Ultra's Thread

"Eh... about 40 billion dollars," zer0 says. "Honestly? Small potatoes for some of the largest businesses." You start painting the walls. Fortunately, with the walls empty and easy to follow, it's not as bad as you expected. "This is, like... dull." zer0 complains. She keeps working, though. "So... ugh. Tell me something interesting, I guess. Like, what's even up with you?"

While you work, John comes out of the cafeteria and heads down the stairs, while Francois comes back up carrying a bunch of bandages. He must've headed down somewhere while you were getting your paint.

zer0 shrugs. "Well, like, duh? I know what an escape artist is. But, like, why?"

"Oh, sure. Gotcha." zer0 nods. "Yeah. Makes sense. You don't talk much, huh. So you wanna teach me some tricks? After we're done with the stupid wall."

"Sweet," zer0 says. Her mask lights up as a smile.

You get back to painting and manage to finish the area before lunch.

Gain a Hope Fragment between zer0 and Zarv

You notice it's time for lunch. Afterwards, you try to decide what to do for the afternoon. It seems the painting is done for the day while Sammy makes more paint.

You decide to check some of the other rooms for anything useful, which leads you to Texas' Bounty Hunting Lab. The room is freshly painted with a sky-blue wall, clouds, and even a sun. Most of the room is devoted to a target range with mannequins, most with a few splotches of paint already. A small armory lines the wall by the entrance, stocked with paintball guns, tasers, handcuffs, pepper spray, lassos, and the like.

The lab is crowded.  Half of the people seem to have had the same idea.  You, Anne, Zach, Valerie, Mikoto, The Bulgarian, and John are all here.  Texas wanders in and whistles.  "Wow.  Awful lot o' ya'll wanna learn how t' shoot t'day, huh?"

"Well, I already had some training as a detective trainee, I just wanted to make sure I don't get rusty," Mikoto says.

"Well, that's just fine.  Maybe y'wanna help me teach some o' the rookies?" Texas asks.  He pulls some of the paintball pistols from the wall, checking their pressure and balance.  "So, who wants t' try some target practice?"

John raises his hand. Everyone looks at him. Zarv doesn't bother with such a signal and just takes up a pistol.

"I can help with some of the basic instruction," Mikoto says. "Why don't I help John while you work with the others.

"Um... It looks fun, but Anne's not s'posed to play with guns!" Anne Jean says.

"Well, that's fine," Texas says.

The Bulgarian holds up his hands. "Perhaps I'll try, but I'd prefer to watch for a few moments, first."

Zach thinks and watches the others before relenting. "I'd like to try, if you don't mind. Pa liked to hunt, but never got a chance to teach me how to shoot."

"Yeah?" Texas asks. "Well, hunters usually prefer a rifle fer the range 'n' accuracy. A pistol'll do ya fine at point-blank range, but soon as you start gettin' far 'nough away t' not spook an animal it gets tougher. Still, understandin' the basics of aimin', breath control, and most importantly safety'll do ya good fer learnin' how t' shoot a rifle later. K, I'll show ya some basic stance work then we can get our hands on. Ya'll ready?"

You spend some time practicing just standing and holding a gun with a lot of criticism about trigger discipline and aiming before you shoot which Valerie seems more than a little annoyed about. Texas is quick to remind you that you also should not go out on a shooting gallery unless everyone is aware.

"Shootin' knives outta people's hands? Aimin' fer kneecaps? Warnin' shots? Forget all that Hollywood nonsense. Ya made a choice when ya pulled out a gun 'n' not a different weapon. Aim fer the chest first. Two shots."

You practice with the dummies for a bit. Zack and Zarv both seem to take to shooting well enough, easily adapting lumberjacking stances and flexibility techniques to shooting. The Bulgarian, when he finally joins in, is also able to pick up on things quickly. John has a bit more trouble but eventually figures it out well enough to hit the close targets more often than not.

Valerie, on the other hand, is extremely bad at this and even looks down the barrel of her pistol at one point - Texas is quick to grab her arm and stop her from firing. "Phew... I hat t' say, Miss Valkyrie, that ya'in't great at this."

Mikoto shows that she does indeed know her way around a pistol and even joins in helping Texas a bit.

Anne stays in the back and cheers people on.

Texas seems satisfied with everyone's progress - and doesn't try to force Anne to join in.

"Hey, Alice?" Texas calls out. "We're runnin' a bit low on paintballs. Only got 'bout a dozen left. Are there any more in storage?"

"Yes. They will be restocked overnight," the computer's voice rings out over the speakers.

"Hm. Anyway... Ya'll did fine. Most o' ya'll did more'n fine fer first-timers."

Valerie blushes. Mikoto gives John a high-five.

Gain a Trust Fragment between Zarv and Texas

You all head upstairs to dinner and find everyone gathered - including Francois for once. After everyone orders their meals and sit down, Zack speaks up. "So anyone got any interestin' news?"