved the card over the sensor. Agent Barrett’s toothy grin in the keycard photo, an image Paige loathed completely, happily brought the electronics of the machine to a pre-ignition mode with an affirmative chirp. She shook her head in astonishment. “We are so stupid…” Her eyes darted around the spartan controls: a few switches and multiple levers for articulating the forks. One worn button featured a faded image of a key and without a second thought she mashed it firmly. The engine coughed and sputtered as if trying to turn over, but died instantly. She mashed it again, harder. The same sequence happened again and the engine fell flat. “What the fuck?” She looked around, rapidly racking her brain, trying to jog a memory of the last time she had seen Milo use one of the machines. C’mon Paige! Think!

The memory struck her and her arms shot for the seatbelt, wrapping it over Tao’s waist and buckling him firmly into the seat. She planted his other foot on the brake pedal and mashed the button again. The startup sequence was much sharper and the engine calmly turned over and puttered happily. Her heart soared. YES! She looked around. It was getting interesting. There was no other doorway on the map other than the one they came in through, but the timestamps on the logsheet clearly showed another access point activated only moments after the forklift transponder hit. “It’s in here,” She said, not realizing she was clutching his arm, hard. “Start moving some of these pallets along the bottom on the far wall.” She said letting go and pointing along the interior of the room, though she stopped suddenly and looked back at him discerningly, the glance of her olive eyes narrowing. “You can drive this thing, right?”

@Allycat