I'm a Villager - Get Me Out Of Here!

[Capisaria]

Pierre was still a bit annoyed that his Government hadn't alerted him of a disease outbreak. He walked away from the guards, all the while murmuring to himself some cussing. He did not notice the two onlookers.

[Altruistic Paladins]

"Hey Mr. Moreau. May I ask you some questions about what's going on?"

[Northern Europia]

Jacob looked back the way he had come. Mrs. Figgis had just yelled at him about being a kid and how eating candy rots your teeth and , well you get the picture. Once again he thought, stupid woman. He was 14 not 7, and he was tired of the "Elders" telling him what to do. Walking down the street his Blackberry started ringing. He answered it and was surprised by who it was from. It was also a very unusual message.

[Capisaria]

Moreau was taken aback. "Um, sure, no problem" he said in a thick french accent.

[Altruistic Paladins]

"Here's the first question. Do you know who was infected and what they were infected with?"

[Capisaria]

"No one seems to know that. Either one. I can tell you we are under lockdown for a undefined period of time."

[Asterdan]

Austin had just finished a match with the strongest Irishman in the Village. Austin had won. He walked around the village, smiling as he passed girls, looking for his girl.

[Altruistic Paladins]

"Damnations. If you get any information on that, tell me. I'm going to have to work." Miura was now running back his house, seeing as he'd need to get some heavier gear to deal with the threat, one involving bio-steel. He had kept the gear from his time in Pararescue, some of which were military biohazard uniforms, which would allow them protection in areas where bullets or deadly pathogens could exist. He needed to get that, as somebody may just open fire on him, looking the way he is, so he was going to get that and that M1014 shotgun he had and the XREP rounds for it, alongside the H&K 416, 96A1, and rubber bullets should he need to defend himself, though he decided to call the sheriff's office about this to ensure they don't open fire on him. He soon realized it would be better to send Nova, the communications robot, to help him. Nova would be a platform to allow him to speak from his house. He was now outside his house/labrotory/testing/grounds/hospital, and was soon going to enter.

[Northern Europia]

The message was from Dr. Miura, it read: "Prince, do you know do you who was infected, and what they were infected with, any info is appreciated."

Jacob went to work. He quickly typed out on his Blackberry:"Doc, it was Hargreaves, havent identfied disease yet, will work on that. J.Prince"

[Johz]

The chorus of singing and general inebriated merriment was louder than usual, probably due to the quarantine. It is always a lot easier to be raucous when you've got something to be raucous about. Someone suggested something about going down to the barrier and trying to get through, although what they would do when they got to the neighbouring Thinister was never decided. The crowd of men, a couple of weaker ones staggering as their bodies attempted to cope with multiple pints of a drink containing over 100% alcohol. Most of them, however, were hardened drinkers, and able to cope with many pints of liquor coursing through their veins with little more ill effect than a slight penchant to laugh more than necessary.

By now, surrounding the Village, the WA had erected a large fence, about three metres high, running right round the Village. At the top of this had been placed electrified barbed wire. On the other side of the barbed wire, mines had also been placed, as well as a series of brutal looking man pits. In concession to the fact that this all might look a bit, well, harsh, someone had put a sign on the gates guarding the two main entrances to the Village, reading "From the WA with love."

There were four guards on duty when the Pub Army arrived. After some whispered discussion, one of the men stepped forwards, and called out through the gates.
"Hey, you, can you, ah, let us through? Er... please."
"I'm afraid not sir."
The lone man stepped back into the throng. There was some whispered discussion. He stepped out again.
"Sorry to bother you again, only, if you don't let us through, we'll have to break through."
"If you break through, sadly, to avoid an outbreak of your extremely rare and contagious disease, I will have to shoot you. And then burn the body," he added as an afterthought.
The man looked at the high fence and the barbed wire on top, and then down at the guard's gun, then back up at the guard's hardened, but nonetheless quite pleasant face.

"Can we come back tomorrow?"

It wasn't until later that three of Mr Ellis' best friends would realise that he was missing. They would rush back to his house, knocking at the door frantically. When there was no response, they would break through the back way, burst upstairs, and check the bed. And there, in just a couple of hours, they would find Mr Ellis' still-warm body.

---

Miss Ellie looked up from filing a particularly complex tax relief form as Mr Newman marched in, clutching his laptop, and looking ecstatic.
"Miss Ellie, I have found help."
She looked at him, blankly. This sort of behaviour was odd, even for him.
"Help! A group of scientists have promised to help us find a cure! Here, look at this e-mail."
She looked.
"We are saved, saved I tell you! Just wait until I tell Mrs Figgis that I've saved the Village."
Miss Ellie returned to her filing as Mr Newman danced back out. Request due to misplaced keys, should that come under L for loss, or D for downright idiocy?

[Altruistic Paladins]

After getting any potential contaminates of the suit, he had gotten the message about who was infected. He knew who was infected, and now it was a matter of sending Nova over to see just what the disease is. He got the robot set up, and soon Nova drove out the building, headed to the clinic to ask what were the symptons displayed by him. The robot was already en-route, so now he just had to wait for the robot to drive its way to the clinic. He decided to use his free-time to set up the clinic for infected people, while also putting the finishing touches on that powered exoskeleton he was building.

[Capisaria]

Moreau headed back to his office to fill out some paperwork to get out of Johz.

[Gilfersgrad]

The day had started well for Gregg Cook. He'd woken up at 6:00 after an excellent night's sleep, gone for his usual 1-mile jog, and for breakfast, instead of his typical bowl of Cheerios, he'd opted for a pancake breakfast at the cafe, where he'd hit it off so well with one of the waitresses that he'd managed to set up a date for later that night. Walking home, he'd found inspiration for his latest short story after spotting some birds twittering in the treetops, and had set to work immediately with the notebook he never left home without, and by the time he made it home, he felt he had the groundwork for his fourth Village Literature Prize. In fact, he was in such a good cheer that he decided to attend church, which wasn't something he did often, as he felt there were better things he could be doing in that time, such as not being bored to death. Today, however, he figured that the way his luck was going now, the local vicar would probably say something interesting, perhaps even relevant.

He was right on both counts.

As he was walking out of the church, much less cheerful than when he'd entered, he reflected on what he had just heard. The village had been quarantined. The village had been quarantined. THE VILLAGE HAD BEEN QUARANTINED. This made his simple life complicated for a number of reasons. He had friends who lived out of town he might never see again. He'd been thinking of taking a novel he'd been working on to a publishing house, of which there were a grand sum of none in Johz, so he could say goodbye to that. But last and most assuredly not least, he had a job at a pastry shop in Thinister. While the first two points were merely important, the last one was vital. He could still keep in touch with his friends, and a publishing deal was just an ego thing. But if he couldn't get to his job, he was pretty much screwed. He'd have to either get another job, or live like Jim, and he knew which he'd prefer. The trouble with getting another job, was that while the pay at the pastry shop was just OK, the truth was he wasn't sure he could work anywhere else. He'd had FUN at the pastry shop, more than anyplace else he'd worked. And to Gregg Cook, "What's most fun is most important!", a point frequently made in his stories. In Johz, the only comparable job would working for Mr. Malestrom at the bakery, and to his knowledge, Malestrom wasn't...

aprentice baker needed, average pay, and companionship with a jolly baker offered

wasn't...

aprentice baker needed

wasn't...

aprentice baker

...

Gregg ran to the bakery as fast as his legs would carry him, stopping only twice: once after tripping on a bit of uneven sidewalk, suffering some bad scrapes on his knees, elbows and face, and again after realizing he didn't remember the bakery was, and having to ask a bemused villager for directions. Upon arriving at the bakery, he burst through the front door shouting "IMHEREABOUTTHEAPPRENTICEPOSITION", before leaning against the counter and breathing heavily.

[Kalebstanbul]

-applause-

[Altruistic Paladins]

Nova was catching Gregg's outburst, which entertained Miura to no ends that he had gotten there in time to see that, especially because Nova got the looks of his face as he was going through making that decision, which was definately going to be saved by him due to being too funny. He decided to have Nova follow him there, as he could go for one of Gregg's yellow cakes with whipped chocolate frosting. Should he not get the job, he probably would tell Gregg about his secret tunnel to the outside world, either that, or use the overfunding of his lab to hire him as a baker for his now newly expanded cooking science division, now including Miura and potentially Gregg should he hire him, as Miura was the only competent chef in his entire lab, and do science experiments about cooking and baking and put cooking and baking myths to the test, and also their baker, which would ensure they get their baked goods fresh from the oven. Miura generally was a good chef and baker, using science to work out how to make great foods, but he liked Greggs cakes because he generally had more secrets to his baking than he let on, which produced cakes which were different, but still enjoyable for his tastes, it just being different and being presented better, as Gregg made food that was also meant for people who would "eat with their eyes," as Miura and his hero of the cooking world would say, something they both would let the food itself do, but he still appreciated it as long as it didn't get in the way of the food. He could put saving the village on hold for yellow-cake of a different type than he uses in his science experiments. If Miura didn't hire him, he could probably still get a higher amount of pay for Gregg and better benefits, or he could get him hired with great amounts of pay and benefits, either way, Gregg's going to be happy. Nova rolled into the store, prepared to make a counter-offer to Gregg.

[Gilfersgrad]

Nova was catching Gregg's outburst, which entertained Miura to no ends that he had gotten there in time to see that, especially because Nova got the looks of his face as he was going through making that decision, which was definately going to be saved by him due to being too funny. He decided to have Nova follow him there, as he could go for one of Gregg's yellow cakes with whipped chocolate frosting. Should he not get the job, he probably would tell Gregg about his secret tunnel to the outside world, either that, or use the overfunding of his lab to hire him as a baker for his now newly expanded cooking science division, now including Miura and potentially Gregg should he hire him, as Miura was the only competent chef in his entire lab, and do science experiments about cooking and baking and put cooking and baking myths to the test, and also their baker, which would ensure they get their baked goods fresh from the oven. Miura generally was a good chef and baker, using science to work out how to make great foods, but he liked Greggs cakes because he generally had more secrets to his baking than he let on, which produced cakes which were different, but still enjoyable for his tastes, it just being different and being presented better, as Gregg made food that was also meant for people who would "eat with their eyes," as Miura and his hero of the cooking world would say, something they both would let the food itself do, but he still appreciated it as long as it didn't get in the way of the food. He could put saving the village on hold for yellow-cake of a different type than he uses in his science experiments. If Miura didn't hire him, he could probably still get a higher amount of pay for Gregg and better benefits, or he could get him hired with great amounts of pay and benefits, either way, Gregg's going to be happy. Nova rolled into the store, prepared to make a counter-offer to Gregg.

OOC: What the hell is Nova? My response will be based around your description of it.

[Altruistic Paladins]

OoC: Nova is a robot I heard about on the news. Nova is a slender and thin robot, looking sleek and almost like most of it is made of flexible, interlocking tubes, is 4'10, and is remote operated, it looks thin, almost tube-like, and works as a method of remote communication, having cameras, sound-capturing devices, speakers, and a monitor where one would expect the head to be at, showing the other end of the conversation, which will be Miura in a labcoat at his lab.

[Gilfersgrad]

Gregg turned when he heard an odd whirring behind him, and found himself face to..TV-head with a queer little contraption that had just rolled in. It was maybe a foot shorter than Gregg himself, moved on little tank treads, and looked very expensive. So it was probably Dr. Katsumoto's. If it was, then there was only one real course of action: Look the other way, and hope it didn't involve him. So he did, continuing to stand at the counter and wait for Malestrom.

[Crumlark]

And that is when Malestrom finally got out of bed.... His hangover long gone, he remained in bed for what seemed like a week, beacuse it almost was one.
And that is when Malestrom saw the young, dashing boy leaning against the counter, dust having gathered on him and this odd robot... It almost seemed like he got drunk before he even left his bed. To the boy Malestrom simply asked
"What can I get you young chap? I would suggest the day old bread, but now its a week old! Har har har....(sigh). Anyway, the Newberry muffins for the day are being baked, if you would like one, I would give it to you for free." After this, Malestrom began puffing his hat while giviing the boy a toothy grin

And then Malestrom saw the boy was in fact, covered in dust, almost like he didnt move for a month. "Hello?"
Malstrom asked, stopping what he was doing to look at the boy carefully.

[Gilfersgrad]

Malestrom walking up had woken Gregg, who felt he'd finally managed to master the art of sleeping with one's eyes open while standing up. Startled, he backed away from the counter but moved up again after seeing who it was and said, "Oh, I'm not here to buy, Mr. Malestrom, in fact, I'd like to be your apprentice! Sign said you were lookin' so I came as quick as I could!", he finished, a bit wobbly after standing up for so long. He moved over to a chair and sat down, taking note of the odd TV-head robot that was still just sitting there, which was a bit creepy.

[Altruistic Paladins]

"The robot's name would be R. Nova. If you didn't guess, I am one of the town's distinctively odd number of mad scientists, with me being Doctor Katsumoto. I was going to ask if I could hire you, though it seems I may be doing it in the wrong place. I would like to hire you to expand our baking science division so as to ensure I'm not the only person that's a part of it, though it would probably be rude to try to hire you in front of a person trying to hire a baker such as yourself."

[Crumlark]

"Anyway... I guess your first job will be.... Hmmmmm.... Aha! Go take down the help wanted sign would you? I would be greatful to to have a small talk with the robot about some things if you dont mind, after your done with that, the fun part comes." Malstrom said all the while laughing heartily. The timer for the Newberry muffins beeped noisily, making Malestrom go to the kitchen, a short while later, an explosion of flour enveloped the entire bakery.

[Capisaria]

Pierre had finished his morning walk and returned to his home.

[Gilfersgrad]

Turning to the robot (which he just now noticed showed Dr. Katsumoto), Gregg said, "Thanks for the offer, Doctor, but quite frankly, I don't wanna work for you. The term 'baking science' freaks me out, and I don't wanna think I'm making something just so you can "evaluate" it, or whatever it is you do. Malestrom doesn't have a lab. He doesn't have divisions. He has himself, his floppy hat, and his customers. And that's another thing, who's going to eat anything I make if I work for you. You? Malestrom's is the only bake shop in Johz, he's the only person that works here, and he's not a young man. So, sorry, but Malestrom needs me a lot more than you do, Doc." Content that he'd said what he wanted to, he turned to Malestrom and said, "Ok, I'm done flappin' my gums. You said you wanted that sign brought in? Right-o, I'll be back in a jiffy.", and walked out of the store.

[Altruistic Paladins]

"Where is that audio clip I had for if he said no? What was the overly verbose response that was part of it?"

"NOOOOO!"

"I was wondering where I put that "Big No" audio file. I understand why you said no, and I'm fine with that. Once you get to work, may I buy a pound cake, and be your first served customer?"