Rowdy Dead Productions

I’m going to take a moment to say, as unfortunate as it is to have a Hitch, Mitch and a Dutch- I’d like to point-out, they were characters brought in several years apart. The fact that last week, I called ‘Hitch’, ‘Hutch’, for most of the week (long since been fixed) probably added to the confusion. Anyway, I’m not going to change anything- it’s just kind of a funny thing that happened. ty,DD

By David C. Daoust

Gordon Hitch found himself on the lower levels of the Crucible, Halfhul. The noise above, that of the nearby factory–and more, what sounded like a battle, could be heard echoing to his location. It was all more than a bit disconcerting, but at the very least convinced him the Overseer was sufficiently distracted. He made his way through the lower hold which was connected to the factory. Pretty much a warehouse that once stored inordinate amounts of metal. Though, currently, the massive hold lay all but barren.

Gordon sort’a-kind’a had a stride that made you think, ‘Well, this guy– he’s been drinking’. And if you got close enough, there would be that smell that said, ‘Oh yeah, this guy’s been drinking’. But if you were to talk to him, you might actually doubt your first impressions. That is, before he let out a ‘ha!’. A loud boisterous ‘ha!’ that just demanded a double-take. This particular ‘ha!’, would denote the sudden thought of one day catching-up with all those involved— and being like, ‘Ha! ‘member that time we drank a bunch of whiskey… and then saved Halfhul?’ Yeah, that’s the ‘ha!’, That’s the ‘ha!’ we’re looking for.

The bubbly scientist stood as still as he could, despite the fact he kind of swayed in a bit of a whirl as he studied what was standing before him. Now, finding the thing, was a bit less trying than he originally thought. This was because it was, in fact, more like an extra spacecraft, stored within the massive hold. But only, like, a little craft… Like a flying saucer, really. He supposed it made sense, installing it on site wouldn’t really be an option, considering they had infiltrated a fairly active station… that they, really, had no rights to.

Why, exactly, the small saucer was not secured? Didn’t really phase his drunken mind as he made his way up the narrow descended ramp, that led into the heart of the craft. It was an interesting construction, if overly simple. It was just a long hall all the way around the circular ring. On the opposite side there was a small opening into the center of the craft. Inside was a fairly massive server. He had to assume this was, in fact, the ‘Monolith’.

Gordon did not expect the server to be so big. It took up most of the small central chamber. Stood the height of the ship, more like a pillar. A constant hum of power could be witnessed. There was a sudden intake of air, and then the following release… like a massive monster taking a breath. He realized there must be some fairly impressive cooling systems required to keep it all running efficiently.

Getting aboard was one thing, shutting it down… meh… It looked a lot more complex than what he had expected.

Ultimately, he decided that he probably needed a bit more whiskey for that.

It was as he puzzled-out how his flask became a ‘community flask’, that he heard the footsteps coming around the outer ring. The footfalls echoed a bit throughout, until they came to an abrupt end as the figure appeared at the opening to the server room.

Gordon, sure as hell, was not going to be able to make a run for it. He was pretty much stuck. He decided to stand as still as he could… which, of course, led to another whirl of a sway.

“Gordon?” the male voice said, a look of complete astonishment crossed his face.

“Ha!” Hitch said, as, previously established, he was wont to do. He then, innocently, launched into some bullshit, “Mitch! Buddy? What in the world are you doing here?”