Dark Fate, Book 6 Prologue (Patreon)

Prologue – Trade Chat

(Community Building and Civil Defense Chat, formerly Life in the City Chat Room)

abby_gail, bento, RainyDayze, GringottsGoblin, DoritoMan, D.VaLuvr69, RadicalEdward, DarkLord, FusionGal, NotACop, Scholar, RamblingWreck, Anonymous4, Anonymous6, SevenNationArmy, BagOTrix, Faraday, BackpageGal, FullServiceMassage, daytrader, shadow_clone23, THE_MERCHANT, jenny8675309, Rabbit, Angelus and Tracker are in the chat.

bento: Goddamn it! How big a fucking meth lab does it have to be to take down a fucking cinder block building?

Faraday: Wait, you’re talking about that big ass explosion in Avondale yesterday, right? That was a meth lab?

bento: What else would it be?

Rabbit: Maybe someone decided to make a bomb?

Faraday: The place that blew up was a self-storage facility. I don’t think that’s really prime bombing material, you know?

Angelus: Oh, man, I can see it now. Towel-headed ISIS nutjobs sneaking about in the dead of night, and their leader looks at them, and says, “With this destroyed storage center, we will overthrow the infidels!” HAHA!

Tracker: Well, plenty of reasons for a bomb besides terrorism, Angelus.

Angelus: Like what?

Tracker: People been using bombs and fires to get rid of evidence for ages, man.

bento: All I know is that there were a couple detectives I recognized going into the place, and they ran out just before the place went sky high.

FullServiceMassage: And why would you be recognizing detectives, bento?

bento: Because they were coming around, asking questions about a couple people who went missing. Probably went and got eaten by monsters, trying to level up.

Faraday: Uh-huh. And you went from ‘detectives looking for missing persons at the site of an explosion’ to ‘must have been a meth lab’? What, are the dealers using Soylent Meth now?

FusionGal: SOYLENT METH IS PEOPLE!

RamblingWreck: Old movie references aside, if the detectives were going off to check the place, and then it went up, could be something to the story of someone setting up a bomb to get rid of evidence.

Tracker: Yeah, I can see that. Especially if the ‘missing’ were actually ‘dead’. But I’m looking at the pictures, and that kind of explosion and fire is WAY overkill.

Anonymous4: Yeah, about that. A friend of a friend in the APD said the people at the site of that explosion were some kind of Magical Crimes Task Force. Like, same as they do for gangs, but with magic stuff.

Scholar: Did they have any other details?

Anonymous4: About the case? No. They don’t talk about active cases, unless it is stuff already out there, and I don’t press for details, since that could make them lose their job. But they did mention that the task force hired a consultant. They only knew about it because the higher-ups were talking about finding some new lab space, so they could do magic stuff while keeping chain of custody and all that.

Scholar: What kind of consultant?

Anonymous4: Supposedly the guy is uber-knowledgeable about the System and magic and all that. But, according to my friend of a friend, when he and his team showed up, they were all some weirdos wearing weapons and armor, like something out of a D&D game or a LARP.

Faraday: Considering everything that has happened, that’s not exactly ‘weird’. The weapons and armor the System has made available, either through monster ‘drops’ or through the System Shop, are definitely that kind of thing.

Scholar: So, this consultant could know what he’s about, then. Interesting. I’d like to meet with him, see where he got his information.

RadicalEdward: Yeah, but just what caused that explosion? Because I’ve seen video of a meth lab blowing up, and that was no meth lab!

bento: Maybe it was a MAGIC meth lab?

Faraday: FORGET ABOUT YOUR METH LAB!

D.VaLuvr69: So, a task force for dealing with magic threats has been asking questions around Avondale about some missing persons, and then they are all running out of a storage center just before it goes boom. Probably some way of covering any evidence. But did they find any of the missing people?

APD_Official has entered the chat.

APD_Official: This is the official account of the Atlanta Police Department, Public Outreach desk.

APD_Official: The System Threat Task Force (STTF) was created following the event known as the System Apocalypse, as a temporary measure while the APD as a whole adjusts to the new ‘facts of life’, as they are, and develops training and procedures for all officers based on the findings of the STTF.

APD_Official: Regarding the presence of STTF officers in Avondale recently, there was a pattern of missing persons, which they were investigating, with the help of an outside consultant under contract with the city.

APD_Official: We can confirm that several missing persons were recovered. However, their identities are being withheld, out of respect for them and their families.

APD_Official: The explosion and resultant fire at the scene was the result of a timed magically-enhanced explosive going off in the middle of a crude alchemical laboratory.

APD_Official: No individuals were harmed in the explosion, thanks to a quick evacuation of the scene by the officer in charge.

APD_Official: There will be an official press conference tomorrow at 10 AM to address this event, and the creation of the STTF. No further questions will be entertained at this time.

APD_Official has left the chat.

bento: So… a bomb, AND a magic meth lab?

Faraday: I hate you so much.

Angelus: Hmm. So, this STTF is apparently a real thing, and they went and found some missing people. But what is the connection between the missing people and the ‘alchemical lab’?

Scholar: Uh, with the reading I’ve been doing, there are apparently some… less than wholesome potions and concoctions that require body parts as some of their ingredients.

FullServiceMassage: You’re not talking about Polyjuice Potion, are you?

Scholar: No. More like the kind of things that verge on necromancy. They’re the kind of things you would never want to have around you, much less drink.

NotACop: Oh, that’s fucking disgusting. Why the hell would anyone do shit like that?

daytrader: Because there are people who are more concerned with getting an edge, no matter what, than any kind of moral consequences.

jenny8675309: Well, that’s not disturbing or anything.