Occams Razor

"Fifteen bucks, little man, put that-- oops." She moves aside for two townies leaving the diner who give her odd looks.

Red shrugs. She had lost her plaid in attempt to fit in earlier that year, and hadn't gotten enough credits to buy a new one. After this last weekend in November, however, she figured "looking the part" was the least of any one being's worries.

She takes one ear bud out, and scans the diner for any peeps she might recognize.

:: Liberty looks up as the door opens. Noting it's Red she pushes away from the table where she was setting up a maze and approaches ::
Red. I have a question.

She grins widely at Liberty. "I have an answer; let's see if they match. Also, let's do the Q&A thing by the fire; standing near the door is bad mojo, yo." She motions for Liberty to follow her the comfy couches.

Kelsey is hunched over on the end of one of the couches near the fire, frowning as she looks over her notes. Her medical bag is at her feet, the sports bag leaning up against a wall nearby. She glances up as Red and Blue approach, smiling when she sees who it is. She scoots over a bit to make room for them.

"Hey, Red. Hey, Liberty." The investigator glances back and forth between them. "This a private conversation? I can go and grab some coffee for a while if so. I need a break from research, anyway."

:: Liberty nods in greeting to Kelsey ::
Not private. I wanted to ask Red for some details about Mo and Jasper's story. I wasn't there the time you met him at the holiday gathering or the time after that when Jasper came to town and I think Red was there for both. I think it was only Jasper then, I think we met Mo the fourth time, but I'm uncertain on that.

:: She drops down on the hearth and waits until they find seats ::
Sally suggested Nick and I gather as much detail as possible so we can rewrite the story. The first thought was to stop the violence from happening completely, maybe make it so Mo's boy survived the car crash, but there's a theory floating that her torture and death were so significant that we can't edit them out. So my new thought is that we make Jasper grow a sack and stop the violence and save Mo so they can
:: she makes air quotes ::
Live happily ever after
:: a brow lift ::
Because that's a thing.
:: a down-beat ::
In books.

:: Another brow lift then she pulls out a tiny notebook and pencil ::
So, what information can you remember from the second and third meetings with Jasper? Either of you? Any details will help flesh out the narrative.

"Why not do both?" Kelsey asks. "The boyfriend survived the crash. Mo thought he was dead, but really he's been in a coma this whole time, and now he's woken up and has come here searching for her. That sort of thing happens, in stories."

She considers Liberty's question. "I don't remember much about him. He said he was a horror writer, and that he'd come looking for inspiration. The first time...you were there the first time, right? When we were each writing a sentence of the story? The second time he wanted people to write something about horror from their own experiences, I think. But I didn't interact with him much. The third time, when the typewriter mess really started...I only saw the end of it. People were acting out the stories, and I couldn't move - something about the way he was narrating it while it happened, it was like a train wreck, and I couldn't move or look away. Then he narrated that heroes could come to the rescue, and I could move again. He seemed to come out of it after the story was finished, and started mumbling something about needing more red ink. He didn't seem all that coherent."

:: Liberty's eyes go up and to the left for a moment and she makes a very quiet 'hmmm' ::

Red Ink?
:: Another moment, then she refocuses on Kelsey ::
Will we need blood? Will it need to be Mo's blood? I understand that this last time when he called for ink the 'bad man'
:: Air quotes ::
Pulled it out of Mo. Which solidifies my belief that the red ink was blood.

:: She divides her attention between Red & Kelsey ::
Do you think we'll need blood to complete the story?

:: She stops, as if awaiting a reply, then adds ::
I also have a niggling thought that whoever writes on the typewriter may have consequences to that. Perhaps taking Jasper's place. I'm not solid on that yet, but it has been in the back of my mind as a theory. Which begs the question - does one of us have to type it or does Jasper? Do we dictate the story to him so that he has a catharsis that frees him from the hold of the device?

All of this is conjecture. I'm not an expert on woo-woo stuff. Maybe we should find Madrigary and pass these ideas past him. He had some thoughts on the typewriter prior to this.

:: Flipping the switch as she frequently does, she turns back directly to Kelsey ::
What is the benefit to the story of bringing the 'boy' in to find Mo? Is he the woodcutter in this narrative? Or is it better that we make Jasper the hero, the one that saves the day, takes responsibility for the choices he's made, sees the light and makes a switch? That sort of thing?

Sally says he got the feeling that we were going to have to make this a collaborative effort, as the first story was. Everyone should have a voice and power over the story. But, if we are going to bring the dead lover back from a *very* long coma
:: soto voce she adds ::
we still don't know when this occurred, he could come hobbling in on a walker
:: then continues in more conversational tone ::
we should all have a sense of why so we can all keep the narrative on track. No more pirates and monkeys.
:: A quick quirk of the corner of her mouth punctuates this ::
Eden and I are good at forcibly steering a ship as we did with the first story, but maybe we don't want to all go off in different directions this once.

I think we should all have a confab in advance; get our story - literally - straight before hand. I realize we are all individuals with our own take on things, but I think Sally is right in that, at least for this, we need to work together with our focus narrow on the goal. For me that 's getting Mo out of this and on to whatever passes for a good afterlife. If that means giving her the boy back, so be it. But, my gut is saying make Jasper be the one to rescue her. He's the one that got her into this and up until now has not accepted his part in it. Putting Jasper to rest may be as much our goal as releasing Mo, so we should keep that in mind when we decide on our story.

If that makes sense?

Gary glanced up from inspecting his grimoire when several people sat around him. He was about to turn back to his work when the mention of Jasper caught his attention. He listened intently, and he stared pointedly at Liberty with one brow raised when she mentioned him. He waited for her to finish before speaking.

"It's certainly an interesting string of conjectures, Liberty, but I think someone should fill me in. I've missed out on the entire story so far; my first introduction to everything was Page Face. Once I get what's what I can help with the ideas stuff."

:: Liberty goes dead-still for a moment then slowly turns her head to look at Madrigus ::
I didn't see you .
:: another moment and a very slight frown, then a subtle but visible shake ::
I'll provide a full run down for you but I'd rather have Kelsey's, and maybe Red's, thoughts first on the questions I asked so I don't lose focus. Then they can help fill you in. We each were there for different parts of this so each, in essence, have a different part of the story. Putting everything we know together may help you help us.

:: That said she refocused on the two women and waits ::

Eden's been at the table that the Hanley House folk customarily use, cleaning up the detritus left behind by her voracious housemates. If she is muttering under her breath about the task, it's too softly to make out any specific words.

She carts an armful of trash over to the garbage bin, then turns to the conversation, chiming in.

"Why not have Mo be the hero?" She shrugs as she brushes her hands together to remove any lingering crumbs. "Why does it have to be Jasper or the unnamed coma-guy to come in and rescue her? Why can't she rescue herself?"

Settling herself into a seat by the fire, she continues, "To be blunt, from what I've seen, I have more faith in her judgement and her character than I do in Jasper's. I think that part of her feels she deserves what happened to he because of the car crash. She needs to work through that and see herself as worth fighting for."