Arc II, Chapter 30: The Ribbon Cutting

Arc II, Chapter 30: The Ribbon Cutting

Questioning Dr. Howard Halle was coincidentally very easy. All it took was a call to the number on his business card to find out that he was at an event at Hallowed Heart Hospital just up the street.

He was Jed Geists personal physician. He knew something. He may even have been the killer. It was clear that the plot was pushing us in his direction.

We could have walked, but Chief Willis (Officer Willis in this storyline) insisted on driving us.

Cant leave my vehicle unattended out here, he said. Gun theft is a rising crime.

That was his subtle On-Screen way of telling the audience there were more guns in the car than what he had on his person. When we went Off-Screen, he told us that explicitly.

Carousel has a sticky relationship with guns, he said. Doesnt like them making things too easy. You understand that youll do just fine. Listen to the flow of the battle and move with it and youll get the best results. Hotshots out here trying to force a win end up on a little white missing poster sooner or later.

He was mostly talking to Antoine. Antoine was our powerhouse. We only really had one fighter so if we got a gun, we knew who it would go to nine times out of ten. I could probably use it to blow up a gas tank or some other feat of precision, but if we needed to gun something down, we had to put it in our Athletes hands.

Is that what happens next? Cassie asked nervously. We have to fight?

No use worrying about if you have to fight, Willis said and he pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. Youre never more than a few scenes from a fight. After a while, its the peacetime that will make you nervous. Now use that Moxie to act brave and lets get this show on the road.

As we approached the non-emergency entrance of the hospital, we saw balloons and banners celebrating the opening of a new wing at the hospital.

All we had to do was follow the signs.

The hospital was one of the expensive, fancy ones I had only seen on television. The banquet room we arrived at was on par with the ballroom at the mansion that had hosted the pickled wizard masquerade.

A hundred or so NPCs we in attendance and all of them dressed in their best tuxes and gowns. We were completely out of place.

Luckily, it would seem, we arrived right at the end of the event.

A man was standing on the podium in the middle of a speech. Behind him, a large, red ribbon hung tight ready to be cut. On the red wallpaper, his name was Dr. Howard Halle, the very man we sought to talk to. He was a refined and well-dressed gentleman with an ease of elocution that almost distracted from the fact that he was marked an enemy on the red wallpaper.

Dr. Howard Halle in Cold-Blooded Things.

Dr. Howard Halle

Plot Armor: 25

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Tropes

Intellectual Curiosity

This villain will alter normal targeting to pursue players who trigger his curiosity.

Non-Combatant

This villain cannot be attacked On-Screen until it attacks the player or is otherwise identified as hostile. Attacking it will not be effective, nor will it change the story. It will cause the player to go Off-Screen for a time.

Theyll Never Believe You

When tangling with this villain, the authorities will not believe or take seriously anything the players tell them.

PHDs Unlimited

This villain has an education in every scholarly topic related to the storyline.

The Mad Doctor

Tropes

Dont Wake the Beast

This villain is asleep or in a similar condition. They will not stir without outside intervention. Waking them will transform them into a more dangerous form that plays by different tropes.

Non-Combatant

This villain cannot be attacked On-Screen until it attacks the player or is otherwise identified as hostile. Attacking it will not be effective, nor will it change the story. It will cause the player to go Off-Screen for a time.

Theyll Never Believe You

When tangling with this villain, the authorities will not believe or take seriously anything the players tell them.

We had gone in and out of being On-Screen. The next time we were in the clear, I said, Enemy in black across the way.

Cecilia, Kimberly read off the red wallpaper. Is she staring at me?

I then explained both her and Dr. Halles tropes.

Thats a pretty neat trick you have, Willis said, referring to my Trope Master ability. If we had someone like you in my world, I might never have ended up in Carousel.

After a few more moments, he added, Spread out and look for clues. This will be a bit. Theres only really one meaningful clue before we move to the next set. Whoever finds it gets a dollar.

We fanned out and looked for clues. I hoped that he didnt mean we had to talk to people. Finding one piece of information from someone in a room full of people felt impossible.

Antoine and Kimberly wandered off to make use of Kimberlys Get a Room trope. I was confident they would be successful.

I hoped they would be. The first NPC I interacted with asked me if I was one of the patients in the burn unit. We were Off-Screen at the time, so he was really telling me I should check out something related to the burn unit. Little clues like that made an unfair game fair again. High Plot Armor was what naturally led to clues for players. My effective PA was low thanks to Trope Master so I rarely got steered anywhere.

It was always possible he was saying something unflattering about my face. I decided to go with my first theory.

When I got to a wall in the banquet hall that led to the burn unit, I saw that Kimberly and Antoine had beaten me to it.

On-Screen.

Look at this, Antoine said as I strolled up to them. He read from the plaque, This Burn Unit is dedicated to those who lost their lives in that terrible blaze on April 10th, 1984. Purified by flame, their souls lifted toward the heavens.

Its a bunch of Geists, Kimberly said. Was this the fire at the Geist Manor?

There were over two dozen Geists on the list. It was a slaughter. I went through the names listed: Thomas, Helene, Lillian, Moira, Bastion, and more and more.

It was, I said. You know a lot of the original Geist films burned up in that fire. Most of what we have are copies.

I made that part up. How would I know? I just needed to stay in character.

Thats the real tragedy, Antoine said sarcastically.

Theres a quote from Jed Geist here, Kimberly said. Does the light of a flame create dark shadows? Or does it only reveal them? My familys deaths will leave almost as deep a mark on this community as their lives did.

After a moment of contemplation, she asked, I hope he didnt write their obituaries too.

He was the only one not invited to the party, I said. Come on, I think Dr. Halle has run out of rich people to schmooze.

We left the memorial wall and found the others who had already gathered to speak with Dr. Halle, who was saying goodbye to a fabulously bejeweled woman who seemed absolutely taken with him.

He turned to us. I understand that they have finally reopened my old friends murder case. I cannot thank you enough for your efforts to bring Jedediahs murderer to justice and I will answer any and every question you have for me.

He looked each of us in the eye one at a time with a reassuring gaze and said with a warm smile, Now ask me whatever it is you desire. Im ready for anything.