Two Weeks Into Quarantine (Cafeteria)

[sndwurks]

In any stressed environment, defense mechanisms for survival become quickly apparent. Some fight the environment, seeking to change it through sheer force of will. Others hide from it, seeking quiet places to simply be left alone. Still others find the stress becoming routine, normalize it, and try to make do.

It is the third one that seems to be taking over Billy St. Francis. Having two sets of clothes when he came in gave him a little more to work with than whatever the Deputy Director can get through quarantine, but a few emails to tribal members in the area set him up with enough clothes and books to survive. Something else arrived that sent him off for a while, but that has since passed.

For the last four days, Billy has shown up to the cafeteria with a novel and one of the checker sets lifted from elsewhere in the zone. A little bit of tape and paper? And it's now a chess set. He sets up the board, gets a cup of government issue coffee, and sits down at one side. He lifts the novel of the week, this one being Snow Crash, and waits.

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry walked into the Cafe looking for a bit of breakfast. Seeing Billy sitting reading almost had him march on by when he saw the waiting checker board on the table. Not one to pass on an open invitation to break the monotony, Henry headed over.

"Morning there, Billy. You looking for a second on that game there?" Henry asked.

[sndwurks]

"Always, Henry," offers Billy. He pulls out the business card bookmark he's been using, and marks his place in the novel. Setting it aside, he picks his coffee up with one hand, and gestures towards the board with the other.

"White or black?" he asks, lifting a brow. "Well... red or black. We'll just pretend the red is white for this case. I got sent an email saying a friend dropped an actual chess set off for me, but it's still in processing to get into the quarantine. I'm doubting at this point that I'm going to see it."

[Henry Gondorf]

"I think you might just be surprised," Henry said as he took his seat across the table. "Life has a way of sneaking up on people with expectations, good or bad."

"I'll be...um...pink, I guess." He said mild amusement. Henry looked across the board to his fellow gumshoe. "Nice trick here with the pieces. I take it this wasn't the first time you had to wage guerrilla warfare with boredom?"

[sndwurks]

"This isn't guerrilla warfare," replies Billy with a shrug. "This is trench combat. Neither me nor boredom are going to win, but there's going to be a lot of people getting shot and gassed in the interim. Innocence will be destroyed. Lives will be lost. Historians will look back upon the sheer cost in humanity and be staggered. The people who survive it will call it the Great War on Boredom, but will be shocked somehow when it comes around a second time."

He takes another sip from his coffee, and gestures towards Henry.

"You're right about life sneaking up on you," says the private investigator with a wry, if not entirely cheerful chuckle. "It always finds a way to slip that knife into your back when you least expect it."

He sets the coffee cup down, and nods to the table.

"Your move first."

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry stood no chance at hiding his cheer when he heard Billy wax poetic about his efforts. He took a second to let the laughter leave his system before planning his first move. It had been a while since he played the game. He hoped he at least remembered to not knock over his king on the first move. After some thought, Henry moved one of the pawns two spaces forward.

"Have you had any luck connecting with your people in the area? Given how thrilled you were about the history I was not sure if being this close put you in a better or worse position." Henry asked. "Oh, your turn." He remembered to add.

[sndwurks]

Advancing the pawn in front of his King two places in an automatic gesture, Billy nodded.

"I've been able to get some word out and around," he says. "Had some words with the Deputy Director, too. Confirmed that he's on the Milner case, he's doing the legwork, and he claims this isn't his deal. He just stepped in to try to help us. Not sure if that makes him a liar or a good guy, or both."

There is a pause while Billy sips his coffee, and the Aquinaki private investigator shrugs.

"Likely both. But if they're breaking out the Milner cold case, it means one of two things. Either they have new evidence... or Deputy Director White made some powerful enemies who want to see his career dead."

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry nodded in agreement as he moved the pawn in front of his right hand knight two spaces. "Wonder if we should welcome the Director to the Brotherhood of Lost toys." Henry chuckled.

"A lot of people want that woman found I guess. I have to wonder though if it is such a grand idea. I've seen enough people go through a lot of trouble to get lost. It seems like the higher up in you climb the social ladder the more you realize how exposed you are." Henry reclined in his chair a bit as he waited for Billy's move. "The problem here is after everything I'm not sure there is in trouble or they are just trying to let the spot light cool off."

[Samantha]

Vanessa walks into the cafe, being confined to one are seems to be taking a toll. She stretches to try to get the kinks out of her muscles from sleeping in a tent. Her navy blue blazer is not looking as crisp as it once did, and she has been swapping threw three sets of clothes (assuming there is a washer and dryer), she only has the one blazer.

"Morning," she says too those already in the cafe. She goes and gets a cup of coffee, adds some cream no sugar and leans against the counter.

[sndwurks]

"Morning," offers Billy to Vanessa, giving a nod towards the empty spots on their table. He turns his attention back towards the other private investigator, and sips his coffee. He advances the knight on his king's side, hooking it over to rest in front of the bishop waiting to the side of his king upon the black space.

"Senator's daughters don't generally run off into the wilderness of New Hampshire," says Billy simply. He studies the board with a detached intensity. "We have an old word about places like Whisper Hill, you know? An old shaman told me about it, a couple years ago. Whisper Hill in New Hampshire, Island Pond in Vermont, Derry over in Maine. These are bad places, and people disappear in bad places. Always have. We call them keewokw... He Hunts Here."

There is a glance over at Vanessa, and then back to Henry. There's a wry, bemused grin on Billy's face.

"The stories call keewokw a human-eating invisible giant with backwards facing feet. He can use the wind and the snows to turn hunters around, and they will get cold and lost, and then he comes and eats them in the night. Whether keewokw is real or not, these places are bad. They're bigger inside then they should be, and things change. Plays with your sense of where things are. I once tracked a man through the hills of Island Pond through to Irasburg, without seeing a single inhabited building the entire time. Took me sixteen hours. Guy had been missing three days, but he swore only six hours had passed. Weird things happen in those places."