DEPLOYMENT 4: We Built This City on Blood and Gore

[walking_nuke]

[ACTION - A (Outside Mayfield Dairy, OPEN TO ALL)]

[On his first day in Mayfield, Caesar had asked Balin if he had any explosives or powers strong enough to destroy an armored building, referring to the attack made on the Dairy back in March. So today, while Mayfield is temporarily without a police chief, Balin is outside the Mayfield Dairy.]

[He

Comments

B

[deaths_heritor]

[Susan has been here long enough to know who belongs in the school and who doesn't, somewhat courtesy of her unique talents. Now, in the middle of summer vacation? No one does, really. Not even her. But the high school English teacher had needed to retrieve a few books for some students who hadn't been able to get ahold of the summer reading.]

School is out of session for the summer. If you've been assigned to be an instructor next year, come back in September.

[walking_nuke]

[Balin looks up from some of the supply cabinets.]

Oh, I ain't assigned here; I work over at'a construction yard. [He jerks his head in its general direction.]

I was lookin' for one of'a teachers to talk to, actually-[Stupid question time!]-you ain't droned, right?

[deaths_heritor]

[Susan's eyes flick upward a bit.]

Certainly, black hooded cloaks are standard attire for the average female drone. Of course I'm not.

Did you want to tell me why you're sticking your head in the flammables cabinet?

[walking_nuke]

[Balin shrugs off the sarcasm. It was better to be sure! He does come from the "nuke the site from orbit" school of thought after all.]

Yeah, I was wonderin' if it'd be possible for me to get some lab time here, when school ain't in session. I haven't seen any major industry here in Mayfield, an' I've got some chemistry projects I wanna work on.

[deaths_heritor]

You're not going to get much out of a high school laboratory, I'm afraid. The students aren't even allowed to handle muriatic acid without supervision; there's not much more of interest beside that.

Planning to splash the Mayor with something nasty, I assume?

[walking_nuke]

[Hey, that might be a good idea! Balin can't help but snicker at that suggestion.]

Well, yeah, I figure I ain't gonna find all'a chemicals I'm gonna need in here, but this is prolly'a only place in town that's got'a proper labware for'a job.

I've been lookin' into possible sources for'a chemicals around town-not sure I can get all'a it, but what I'm plannin' on doin', I can't do with a home chemistry kit.

[deaths_heritor]

You wouldn't be the first person who tried something of the sort. If you're looking for permission, you're welcome to use the classroom. Though it's not as if I have any say over the matter. Feel free to make as many exploding wine bottles and bombs as you'd like; just mind that the drones don't catch you.

Where, exactly, are there vats of chemicals sitting around town, by the way?

[walking_nuke]

[Balin nods.]

That's good permission as any; how do they do class rotation here? Like, is there an undroned teacher in one of'ese labs for most of'a work day? Someone I know who ain't gonna snitch.

An' it ain't really vats of chemicals I'm after. Sometimes you can get what you need from other sources, like commercial products. Just a question of whether or not it's in a form that's easily obtainable.

[He glances back over the classroom proper.]

Provided you got'a right tools for'a job, of course.

[deaths_heritor]

The chemistry teachers have always been drones in the past. Things may change, but you might consider waiting until after the normal school day to use the facilities.

I don't envy you if you plan to extract fluoride from toothpastes or something along those lines. You might be better swapping your regains at the post office.

[walking_nuke]

[Balin snickers at that.]

Oh, no, for most of it, it ain't gonna be that crazy. It's like-okay, take Hexamine. You can get that in an almost pure form from'a fuel tablets they make for campers. They've been makin' em since'a Thirties, I'm pretty sure'a stores around here'll carry 'em.

[deaths_heritor]

[Susan had received full marks in two subjects in school: science and mathematics. There is a pause for a moment or two as she recalls the material she had once learned. Hexamines were used in plastics and rubbers and well. Fuel campers.]

May I ask what it is, exactly, you're planning to make?

[walking_nuke]

{Well, there's no use in hiding it. Might as well be honest, especially since this is a school we're talking about ...]

Explosive compounds. RDX mostly, TNT'll probably not be an option.

[A pause.]

I'm a military engineer back home. Or rather, my MOS is Demolitionist.

[deaths_heritor]

[Having never heard of most of those terms before, Susan manages to catch on fairly quickly, anyway.]

You blow things up for a living.

Try not to include the school in that, if you can.

[walking_nuke]

Yeah, pretty much. Maybe not "for a living," though I woulda been a salt miner if things turned out differently, so-I guess it'd've been'a same all around.

But believe me, miss, I don't wanna kill anyone with 'em that doesn't deserve it. That's one reason why I ain't touchin' dynamite with a mile-long pole.

[He offers a small grin at that.]

[deaths_heritor]

[Susan offers a grim grin in return. It's not very reassuring.]

I would save you some trouble and assure you that no physical force in the world could harm our captors, but you're not going to believe me until you try it personally.

Just be careful.

[walking_nuke]

[Balin shrugs.]

I actually wasn't thinkin' about tryin'a blow up'a Mayor directly. I got some other ideas in mind ... home defense bein' one of 'em, considerin'a "spring culling" that happened a while back.

Either way, I'd rather try an' fail than not try at all. I'm gonna rattle my cage at least.