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Checks

823 checks

Your fingers itch for grip.

Wet cloth and iron dust. Foul. Chemical.

Like the one over there, to the east.

The sweet smell of ripening waste drifts up from dozens of household bins.

The rumble of flowing water beneath your feet.

Outside, the murmur of water is all but gone.

A violent, pressurized hiss is heard as the lock drains through the immense pipe to your right.

The sound of water outside. Use it as your guide.

A gate opened -- it shouldn't have. Pull it again!

And the cling of metal on stone. You're on the right track.

A high-pitched whine from a motor.

No haptic feedback, no audible change. Best ignore this one going forward.

The groan of shifting iron, muffled by masonry. Now, let the water flow.

Safety pins, refusing to yield yet.

Main drive engaged.

The cabinets too.

Expired coffee, greasy condiment residue. Typewriter ink. Chemically processed wood pulp.

XXs and smudged ink where the author struggled with a sticky key on the typewriter.

Old schnapps and the faded sour cologne of body odour and bleach. Soft yellow light filtered through cracked shades. The rumble of the ice machine, a hissing television.

You discover your thumb rubbing itself along the numberless business card you found on your double.

Green so green it stings like lemon injected straight into the optic nerve.

Sweetish, faintly burning. The odour of leaking refrigerant.

Scent of metaphysical essence as yet undetected. Possible fabrication.

823 skill checks - ZERO PARADES field manual - Page 17 of 17