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The fresh wound splits back open.

105 skill checks

Resets

Appreciate the model train.

conditioning · timeBonusActiveconditioning · noExertActive

Haggle with the Top Division.

reno · CalledRenoYourBrotherreno · ReturnedHisModelTrainoskar_metamoto · KurtQuestPerformedRiteOfAbsolutionking_of_trade · TradeCounterconditioning · timeBonusActiveconditioning · noExertActive

The fresh wound splits back open.

Microscopic waves of warmth radiate out from him.

You need the exit papers. Don't surprise him.

Flicking ashes out the window.

Vast, ever-expanding, a castle in the air ready to topple and dissolve.

Of course we will. Pain is temporary -- the gäng, eternal.

In a faraway hotel, a man presses the button for the lift. On the nineteenth floor, something waits for him that will change his life, if only he can figure out what it means.

A clear night, the moon nearly full. Visibility unlimited. Temperature 11 degrees and steady.

Skies clear today. A light breeze reminds you that your body is a cage, but not an unpleasant one. Temperature 11 degrees and steady.

A clear night. The profusion of stars reminds you that humanity guides itself by the light of the past. Temperature 11 degrees and stable.

Winds from the south make it hard to be present in the moment. Expect gusts up to 24 kph, becoming calm by evening.

Bands of light rain continue to move slowly north and east across the region. Walks home expected to be unseasonably melancholic. North wind 5-8 kph, becoming calm after midnight.

THIS IS A PERFECTLY NORMAL WAY OF PRODUCING HISTORY.

And managing relationships.

Ate. He's ate for sure.

Ate. He's ate for sure.

He doesn't like being called 'the phone guy'.

You'd guess a penthouse like this probably goes for about 6 million sol. This one is not currently fit for human habitation.

Looks like boars live here. Smells like it too.

His right hand forms a fist.

Too quick. Practiced.

Not his thing, personally.

Entrepreneurial ambitions, strong qualities in an asset, as you marked in TAXMAN straightaway.

Uttered with great solemnity one instant then spat out like curses the next. They seemed to take on their own solidity, detached from any human situation.

A good friend, a better asset.

A little prick to the ego.

Our uniform, thinks we're law-gäng.

Liquidity far beyond your current state of matter.

Wow. We're getting a hard rejection, gäng.

He shakes his head slightly, as if having forgotten the concept of business matters entirely.

A different type of magic.

WHAT IS THIS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY MINDSET YOU EXHIBIT?

FACTUALLY UNTRUE, AS EVIDENCED BY HIS ILK'S CORPSES NOT DANGLING FROM THE CITY'S LAMP POSTS.

He masks it very well.

Bags under his eyes, tense shoulders. Yes, this man is very, very tired of it all.

Mysterious Rustamian? RADIAN? A long shot, but worth following up on.

Could be anyone.

A PROSTITUTE WHO ALSO PRACTICES WITCH-CRAFT? VERY LIBERAL.

Mysterious Rustamian? Keeps to himself? Is this... Ramses?

First thought. Best thought.

No different to the beasts that wander the wilds.

A look of vague terror spreads across his face.

A deep sigh of relief calming singed nerves.

He smooths back his hair, temporarily revealing the creaselines of stress beneath.

Unsmiling and unblinking, the man in front of you has sunk into what looks to be deep contemplation. That, or...

A complete absence of conviction and enthusiasm. Words simply fell out of his mouth.

His mind was busy doing something else.

Curious, not surprised.

Company scrip. Funny money.

Discrepancy found.

A quid pro quo, even in the legal murk of the Developed World.

It seems like a non sequitur -- but this is the way of Men of Business.

All the same, worth probing.

A tell. You didn't make any connection between Tempo and Reyes.

With one of Tempo del Sur's 'unspecified associates'.

He wants you to be gone when he opens them again.

Seems agitated. You're probing a sensitive spot.

The description matches the desperate young man clinging to the Miracle Line. Perhaps there's more to unpeel there.

'One' meaning 'Reno', of course. Singular.

SUCH FOLLY TO THINK THAT THE MOON HAS NO REVOLUTIONARY CONSCIOUSNESS. IT ORBITS AFTER ALL.

A seeming non sequitur.

Certain lies are so brazen they offend on professional grounds.

That the man is associated with the foreign fascist secret police does not phase him.

A lump that immediately recedes into the background wherever he stands.

The coat was supposed to help.

White and silver entwined... softness that should be light, but if you plunged your fingers into her fur, you'd find it thick and deep.

A feline ancestor stalks the dark, snowy forests of Skaalslaand. While the cold forces other animals to shelter, the skaalskat paces through, leaving only deep prints from thick-furred paws and the blood of its prey behind.

THE INDUSTRIALIST HAS FALLEN PREY TO THE CULT OF NOSTALGIC OBJECTS. SICKENING YET LOGICAL.

A vacuum megarail train designed for lunar operations.

He's lost far pricier things in terms of market value but this one makes the very marrow of his bones ache with worry.

His eyes well up as he turns his back to you, gently cuddling the model train. His shoulders rise and fall as he sighs.

Irrational and inefficient.

Using your asset in ways never known to be possible. You have to respect it.

A flagrant misuse of man for his own gain.

Great art deserves exhibiting.

Underneath the cold and calculated exterior, rage boils.

You're a marvellous engineer, that's what's wrong with you.

Appreciate the model train.

modifier +1

Obviously plastic.

Grey suggests a man who cuts corners in life and business.

He's less confident than he used to be. Pain is a great teacher.

Oh no gäng, hold on, it's another one of her 'special interests'!

Said without a trace of pride.

Haggle with the Top Division.

modifier +1

This cat thing must be really upsetting him. He's lost it.

Lightning flash! Thunder! A crackle of electricity in the air.

It's hard for him to remember.

The cleaners must be really upsetting him. He's lost it.

He can no longer look you in the eye.

A man with the demeanour of a goalkeeper whose team has fled the pitch.

Whoa-whoa. A missing model kit?! This cannot stand.

'Baby'? You may have miscalculated here.

Yeah. We should have asked for more money.

The corners of his glasses fog up.

An audience member at his own vivisection.

Stop all the clocks: A purloined model kit? This investigation is Priority Alpha!

A guest at his own vivisection.

His own appearance is neat and precisely kempt. Even the way his jumper is tied around his neck appears studied and deliberate.

The fresh wound splits back open. - ZERO PARADES Checks