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[> Walk straight in, your sister behind you, and shine your headlamp around to take in the full room, especially any further exits.]

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> Walk straight in, your sister behind you, and shine your headlamp around to take in the full room, especially any further exits.

You step through the door and leave behind the rain and then wind. Shoshana closes the door after you, further muffling the sounds of the weather, making it all feel distant. You can hear water droplets dripping off your raincoat and hitting the carpet below your feet as you stand in the entryway.

While you feel that familiar sense of excitement at being somewhere forbidden, past the locked door you never had a key for, you notice it also feels different this time. You broke into places before, sure, but you never really sought to steal anything specific. The aimless adventures of foolish youth have evolved into something that feels a little bit more sinister. The thrill is more intense. You notice the light and shadows around you moving as your sister seems barely able to contain her excited fidgeting.

"Oh wow, look at that HAT!" -Shoshana calls out enthusiastically aiming her flashlight at the coat rack.

The entryway appears to have two doors in addition to the one you entered through. Straight ahead of you is one, and another one sits to your left. Both doors appear to be closed.

Spoiler

Apologies for the art quality, folks. In order to minimize render time it seems we aren't currently rendering any shadows. The character creation phase of the game is complete. Feel free to explore and see what you find!

[close]

[> Ask her if she brought any rubber gloves so we don't end up leaving our fingerprints allover the place. After all we wouldn't want to go back to prison]

> Ask her if she brought any rubber gloves so we don't end up leaving our fingerprints allover the place. After all we wouldn't want to go back to prison

You present your query, but gain only a slightly confused look from your sister. She glances at her toolbox and shrugs.

"Uhm- I got some gloves, but they're pretty oily now. Probably not great. Let's just not, you know, touch everything all the time. Besides, neither of us REALLY a full-blown local, and if this goes well we might be waaay far away before anyone even knows something is amiss!"

> Turn on the headlamp, slightly open the door (without leaving fingerprints) and shine some light in the room to see what's inside before entering.

You shrug in turn and pocket your multitool, which you already used to pop the door slightly ajar. With a bump of your elbow you open the door further and peer inside, clicking on your headlamp. The inside looks rather dull and mundane. You see a rack with some shoes, something that looks like a big black ghost with a creepy top hat, but you're pretty sure it's just a coat rack and a fancy hat. There appear to be a pair of doors leading somewhere further inside.

"Well, we going in or do you want to stand here a bit more and listen to the rain?" -Shoshana asks, seemingly eager to get started with burglary.

You feel a kind of simple clarity in what's ahead. You will be committing a crime, sure. But just like back then, it's a relatively harmless crime. One your young and adventurous mind justified to yourself before, and one you seem to find irresistible even now.

What else for would you have prepared for this like so, after all? You have the skills, the tools of the trade. You're prepared for everything and anything that might await up ahead in that dark tower. And besides, if you're not here to keep an eye on Shoshana, she'll surely get herself in trouble without her big sister making sure she's all right in the end.

[Hot and Cold]

Hot and Cold

Frank lurched forward as his boot slid off an unseen tree root beneath the ice and snow, the gasp escaping his lips echoing around in the snow-coated trees as he barely managed to catch himself by slamming a gloved hand against the sturdy trunk of an evergreen. As soon as the motion stopped, the silence returned. A deep, impenetrable quiet created by the crisp frozen air. The branches of the tree became still once more, a few flakes of snow drifting off them to the ground. Moonlight reflected and twinkled in the air. Frank could hear his breathing, the thump of his heartbeat from the scare he'd just had, the soft chafing sounds of his padded winter coat shifting as he exhaled.

"You okay up there?" -came the voice that finally broke the silence, clear and bright despite the muffled echo given by the snow and trees. Under his grey-and-white camouflage jacket Frank could feel a bead of sweat get soaked up into his undershirt.

"Yeah!" -Frank called out. "Just, uh- damn near slipped on something. I think we're a bit off the path, so watch your step comin' up!"

The crunch of snow indicated Megan's approach. She wore a bright red coat with a fur trimmed hood that framed her narrow face and red cheeks, which emerged from the mist of her breath as she stepped forward.

"You sure we're not lost? I swear this was easier last time..." -she complained without the smile on her lips wavering one bit. Frank just shook his head and reached out, offering his hand for support. She took it, her fingers enclosed in a wooly mitten, and the two stood side by side once more.

"We're not lost!" -Frank chuckled, summoning his confidence. "Just takin' a little detour. Besides, we were sixteen years younger last time we came up here. The path ain't steeper, I think we're just getting older! Come on, it's not too far off now."

The two held hands, though the heavy gloves formed a barrier that kept them from feeling the warmth of one another's fingers as they moved on. Passing through the trees they crested a shallow hill, forging a path through the ankle deep snow that covered the forest floor, noting the tracks of some small woodland critters imprinted in the otherwise pristine layer of pure white. A couple hundred meters and the hidden path began to ascend to the top of another, steeper hill. The trees stopped and the air ahead opened up.

"Was it always this high up?" -Megan asked as she stepped out into the open. The hill ended in a sheer forty-foot cliff a short way ahead and all around below the smooth, white surface of a lake spread out, illuminated by the pale reflection of moon and starlight. Frank didn't reply as he stepped close to the edge and knelt down to brush his gloved hand over a mound of snow, uncovering the well-worn trunk of a tree that had been dragged there many a summer ago. No lights blinked in the distance, no noise broke the silence.

"Yeah." -he exhaled the word as he slung his backpack over his shoulder, planting it into the ground. A minute later he'd set up and lit the small gas cooker and was already pouring water out of a bottle into a small kettle he set over the blue flame. Steam escaped into the air. The water hissed and began to bubble. Megan sat down on the log and stared off into the distance.

"I still remember the first time..."

Frank did, too. The image was vivid in his head. Crouching low beside the kettle he looked at Megan and, for a moment, he saw her as she had been back then. Pale and pure in the moonlight, the flickering lights of distant fireworks sparkling in her green eyes. He wrenched his eyes off her and poured a satchel of chocolate powder into the kettle as Megan kept talking.

"You were here with your friends and I just tagged along. You'd always talked about this cool cliff where you and the guys went swimming in the summer and where you could see all the fireworks in the winter. And then you boys forgot all about me!"

Two of Frank's friends had been there. Bobby, the son of a local car mechanic, and Francis, who's father worked as a real estate agent.

"We came up here every year and made hot chocolate to celebrate New Year's. Bobby had his birthday on the second of January, so we celebrated that too."

Frank pulled out a pair of metal cups, the same ones he'd had back then, thought they were more dented now. The boys had poured three cups and were talking energetically when Frank had noticed they had completely forgotten to pour anything for Megan as she just stood there to the side, too shy to speak up as she held her empty cup.

"Oh! Oh yeah that- I remember."

Frank remembered her expression, like a puppy that had been denied a treat. He felt his face grow warm even now, ashamed of himself. Back then he'd taken the three filled cups and poured hers a bit from each one while apologizing profusely. Bobby and Francis had made jokes about how the drink was so good Frank forgot his girlfriend even existed. She hadn't been his girlfriend at that point. Not yet.

"I'd kind of hoped you'd forgotten about that. Not my proudest moment." -Frank admitted.

"It served you well." -Megan replied with a smile. "You were kind of cute back then, all red in the face as you fussed about the stupid cups."

This time Frank poured two full cups, handing one over to Megan before taking the other into his hands and sitting down on the log beside her with two feet of open space between the two of them. The hot beverages steamed in their hands and Frank could feel the heat of it soak through the gloves and into his fingers. Megan took a cautious sip and gasped, having nearly burnt her lips. Frank blew air over the surface of his own and watched the steam swirl in the air above the drink.

The quiet returned.

He wondered what he should say. Ask her about her family? The husband and kids? No, he didn't really want to know how Bobby was doing right now. Her job? He knew already. She still worked at that same bakery her mother had established back in the 60's. Talk about the goddamn weather? No, definitely not. Frank tilted the metal cup in his hands and saw her blurry and distorted figure in the reflection. Was she wondering what to say, too?

Minutes passed. The hot beverages cooled and diminished in their cups.

"Frank..."

He swallowed the mouthful of hot chocolate and gave her a cautious, sideways look.

"Yeah?"

"Why did we come here again?"

He didn't know.

"I, uh... I thought that..." Frank couldn't find the right words.

A cloud passed in front of the moon, casting a shadow over the open ice and snow ahead, below the cliff. Most of the stars vanished from sight. What had he thought? That something would just click like it had back then? That a magical moment would occur out of the blue? That he'd feel different now, after all these years?

He never finished the sentence.

"I thought about it, too, back then." Megan's voice sounded a little sad. She was finishing the sentence for him. "Thought that maybe we could try again like we talked, but we just- you were so angry, we couldn't really talk."

Frank bowed his head as she reminded him. A stupid argument. Then another. A chain of misunderstandings. A hurt pride. Hurt feelings. He'd said things he wished he'd never said.

"I was so angry, too." -she admitted. "And- I never should have hit you. That was too much." It was clearly difficult for her to say that. Frank wondered if she'd ever admitted to anyone what had happened? Without being aware of it Frank held his palm to his right ear, over where she had slammed her hand as they stood screaming at one another in the parking lot one rainy day. He'd told himself he could forgive, but he didn't have it in him back then. Maybe he still didn't.

"I'm sorry." -Megan whispered so quietly Frank could barely hear it. It sounded cold and hollow.

"No, no. I'm sorry Meg." -Frank replied, wrapping both hands around the metal of his cup again, though the warmth was now gone from it. His words rang hollow, too. All he felt was the cold. Cold metal against his fingers. Cold air in his face. Cold inside. The apologies couldn't change anything. The words were too little, too late.

Megan reached forward and placed her empty cup in the snow beside the gas burner, then stood up to stretch, standing on her toes for a few seconds. She gazed off into the distance again.

"Too bad about the clouds. You can see so far from out here and it gets so pretty." -she said, changing the subject.

"Too bad." -Frank agreed, but his voice was distant and unfocused. The words, thoughts and feelings he'd sought weren't there. He'd waited and waited, built up the courage to come here with her again, to try and talk, and now he didn't have the words.

Megan turned around. A break in the clouds cast moonlight onto her shoulders, turning the white fur on the trim of her hood into a pale halo.

"Frank... Why did we come here? Really?" She looked sincere. Or hopeful? Frank wondered what she thought, what words she had in her mind but left unspoken.

"I really don't know." -he replied, shaking his head.

"Did you..." She hesitated, her eyes looking past him into the trees now. Her lips moved slowly as she spoke: "I know I said we could try again some day, but Frank, that was almost ten years ago now."

"It wouldn't work anyway. It's not right. I'm-" He stopped speaking and exhaled. A deep sigh that emptied his lungs and head, making him feel dizzy for a moment before he drew in a breath of icy air again. It felt like needles in his lungs. "I'm sorry I dragged you out here. I didn't mean to, I just..." His shoulders sank a little lower inside his coat. "...just thought it'd be sort of nice, you know. Like back then."

Megan tried to smile. "We had good days." -she said, blinking her eyes rapidly a few times. "Good weeks."

"Good years." -Frank agreed again. But no matter how he focused on those, the bad ones were all too real in his memories. Was it a trick of his mind, or genuine feeling, how he always focused on those darker days? The shouting. The crying.

"Frank. I think we should head back."

Frank didn't reply at first. He felt deflated. Hiking up here he'd felt, just for a little while, like things were like they used to be. But now he could see cold reality devour the fantasy he had conjured up in his mind.

"I'll stay for a while. Clean up." -he finally replied. Megan nodded slowly.

"Thanks for the hot chocolate." Frank looked up. He couldn't see her eyes with her face shadowed by the hood.

"You're welcome." -he replied, having nothing else he could bring himself to say.

He blinked and she was gone. The snow crunched beneath her boots as she went back into the trees and began to make her way back to the rest stop where they had parked their cars. A minute later he couldn't hear her anymore.

Frank sat there for a while longer, alone with his unspoken words. Then he picked up the two cups and packed them away in his backpack, along with the gas burner. The air felt colder even as the moon fully emerged again from behind the clouds.

Inside the words were ice. He felt colder still, as he knew he'd never say those words to anyone.

[> Check contents of sister's toolbox]

> Check contents of sister's toolbox

You crouch down to inspect the contents of your sister's toolbox.

"It's all the usual stuff I carry, pretty basic stuff. Surprisingly useful, though! I fixed up my car on the way since it had some issues!" She sounds pretty proud with herself.

The toolbox seems like a pretty standard fare, save for some smudges and oil stains. Wrenches, screwdrivers, a hefty hammer, some pliers. It's not as sleek as your multitool, but it'll deal with bigger problems. Your hands smell a bit of motor oil now that you've handled the toolbox.

> Examine door and lock

You step over to the door. The lock looks positively ancient to you, like it's from the 50's or 60's, scratched and weatherworn. It looks like easy pickings.



> Pick lock if it looks safe

With a shrug you pull out your multitool and get to work. A bit of tension. A simple rake. In less than a minute the mechanism clicks open, and the door opens for you. It feels easy and natural, like old times, but better.

"Nice! See, this is why you're here. I'd have gotten the hammer out by now!" -Shoshana chimes over your shoulder before picking up her tools. "Let's head in. I wanna see what this place is like on the inside. Like, you noticed it's a tower and all, right? How cool is that!?"

I have a rough idea forming up. Funnily enough the last FWC I participated in I also wrote about snow and ice.

[> Ask her excitedly what kind of safe it is, a bit more calmly what riches she expects to find, and business-like what alarm systems this place is supposed to have.]

> Ask her excitedly what kind of safe it is, a bit more calmly what riches she expects to find, and business-like what alarm systems this place is supposed to have.

You smile, unable to hide the growing sense of excitement as the thrill so familiar from your past surges in your heart. It was what you'd agreed to, after all, and also what you planned for and even equipped yourself so that you could travel light, move in the dark and get through locks and other mechanical obstacles. You inquire as to the nature of the safe and its potential contents, as well as the security inside. Shoshana flashes a grin in return, clearly sharing your enthusiasm.

"As long as we find the safe, there's no need to worry about that. See, the mayor had his issues, a few enemies, and I have some connections." She pulls out a slip of folded card. "The combination is right here. From what I gather the safe is probably somewhat hidden, maybe behind a painting, like in the movies. We should find plenty of cash and some nice jewelry that shouldn't be too difficult to hand off. Maybe some bonus surprises, too. I hear the guy was super weird so maybe he has like rare collectables or something, too!"

You nod and look around yourself. It doesn't seem as if the rain will let up, but at least having a familiar face with you seems to make the cold and dark less unpleasant.

"Oh, and the security: that should be all dealt with. There's a big ol' breaker box back there..." She gestures somewhere off to your right, behind the corner of the building, then to the toolbox beside her foot. "...and I took the liberty of disconnecting phone and power to the place so we can look around in peace. Though I don't think there really is an alarm system or anything. I don't think a ton of people know this place, since it's kind of isolated and... well, the guy didn't get a lot of visitors, apparently."

She pockets the folded piece of card again, then seems to pick up on your moment of hesitation.

"I know, I know. This feels kind of familiar to me, too, but it's not like back then. I'm not a dumb, noisy kid like that anymore! And sure, I know this all seems too good to be true, but I'm telling you, sis; I took all the precautions and did all the checks! Nobody will be here for days, maybe weeks! It's no different to going into a theme park haunted house or something, except we'll come out with enough cash to make up for all the time you lost!"

Shoshana, at least, seems incredibly excited and confident about all this.


> Check inventory

You absent-mindedly pat your pockets. You are carrying your multitool, a ballpoint pen, your keys, wallet and a map of the area. You are holding Shoshana's tire iron in your hand and wearing a headlamp on your head.

[> Ask her what this place is and why she is trying to break into it.]

> Ask her what this place is and why she is trying to break into it.

You glance up at the looming tower, then step closer to the door to shelter from the rain.

"So, what exactly is this place?" -you ask. "And why are you trying to break in?"

Shoshana smirks at you. She still has that same smile and that same glow in her eyes you recall from your shared youth. She's on an adventure.

"You don't know? Really? And here I thought you'd become an all-around proper Autumnscreek local by now!" She nods her head at the door. "This is the home of the mayor of Autumnscreek, one mister Lucas Leimer, who happens to be very surely not here tonight. Remember what I said about a big payday when we talked? This place is it, sis! We can make it big, and we can do it together!"

She sounded especially excited about that last part.

"I pulled some strings for us and got it on good authority there is a safe inside, somewhere. Probably in an office or a work room or something like that. We find it, open it, and we'll be far gone before anyone ever finds out!" She looks at you with those bright eyes of hers, as if expecting something.

[> Signal back with the signal you and Shoshana use. Then turn off headlight and approach.]

> Signal back with the signal you and Shoshana use. Then turn off headlight and approach.

You respond to the side-to-side wave of a light by tilting your head up and down, your beam of light bisecting the ghost-image of that light flash in your eyes. It's the way you used to spot and recognize one another as kids, back when you were spending time at the summer cabin and hiking in the woods with the family. With a click of a button you turn off your headlamp once more and walk across the flat, even ground until you reach the tall building ahead.

It has gotten very dark. You can no longer make out the shades of fading red in the distant sky, as clouds drown out what little light remains.



A familiar figure, clad in a raincoat quite similar to your own, awaits you under a narrow awning that provides some cover from the rain, with a box of tools sitting on the ground beside her.

"I was almost getting ready to go in on my own!" -Shoshana calls out, flashing a friendly smile your way. "Good to see you, sis. And, um- I'm really glad you came out. Wasn't quite sure you would, to be honest."

She looks like she's about to say something more, but instead she simply smiles your way.

[> Turn off your car's headlights and enter the area behind the gate]

> Turn off your car's headlights and enter the area behind the gate

You step back to your car, reach in through the open door and turn the ignition off, as well as turn the knob to turn off the lights. You pocket your car keys to be safe, after you close and lock the driver side door. That's better.

With your car secure you walk to the gate and easily hop over it, landing in the wet gravel on the other side. Ahead of you the open ground, seemingly all gravel, extends for what looks like a little over a hundred meters, though in the weather the tall structure ahead seems further away.



> Turn on your headlamp

You grab the headlamp from your pocket, strap it to your head and press the nice, clicky and waterproofed button to turn it on. It casts a beam of illumination ahead of you, allowing you to feel more confident in your step as you move over the gravel surface.



> Carefully approach the tall structure

You start to walk towards the structure in the distance. As you get a little closer you start to better make out its shape and curious colouring, seemingly consisting of alternating squares of dark and light colours.



Then, from the darkness, a bright light flashes your way and waves side to side a few times before going dark again.

@WHAM Would you like me to move the thread over to the Adventure Related board? It's an adventure game after all, and it might be noticed by more people over there.

@cat
I don't mind where the thread is located. To me it seems like a shared activity, so the competitions & activities board seemed logical. This is also where past projects of similar nature were located. If you think it'd be better somewhere else, feel free to move it around.

[> Take tire iron]

> Take tire iron

You pick up the cross-shaped tire iron. It feels cold and heavy in your hand.
Lacking a backpack or any other solid method of carrying the thing, you decide to keep it in your hand for now. You feel a little safer than you did a moment ago. In case a horde of angry ducks rushes you, you might stand a chance now!


> Inspect the fence and gate

You move away from Soshana's car and approach the fence and gate to inspect them. The gate is a simple metal bar on a pivot, locked in place with an equally simple padlock. It doesn't look very challenging to pick or even break.

The fence itself seems designed to diver wildlife, like deer or foxes, away. It's quite climbable for a human and there is no barbed wire or any other visible nastiness. It's probably not electrified either. Probably.

[> Carefully open the the trash bag and hope it does not contain anything bad.]

> Carefully open the the trash bag and hope it does not contain anything bad.

The black bag is shiny and glistens with the raindrops falling over it beneath the open lid of the trunk. You reach down to the bulging sack to find it feels cool to the touch and somewhat soft, despite looking rather bulging and stuffed. Carefully you peel open the pieces of tape holding its mouth shut.



The wind picks up and scatters pieces of paper that look like cheap paper towels from a dispenser all around you. You'd sensed a faint smell of motor oil before, but now the stench truly makes itself known, forcing you to turn your head and draw a deep breath before the wind disperses the stench. The papers that flew out are all soiled with dark brown and black stains to some degree, while most of them seem so completely soaked that they are too heavy for the wind to actually move.

The escaped papers do not make it far as the rainwater soaks them and pins them to the gravel or grass.

Hopefully someone will clean this mess up.

[> Look inside your sister's glove compartment.]

> Look inside your sister's glove compartment.

You reach into Soshana's car and open the glove compartment. There is a single piece of paper on it, which looks a lot like a speeding ticket. Besides that, there is only a small carboard box for lightbulbs for the car's headlights.

> Check ground for footprints or other signs of where Shoshana went.

You examine the ground. It's not easy to see anything clearly, as the gravel does not take up footprints very well. As for the dips in the mushy grass, you're not sure if any of the watery depressions are fresh, but there are several scattered all around.



> Pop the trunk.

You consider showing off your lockpicking skills again, but decide that doing the same sort of lock a second time in ten minutes and with no audience around is not worth your time or effort. You tug on the trunk release latch and step back to inspect the contents. Inside you find a tire iron and a bunch of bolts scattered on the floor of the trunk, another plastic jug of motor oil, and a large black trash bag that has been tied shut.

[> Try to pick the lock of the door.]

> Try to pick the lock of the door.

You pull out your trusty multitool, which you've customized out of old habit to make it looks bog standard at a glance, while containing a set of extra picks that you can pull out and use as needed, along with all the regular blades and such.

The relatively simple lock on the car door is easy enough to get through and the door pops open after just a couple minutes of tinkering.

The interior of the red car is much like your own, except far less tidy. Crumpled up soda cans litter the passenger side footwell, along with a bottle of brake fluid and a plastic jug of motor oil, and various bits of trash cover the dashboard and seats.

You feel a little guilty for breaking into your sister's car.

[> inspect sister's car. Try opening the doors and popping the trunk.]

> inspect sister's car. Try opening the doors and popping the trunk.

You step over to your sister's car and examine it. It's definitely familiar, and there is little mistaking the empty soda cans and other assorted trash that has accumulated in the footwells and on the passenger seats. There is definitely nobody inside, but she must be somewhere nearby. Despite having very little interest in the collection of trash visible through the windows, you tug on the door handles only to find the doors are firmly locked with relatively simple locks. For good measure you move to the back and test the trunk, but that is similarly locked.

> call sister's name

ERROR: uknown variable 'sister's name'. Please define a name.

[> Turn lights back on, then exit car and inspect surroundings.]

> Turn lights back on, then exit car and inspect surroundings.

You decide that seeing things is valuable, after all, and turn on the headlights on your car once more. They cast a beam of illumination across the open field ahead of you, and once more reveal the distant shape of a tall structure off in the distance. You unbuckle your seatbelt and crack open the driver side door.



The rain falling on your bright yellow raincoat is almost deafening at first, much more intense than it had been inside the muffled confines of the car. You close the car door so as not to let the seat get soaked by the rain, though you can still see the illuminated dashboard inside and hear the rumble of the idling engine.

You are surrounded by a field of felled trees. The grass and minor vegetation around the stumps has been seemingly flattened by heavy wind and rain. The road underneath your shoes is gravel and ahead of you the gravel seems to extend out into a broad field of the stuff, though the rain and darkness makes it difficult to be sure. You are quite sure the car parked beside your own must belong to your sister, though there is no immediate sign of her presence.

Introspective: You were always the calmer one, the more collected and organized in your actions. She was more rash and prone to not thinking ahead, so wandering off would not be unusual for her.

Being out here, in the storm, under the wide open sky, somehow makes you feel small and insignificant.

[offtopic]I evaded it for a long time, but Covid finally caught up with me and I've been running a high fever since monday, hence this post is a couple days later than I intended. I'll try to keep delays to a minimum, though.[/offtopic]

[> Look for footprints or other clues in the muddy grass on either side of the road.]

> Look for footprints or other clues in the muddy grass on either side of the road.

You peer out of the window of your car. The headlights provide you with a solid bit of visibility to the front of your car, but the darkness and rain don't help your cause. Despite your raincoat you're not all that keen on diving out into the weather to poke around in the dirt without clear instructions to EXIT your vehicle first.

The ground is uneven, the road you are on is gravel and the grass and soil appear mushy with the rain. It's impossible to make out any kinds of tracks, save for the depressions left by the car tyres of the two vehicles.

> Search red car's trunk and interior (if accessible)

You are quite certain you'd need to EXIT your car first to search the familiar-looking red car. Through the windows you can see a few loose pieces of trash on the dashboard of the red car, and you think the driver's sideview mirror might be held on by some duct tape.



> Turn off my car's lights

You reach down and flick the switch to turn off the lights of your car, plunging the surrounding area into sudden and near-complete darkness, as the heavy rainclouds block any suggestions of illumination from the sky above.

Good thing Grues aren't real. Ha-ha! ...right?


[offtopic]I am arbitrarily limiting the input to three commands of less per post, depending on situation, and as long as the commands do not contradict. If multiple commands have the same amount of votes, I will pick the one that was posted first among them.[/offtopic]

[> Perform a visual inspection of the surrounding area.]

> Perform a visual inspection of the surrounding area.

You arrive at what appears to be the end of the road for now. The road is closed off by a simple gate and what looks like a padlock glinting in the headlights. A simple wire fence extends out away from the gate, seeming more like a way to deter wild animals than to keep people from getting in, considering the simple nature of the road gate. It has gotten quite dark and the rain has not let up, limiting visibility considerably. Past the gate the road only seems to go on for a short bit, after which the landscape opens up to a wide open field that goes on for quite some time, though there is a tall structure up ahead, of which you can just make out the silhouette of.

> Get the pen from the glovebox.

You reach into the glovebox and slip the ballpoint pen into your pocket for safekeeping, then peer out the windows at the surrounding area.

> Approach and inspect the other car.

That other car looks familiar to you. Your sister wanted one just like yours when she got old enough to drive, but hers needed to be in red. She couldn't really afford one, but your parents helped her out and she got her way eventually, though from the look of things it hasn't been well tended to. Some bumps and scrapes and off-colour panels speak of both previously done repairs and much needed ones still pending. There doesn't seem to be anyone inside the car, though.

[> Open the glovebox and check what's in it]

> Open the glovebox and check what's in it

You peer into the glovebox. It contains a dusty copy of the owner's manual for the car, a thick tome of glossy pages you've never even opened, and a few assorted cassette tapes of music, some of which you actually bought with your own money. You also find a ballpoint pen that may or may not be in working condition after having been stored in the glovebox for a year or two. You're not sure where it came from. It might have been there when you bought the car used.

> Remember what you have been told about this forest. Check gas gauge.

You try to recall details of the woodland areas surrounding the town. To the north and to the east the town is mostly surrounded by dense wooded hills and valleys, with a few small creeks and rivers running southward to the lowland areas there. The south is mostly farmland now. To the west of the town, across a bridge, was to be a vast industrial zone for all sorts of newfangled production, but from what you can recall those plans never quite came to pass and construction was never finished on most of the projects there. You think one of the buildings produces fishing lures in there.

You started off headed east, with three quarters of your tank of gas remaining, though your latest turn is taking you roughly north by north-east now. A sign by the side of the road reads "Airfield", though that has been crossed out, with an added sign saying "Private property - Keep out".

The trees grow sparse, and most are cut down. It feels more open out here, more spacious now that you're getting away from the trees, of which merely their stumps remain. You see a parked car ahead, its lights turned off. It looks familiar to you.


(Sorry for the delay in posting this one. I've got my home internet connection routed through a VPN and apparently the new forum doesn't like that very much and is blocking me as a suspected spammer. Thus I'm making this post from my workplace. )

[> Slow down just enough to make sure to safely arrive at the meeting point]

> Slow down just enough to make sure to safely arrive at the meeting point

You drop your speed down to something more manageable, making a mental note to drive more carefully from now on. You find the left turn your map had indicated, though instead of the wide two-lane road the map indicated you find a narrow single lane road instead. You recall a mention that the roads out here were never quite finished, with projects being downscaled as local industry and jobs were lost.



> Wonder...

You feel indebted to your sister, though you're not sure if that's quite the same as trusting her. She was always adventurous, and took to the idea of some relatively harmless crime with about as much ease you had when you were younger and lived far away from here. She also kept you sane in the few years you spent in prison after getting caught, writing, calling and visiting. Nobody else did, after all.

You're sure she wouldn't try to lead you into a trap. She wouldn't want anything bad for you. Most likely she felt tonight would be a way of making up for past mistakes, of helping you get back on your feet and be more secure financially. Or maybe she just missed the thrills and excitement of old times? Missed seeing you? She wouldn't have travelled across the country unless she had a good reason, after all.

Besides: you're sure you've missed her.

The narrow road crosses a small bridge, its edges indicated by bumps in the road. The jolt of going over causes the car stereo to briefly crackle, then resume.

He's the one.
Who likes all our pretty songs.
And he likes to sing along.
And he likes to shoot his gun.

The heavy rain beats down on the windshield, and the road underneath feels soft and mushy, the thick layer of water making it difficult to steer. The more controlled speed has you feeling more secure, though. You're not about to crash. Less than a mile now, and you'll be there.