The first time I met Jason McAllister, he broke my nose with a single punch. After the ensuing scuffle and trip to the emergency room we became, of course, fast friends — nigh inseparable. The last time I saw Jason was in the rear view mirror of his car as he drove away from Los Angeles, never to return. Oh in between that we had a few good times, of course — the countless nights at dive bars, the crazy party after his graduation from the academy… ten years of good times followed by another ten years of silence.
So you can imagine how surprised I was to wake up in the middle of the night to an urgent phone call from none other than Jason McAllister himself, drunk beyond all reason, pleading… begging me to come meet him in Vegas.
The car ride there was long, lonely, dark and cold. The heater in my car had long ago ceased to function and the radio only got one station, which was fine with me up until I lost reception halfway to Vegas. When the radio finally came back on, I was so desperate for some sound besides the quiet drumming of the rain on that I didn’t even mind the fact that it was the weather channel. I immediately clicked the dial up a notch.
… cold front continues to move north. With some areas experiencing up to a near-record 2.5 inches of rain, and no end in sight, this is looking to be the wettest winter on record….
After a few more hours of traveling, I pulled my car into the darkened parking lot of a beat-up office building far off the strip. The lights in the parking lot were broken, casting a pall over the whole place. Fortunately, the flashing neon “Nudes Nudes Nudes” sign across the street did manage to provide me enough light to make it to the door, and I rushed from my car, trench coat wrapped around me in futile defense against the nighttime chill. The wind was more powerful than I had given it credit, and I had to keep one hand tightly clamped on my hat, lest it blow away into the night.
After a short struggle, I made it to the door and, finding it unlocked, heaved myself inside. It was moderately warmer in the hallway, without the wind, but it didn’t amount to much.
I passed by numerous empty offices until I came to the one I was looking for. It stood at the end of the hallway, door closed. The door itself was made of unfinished oak, and I could smell cigarette smoke coming from inside as I made my way closer. A single light flickered through the door’s window as sole testament to the fact that the office was inhabited, obscured only by the flaking white letters emblazoned on the frosted glass.
“Jason McAllister” it said. “Private investigator.”
I was about to call out and knock on the door when I heard a single sharp clicking sound from inside. It was a sound I knew well — the sound of the hammer striking down on a revolver.
I half expected the ringing report of a gunshot, but only silence followed the single click.
Dead silence.
Notes: Please view the comments of this post for a few words from me about how the choices in this one will work
[poll id=41]
One thing to note about this game in particular:
I’m going to do this a slightly different way than last time. Rather than rolling to see the outcomes, and rather than you all making your choices based on how dangerous something sounds, we’re going to do it this way…
You’re not going to die as a result of a choice unless you choose to die. An example of this would be the last choice in Ward32. You will know if the choice will result in death.
Instead, the consequences of the choices are what should be considered. Think more along the lines of “What will this decision mean for the characters” than “Will they survive?”
Also think about what you think the most interesting choice is, and what you would like to see the characters do.
The results of the choices in this one will tend to have more of an impact on the relationships between the characters, the plot, or things like that.
So I guess the long and short of it is — don’t be risk-averse in your choices unless you think it’s what’ the characters would do or unless you think it’s the most interesting choice. Risk aversion will also have an impact on the game in terms of how it affects the characters, the plot, etc…
Very interesting. You’ve left the narrator as a blank, making the choice itself our little bit of characterization. I like that you’ve decided to make the narrator death-immune, as that’ll prevent people from approaching it as a game rather than a collaborative story. Even so, I think it’d be fun to have the narrator be a little cautious, maybe a bit of a weasel. Hence, the information-gathering choice. 😛
Cool idea Mike! It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out with more focus on story.
Personally, I think Jason’s considering suicide. No one holds a gun to your head without saying something. If he knows we’re here then he’ll put it away, but if we jump through the door he might kill himself on accident.
I also wouldn’t want to get mistaken for Jason, just in case someone is waiting for him.
I feel knocking on the door and announcing our presence would be the best course of action because it feels the most Noir of choices. Plus its just good manners to knock. 🙂
I know I’m a bit late on this, but I couldn’t resist voting option A. Heck, the guy could just be messing around with a new toy gun. =)
Well it felt like option B was there just for kicks. 😉 So good choice on A