Go your way, and save your pity; Epitaph for a Darling City

[Alana]

It's a cool spring evening, and you've just stepped into an alleyway. The streets are brightly lit behind you, yellow storefronts and golden streetlamps pouring their buttery light over the cold white glare of headlights and screens.

In the alleyway, the artificial noon-brightness fades into the softening blue of evening. The buildings dull the noise of the city, and you take a deep breath of air tinged with gasoline, dust, and fried food.



What is your name?

----------
Linklog:

show spoiler

hide spoiler

• Archives on my LJ, for easy catching up.

[Aelyrin]

> You don't have a name and never had any use for one.

[TheEmptypot]

>Eliza Daley

[Alana]

For a moment you wonder what it would be like to not have a name, to be just another person in the streets. A name can be a burden-- it can be an enemy, even. You're not the sort of person who wants enemies.

Of course, you do have a name. A perfectly good one, at that.



Your name is Eliza Daley.

You've always liked your name. The first half, at least. The second half… well, we don't need to get into that just now. But your mother picked the first half, and it's not a burden to have something like that from her.

What do you want to do?

[FrostCollar]

>Go your way, and save your pity of course.

>Examine surroundings. Also remind yourself why you are in an alleyway at dusk.

[TheEmptypot]

This looks pretty promising already.

>Explore! Rummage through your coat pockets! Try and remember what you're doing outside in the first place!

[Varkarrus]

> Consume your own legs for sustenance.

[Alana]

It's an alleyway. Around the corner of one of the buildings, more buttery streetlight soaks into the grey concrete.



There's nothing particularly special about this alley, except, perhaps, its relative lack of trash. That's probably why you were told to come to this one.

You open your inventory.



You can't see a damn thing through this. :\

You are currently carrying YOUR WALLET, a KEY, and your HANDHELD HOLOCOMPUTER. There are FIVE more slots in your inventory. You are not wielding a WEAPON, because you were told not to.

You're not hungry. You're too nervous to be.

What will you do while waiting?

[Aelyrin]

> Play on the monkey bars! (that ladder)
> Can you open that door?

[PumpkinAppearifier]

>listen Carefully for anyone that may be approaching. if there is someone coming, hide behind that dumpster!

[FrostCollar]

>listen Carefully for anyone that may be approaching. if there is someone coming, hide behind that dumpster!

Also, recall particulars of conversation in which you were told to come here.

[Alana]

This is incredibly fun!

You don't want to try the door, you don't know exactly who's going to be on the other side. You'll wait for them to open it.

While waiting, you wander back towards the entrance of the alley, making sure no one's spying on you. The street outside is still busy, and the valley of concrete and dusk you're in is still utterly ignored.

It took a lot of work to get this invitation. It wasn't difficult work, really, but it was risky, and parts of it went against your grain-- the parts where you sucked up to your father, especially. His mild surprise at your sudden interest in The Company, after nineteen years of trying to hold it as distant as you could, was eclipsed by his pride in his genes finally surfacing in more than the color of your hair.

Your false eagerness hid the sickness in your stomach that was summoned by his pride.

After months and months of leaking plans and documents to your contact, though, it finally happened. You've taken one more swing across the monkey bar-- er, one more step up the ladder-- in the long and terrifying path to becoming part of the maligned and hunted few who had strong enough drives to try and expose DaleyCo's misdeeds and wrongdoings.



The door begins to open, and you duck into the crevice between buildings, spooked by the sudden light and your own thoughts of being caught-- the dumpster is too far away to get behind in time!



You are now this slightly confused woman. What is your name?

[FrostCollar]

>Sarah Locke

[PumpkinAppearifier]

>Demiah Venice

[Alana]

You are Sarah Demiah Locke, and you thought you heard someone out here.



Maybe it was a cat.

Or maybe it was that Daley girl who'd been so helpful over the past few months, despite her tainted lineage. She was supposed to be here sometime soon, but there's no sign of her right now.

Or maybe it was the cops, brought here by the Daley girl. Always a possibility. That's why you made sure to pick a spot you'd never left incriminating evidence at, not that that'll stop them from arresting you on suspicion of disagreement.

What should you do?

[FrostCollar]

>It's never just a cat. Have a look around.

[Aelyrin]

> Take a quick look around, then head for the monkey bars. : D

[Dfaran]

>Proceed cautiously.

[Alana]

Better safe than sorry. You wander into the alleyway, keeping your eye sharp and your ears sharper.



The grumble and groan of the city and the bleached spiritless light of it grind against your ears and eye, your shoes a soft whisper over the concrete and nearly lost to the ambient noise.

Nearly lost, but not entirely, just like the startled breathing from that narrow gap between buildings.



Come on out, kid, you're not fooling anyone.

What should Sarah and Eliza do?

[Alana]

That's probably the last post for the night, I have a bajillion pages of literature I've been putting off. I'll make a big update sometime tomorrow.

[<Kind]

Sarah: Prepare to run, but whisper the codephrase first.

[winglessDrake]

>Engage in sloppy makeouts.

I mean,

Eliza> Time to get to work, kiddo. Leave the shadows and speak your half of the secret code. That you obviously have, because all secret agents have secret codes.

Alana> Write an awesome forum adventure OH WAIT YOU ALREADY ARE!

[PumpkinAppearifier]

>Sarah: Retrieve Arms from Dumpster

...what?

>Eliza: Pretend you were looking for something in that alleyway then come out and act like the hiding never happened

>Sarah: Wonder if shes ready to take this all a bit more seriously

[Aelyrin]

>Sarah: Retrieve Arms from Dumpster

...what?

>Eliza: Pretend you were looking for something in that alleyway then come out and act like the hiding never happened

>Sarah: Wonder if shes ready to take this all a bit more seriously

I like all of this.

[Alana]

You already have arms. You're missing an eye, not limbs, wiseass.

The girl steps out of the shadows, nervously.



You stay cautious as you greet the girl.

Eliza, I presume.

Y-yes. Um...

Drop something in there?

... Yeah, my wallet. But I've got it now.



Good. Come on, kid, let's get inside.

Don't you need the password…?

… This isn't a secret clubhouse, kid, I know who's supposed to be here and who isn't.

But he told me...

Oh. Yeah, he would mess with you.

...

Are we going to stand here all day, kid?

S-sorry!

She follows you inside.



You've got to admit, she's pretty cute. You were surprised when you found out that she, of all the Daley children, was the one who was rebelling-- the gossip rags and news reports about the most powerful man in the city rarely painted her as anything at all, and when they did mention her, she was described as a bit of a fainting flower, a shy girl with no aspirations towards anything interesting.

Even now, she definitely looks shy and meek, but her info has been holding out for months now, on every significant front you've used it on. There's been no reason to doubt her sincerity.