Two Weeks Into Quarantine (Cafeteria)

[sndwurks]

Bringing the rook still in his first rank to rest in line with his other, Billy laughs. He glances up at Henry, and shakes his head.

"That was a good set up," he admits, grinning. "If a little grim."

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry gave a friendly smile. He then moved his King diagonal to the square behind the forward Pawn.

"I get the feeling life is going to take a grim turn for the lot of us. Might as well get in some practice trying to find that silver lining you hear people talking about."

[sndwurks]

Billy advances his forward rook, taking one of Henry's dwindling pawns. He removes the taken piece setting it beside the board with the others.

"I hope it doesn't turn grim," says Billy with a shake of his head. "As it stands? Don't agree to any invasive procedures, don't let them anesthetize you, refuse any gifts, and if you run into any 'folklorists', just smile and and play dumb. That's how we survived dealing with the government this long, and it's done us pretty damn well."

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry retreats his king a square to the left.

"Might want to add 'Paid up front' to the list. Hard to enjoy money when your dead."

[sndwurks]

And Billy presses the offense, moving his rook along his first rank forward until it rests a rank behind his other rook. It rests next to Henry's Knight, and in line with the King.

"Well, so far, no one's offered to hire me for a job, so I haven't had to ask for cash up front," says the private investigator with a shrug. "The way I look at it, I'm not getting paid to look after tribal interests around here, but it's enlightened self-interest. Other than that, my time is up for grabs."

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry advances his Rook forward two spaces.

"Well. It never hurts to have the scratch on hand. Plus it lets you know the kind of people you are dealing with. If they are quick to agree to giving you half up front that means they are rich. And the rich have a funny way of reading the rule book. If they fight hard to hold on to their pennies but concede certain realities of the job, they might be close to legit. In any case it works out, it always pays to have assurances set to cover you ass. Stop the bleeding, live and learn as they say." Henry said in a casual tone. He might as well been saying the weather outside the tent was mild today.

[sndwurks]

And Billy advances one of his left hand pawns forward a space in an almost casual gesture.

"I've simply always looked at it as people lie," says the private investigator with a shrug. "We all do it. You do it. They do it. I can do it, and I'm good at it when I have to be. You can't trust what anyone shows you for money, because it might be all they have or it might be spare change for them. You just have to walk into every job, knowing someone, somewhere is lying. Find out who. Find out why. And find out what your client is paying you to find out. And then get out clean."

[Henry Gondorf]

"Amen, Brother." Henry said with a nod. He bring his knight out between his pawn in the pawn defending Billy's King.

Henry raised his apple from his plate in a toast. "To the noble hunters of that sly wolf, Truth. May we ensnare her with our wits and get away without her teeth in our asses."

[sndwurks]

And Billy pushes on of his two pawn on the left hand side of the board forward in the steady, inexorable march towards Henry's first rank.

"I've never really thought of the truth as being a wolf," says the private investigator with a chuckle. "If the truth was a wolf, then where's its pack? What does it hunt? Where does it howl? Nah. The truth is a porcupine, my friend. Loud and angry, and ready to bury its spikes in anyone who comes within arm's reach of it. It's ugly to look at, and painful to embrace. And nearly everything out there gives Komgwak a wide berth."

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry moves his Knight into striking position of Billy's King.

"My experience tell me otherwise. Follow me here: All truths start as a loyal companion that walks along beside you. It is like the family pet. You keep it around because you enjoy a certain feeling of security. Then one day, you realize having such a constant companion is a bit of a burden. You want to move up in the world but the old dog is too big for the fancy new cars or mansion's catching your eye. You need a new a smaller and more convenient animal to show around. That tailored made pet is the lie. So you take the truth and chain it somewhere out of sight while you move on to better things. One day, the lie you have been walking around with gets sick. It starts to look rabid enough it might cause problems for you. So you call in folks like us. We get paid to retrace the steps back to where the old dog was left chained to the wall. But after left in the dark for so long, the truth becomes feral. The inner wolf comes forth with a mind for revenge.

"The moment we find the truth we have to answer the unspoken question when we first took the case: Do we follow the orders given to us by the employer or do we do the right thing and let truth have it's day in the sun again?" Henry asked.