Seeking the Truth
Seeking the Truth.... or Consequences....
Setting
2024, Truth or Consequences, NM.
Character Creation
- 100pt characters
- 25 points in Dis
You are all 20-somethings who grew up in T or C.
Characters
- Mabel Wadsworth, a former fiesta queen tuned social media influencer and trail runner
- Warren Chavez, manager of a popular restaurant on Date Street
- Joe Tippet, a semi-disabled 60-year-old
- John Pace, a military veteran currently working as a security guard at Spaceport America
What happened
Was that a puff of dust?
After church downtown, Mabel and Warren spot Joe wandering the street as he always does, and invite him to join them up at (NPC) Beau Burns' place for hot dogs.
Standing around in the back yard at Beau's, the group reminisces about high school hijinks and sip light beers while the weenies roast.
But then everyone feels a thud in their gut, a faraway boom. They think, Virgin Galactic? But no, they don't launch on Sundays.
Mabel spots a dust plume up on the mountain across the river... and it briefly flashes green. Nobody else sees the green, but the team is curious and decides to investigate.
They jump in Warren's jeep and head first to the 3rd street Fast Stop, where they get gas and pick up provisions, including a Reese's Fast Break, water, and beer.
On the drive, Mabel and Warren exchange spicy comments, leading the always irreverent Beau to ask, "You two gonna do it?"
That shuts down conversation for a bit, and so when the jeep reaches the old Blackjack mine, there's silence.
The scene is traumatic -- a battered and camo'd OHV provides the background for two deceased individuals, both muscular 30ish men. A crashed quadcopter buzzes intermittently. Bullet casings everywhere. Cell phones don't work.
Mabel and Joe are disturbed, Beau spots a Desert Eagle and gets excited, Warren gingerly searches the bodies and vehicle.
A second OHV arrives, driven by Harlan James, a local rancher and conspiracy theorist. But around the same time, an almost-silent black helicopter approaches, Leading Harlan to bolt.
A sniper aboard the chopper fires at Harlan as he crests the hill and begins his descent. His fate is unclear.
Feeling tough, Beau aims up at the chopper -- and is quickly slain.
Hysterical now, the remaining group runs into the mine to take cover.
A careful descent ensues, in which minor injuries are sustained. Mabel is particularly frustrated to have her running leggings ripped across the butt, drawing blood.
Deep within, the group peers up at the entrance. Silence. Then a voice, male, military-sounding, "~static~ I'm at the mine entrance. Beginning descent."
The group notices a flash of red light at the entrance to the next level down. Preferring that unknown to a goon with a gun, they descend. Mabel realizes she forgot her candy bar. Warren forgot to grab anything useful from the unknown vehicle.
Rounding a corner, the team sots three weird spherical machines/robots(?), hovering. Through experimentation, approaching triggers the objects' defenses -- beams of light causing usually unpleasant psychological effects.
They keep experimenting until Warren is stricken with utter agony, screaming on the ground, Mabel is drowsy and woozy, while a disturbed Joe hunkers in an alcove. The objects move forward....