Bluff City 29: Extracurricular: Out Of Time Pt. 3

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Overview

Episode (must be logged into Patreon to view)

Episode Description

TEN HEADLINES FROM THE CITY SILHOUETTE

WEDNESDAY EDITION, PAGES THREE, FOUR, FIVE

Meteorologists Insist Horizon Lights Grow Closer, Are Rebuffed

Four Harmed As Red Shipping Container Falls From “Magnetic Crane”

At Last! Empress Egret Eggs Spotted; Birdwatchers Strictly Prohibited

Shock As Exhumers Find Straw And Clay Fills Catafalque Memorial

Tarmac Melts. Temperature Impossibly Warm

Boardwalk Resurfacing Efforts Frustrated By Equipment Malfunction

Two White Feathers Found In All Mailboxes West Of Stoplight

Drainage Systems Fail Throughout The City. Union Efforts Blamed

Bavette’s! All The Lightness You Need!

City Museum Of Natural History Closes Grasslands Exhibition Early

Opening Narration

There is no opening narration to this episode. Instead it is a recap of the previous episode.

Music

Extracurricular: Out of Time by Jack de Quidt.

Cast

Plot

Chanti asks Gale Green if she knows anything about the water pump. Gale does (she was asked to join in on it, in fact, but declined due to a lack of interest in “real estate”), and says that it is connected to The Tunnel Project.

Meanwhile out in the party, Caitlin is continuing to get party gossip from Alexandra, and begins to steer the conversation towards Hollis. Alexandra sees through her ruse, saying that she would rather Caitlin just ask her directly (“don’t play games. And at this point I don’t know that I’ll answer anyway”).

Barry, one of the doormen, re-enters the party saying that the police (“cop goons”) have arrived and are asking for her directly, telling her that he’s happy to cover for her but that she should leave. Caitlin asks Alexandra if they can meet up later to talk, and Alexandra says that if Caitlin is leaving now she will accompany her (despite the risk of the situation). Caitlin meets Chanti and Elana on her way out and tells them that they need to leave.

The group attempts to sneak out of the party while avoiding the cops. Elana and Chanti reach the car, but realise that the valets have trapped the car in, with no easy or safe way to drive it out. While they are deliberating the best way to get it out, a cop gets close to them, calling out to the others that he thinks he’s spotted one of them.

Caitlin uses her power to quickly portal herself away, switching rooms multiple times to confuse them. While flicking through the rooms, a wrecking ball smashes through one of the walls. She teleports to the parking lot, where Elana is attempting to lift the car out with her super-strength (“wow,” remarks Alexandra, “she’s strong.”).

They speed away from the party, heading towards the highway exit that will lead them back to Blough City, dodging a security checkpoint and losing the cops in the city streets. Caitlin is wary of going back to the Grand Canary, as the cops seemed to know who she was and where she was going, and she is unsure if the Whitaker family’s protection will still apply. They discuss who might have tipped off the cops, believing that someone at the party is most likely, as no one knew where they were going before they arrived, or via superpowers of their own.

Chanti suggests that they try to find the tunnel itself, as that might hold some broader answers. Alexandra offers to lead them there, and the group heads back out of the city. As they drive, Alexandra says that she knows that Elana and Chanti are not from there, which Elana freely admits to. Alexandra expresses some knowledge of Bluff City, but when Elana asks her why it’s “so weird [in Blough City”, Alexandra declines to answer (“if I told you, I’d have to tell Miss Key, and I think that would be a little too much for her”).

They arrive at the location of the pump. Chanti seeks out some local birds to talk to (a Scrub Jay). The Scrub Jay says that big trucks have been by, and that it has seen something big, “like a big spider” which has stabbed and burnt them (“they hurt birds, they hurt us”). Chanti passes on what she’s heard, and the group discusses their next move. Chanti wants to find the tunnel, Elana wants to bring the fight to the cops (“we should go to the tunnel and start punching people there, or go back to town and start punching people there”), and Caitlin is wary of both options. They eventually settle on searching for the tunnel, although Caitlin warns them on getting into a fight with the cops, since she knows the danger of them in Blough City (“we could get captured or studied or put to work service”).
As Grouse talks to various ground birds for more information, Alexandra and Elana talk about going to other

cities. The conversation feels weird to Caitlin because of how specific Alexandra is being about the places she’s been. It also becomes clear that the version of Bluff City she is familiar with predates Chanti and Elana by a long amount of time (as she is unfamiliar with cellphones and email).

They locate the tunnel, which is in a quarry and is in full mining operation. It is distinct from other locations in Blough City as its layout is unique. Elana says that their best course of action is to break something, and Caitlin and Alexandra attempt to talk her out of it, eventually aided by Chanti. Chanti suggests that they look for a foreman’s office to look for documents.

Alexandra prompts the discussion towards the tunnel, telling the others that the tunnel is responsible for the changes that have occurred in Blough City. Caitlin says that now she is on board with Elana breaking something in order to destroy the machinery.

Elana, still notably wearing an evening gown, eventually settles on talking to the workers, telling them that she’s a representative of their boss and that their boss has said that production is to be shut down. Chanti grabs the nearest clipboard and stands behind Elana, flipping through the pages and attempting to look authoritative to add strength to Elana’s words. The workers do not buy it.

Elana goes to her plan B - kicking off her fancy shows, running to the closest piece of machinery (an excavator) and punching it, leaving a big dent in the side. The workers rush up to her and one of them attempts to tackle her, but Elana sees it coming and is able to easily dodge him. Caitlin joins the fight, using her portal abilities to flick around to hit the workers and then jump back out of reach. One of the workers, Ben, hits Elana with a pipe and this time they’re successful, hitting her harder than a “normal” person should be able to. Chanti sends a bird to peck at Ben’s eyes, but he grabs the bird and holds onto it.

The worksite devolves into chaos, with other workers running around, fleeing, and panicking while the fight continues.

Caitlin uses her portals to get herself close to Elana and Chanti so that she can use her force field powers to protect them. Caitlin kicks at one of the workers, Sven, but misses and he yells at her (“we should throw you in a hole”). Sven attempts to hit her back but also misses.

Elana manages to hit Ben on the jaw, knocking him out cold and getting her hand stuck in the excavator. In the confusion of the fight, Chanti almost strikes out at someone just running by and shakes herself, as she only wants to harm people who are involved in the fight. Caitlin teleports over to Elana to help her out of the excavator.

One of the workers pulls out a revolver in an attempt to halt to the fight, but he seems too scared to really come off as threatening. Elana grabs the gun and crushes it in her hand (“just go home”). He asks who sent them and Elana says “it’s just us” (“justice?”).

The worker is concerned about halting the work, as any delay or damage will come out of their paycheques. Elana tells him to get his boss to pay for it, and the worker says that although the idea for the tunnel came from the Whitkers, Nebraskas and the Verandanzas that it is now a City project, which surprises Elana.

He asks if they’re heard about the black widow (“I’m going to say a little bird told me and you’re going to think I’m fucking with you but…”), and Elana says that she can take her, and whoever else they send after her (“you’re gonna put me out of work you do such a good job protecting people”). Caitlin tells him to leave, finally convincing him.

With the workers gone, they explore the work site. Chanti checks on the birds in the mine - they’re fine, although uncommunicative. Caitlin checks the foreman’s office, finding that the paperwork is in order than that the Tunnel Project seems to be above board, with Merisi assigned to the job as the police contact. Merisi is supposed to be alerted is a Whittaker or one of their associates shows up she is supposed to be alerted and called to deal with the situation. Caitlin is familiar with the black widow aka Lieutenant Merisi, as they used to work together prior to the parade.

She realises that what happened with Hollis is that the police were alerted to his presence and they thought he was a bootlegger, and Merisi was called in to deal with the situation, which she did by killing all the cops who had arrived.