Saturday at the Farmers’ Market
Michael
The Alemany Farmers' Market in 1973 is a mix of old-school truck farmers from out in Sonoma and Marin who've been selling their wares here since the "Victory Gardens" of World War II and smaller-scale commune-type "organic" farms who are trying to appeal and cater to the desires of the hippie and young urban professional populations of the Bay Area to buy foods made without pesticides and harmful additives and industrial fertilizers.
The market is busy, it's a warm late July afternoon, and in addition to the farmer stalls, which are all very full today, there's some stuff for the kids: face-painting, balloons, an earnest-looking pair of folk singers on a makeshift stage, ice cream vendors, etc. Jane probably will go off to do her own browsing, while Eddie will make a dash for the ice cream. Charley is also free to wander about (within reason, hey '70s parenting while you're a secret agent and your kid is one too), leaving Archie and Melanie mostly on their own to shop for produce and chat.
"You haven't had one of those late-night emergency meetings in a while, hon," Melanie says about last night's 9:30 pm confab. "I hope everything's all right."
As Charley wanders off, she sees a wooden folding table set up near the parking lot, across from the farmers' trucks, with a couple of picket signs propped up against it, placards and a few clipboards with petitions on them. The four people staffing the table include two older Chicanos, a man and a woman in their 40s or 50s, and two young white people who look pretty much like fresh-faced college students. "UNITED FARM WORKERS DEMAND FAIR CONTRACT," their signs say in various permutations in both English and Spanish. Charley sees Jane wander over to their table and start leafing through their brochures and chatting with the college students. Mel, Charley can give me a Shadowing-13 roll.
Mel
>>>> SUCCESS by 3
Michael
As Charley observes Jane interacting with and questioning the farm labor petitioners from a distance, Charley sees emerge from the truck parking area a group of four large, rough-looking men, exiting the cabs and trailers of some recently-arrived trucks. Two carry tire chains, one has a crowbar, and a fourth is purposefully dragging a sledgehammer across the pavement. They are making their way insistently through the market crowd towards the signing table. Towards Jane.
Mel
(Would Charley have enough time to run to their trucks and have an action before they reach the table? And get Jane’s attention before that?)
Michael
Hey, Charley has Running-10! You can roll that; a failure won't mean anything bad necessarily, just that Charley might be winded after dashing over to their trucks. And how would you like to get Jane's attention?
Mel
As or before Charley makes a bee-line for the trucks she shouts, “Jane! Jane! Get dad now!!” And gestures to the thugs.
>>>> FAILURE by 1
Darn an 11
Michael
Jane looks up and turns around to see Charley already running towards the parking lot; Jane then sees the Teamster press coming her way. Jane is wrong-footed for a moment, clearly thinking about going to get Dad.... but then she stands up strong from her crouch by the signing table as the four truckers walk up to the table. The college students back up together taking a few fearful steps back with their backs to the farm pickup truck that brought them here. The farm workers, however, stand up tall, silently and grimly assessing this threat. The woman farm worker grips the table nervously. One of the Teamsters takes a swipe at the table with a heavy tire chain, knocking its leg out from underneath it; the crowbar Teamster sweeps the leaflets and petitions onto the ground. The assembled shoppers and witnesses around this display of violence mutter and a couple shout, but nobody dares to step up to the group. Jane takes a couple of steps over and gets in the Teamsters' faces. "Hey! HEY! How dare you, you fucking fascists!"
Charley is breathing heavily when she gets over to the big rigs but she's gotten over there quickly and has a vantage point where she can see the conflict unfolding.
(I'm just gonna hold up here Mel because I want to move Archie's conversation with Melanie along a tiny bit so Archie can get the "spidey sense" of his Special Rapport going at what's going on in the parking lot. But if Charley had something she wanted to do over here with/to the Teamsters' trucks, who am I to stop you.)
Mel
Oh I do! She wants to break the trucks. And Will us the horn at the optimal time to distract them.
Michael
I think messing with the trucks' electrical systems using Remote Control makes the most sense here for sabotage purposes. Simple circuits, so I'll just abstract this out into a single Remote Control roll. +2 for Extra Time (I figure given the speed of how everything is happening that the max time you could take is four combat rounds) and a -1 for the Complexity of the trucks' electrical systems... so that would total up to a Remote Control-14 roll. And of course you can use Corruption if you want to improve your skill.
Mel
(Can I re-roll)
>>>> SUCCESS by 4
If so a 10
Michael
(Using Second Chance, of course! Second Chance-14.)
(Oh, that would be your Second Chance activation roll!)
Which succeeds, so now you can reroll the Remote Control roll TWICE.
Taking the best of the three.
Mel
>>>> SUCCESS by 6
Michael
Very nice. Charley, very clearly under pressure and fearing for Jane's safety, tries to override the trucks' electrical systems using her powers, and can't quite get hold of them. In the intervening time, while Charley is trying hard to access the trucks—they're not as easy to override as computers or electronics!—Charley sees two of the Teamsters advance on Jane, mocking her and grabbing at her roughly. Charley concentrates very hard on the past few seconds and selects a different quantum worldline where her Remote Control attempt succeeded, and soon Charley has (has always had) access to the trucks' electrical system, setting off the ignition, the headlights, and most importantly the electrically-engaged airhorns. In this worldline, the horns honking is distraction enough to get the Teamsters off of Jane and looking back at their trucks. Stealth-15 roll for Charley. And then I will wait to do the bit of the Archie-Melanie scene.
Mel
>>>> SUCCESS by 10
Michael
Oooh, a crit.
They're not finding Charley.
Given her flexibility and ability to crawl through ducts, I imagine she's hidden herself somewhere truly inaccessible to grown-ups.
Again, I'll pick up Charley/Jane's half of things once I have gotten a little bit of the Archie/Melanie chat done.
Rob
"You haven't had one of those late-night emergency meetings in a while, hon," Melanie says about last night's 9:30 pm confab. "I hope everything's all right."
Archie smiles blandly, waves it off. "Oh, everything's fine, fine. Just some crossed wires, some ruffled feathers, they needed old Archie to lay on the charm with some bigwig from the foundation. Say, look at those peaches!"
Michael
Melanie gamely takes a peek at the peaches Archie is pointing to, and as Archie asks the avuncular vendor for a half-dozen, Melanie very calmly waits for him to pay, then as they're walking through the crowd to the next farmstand, she stops, steps out of the pedestrians' way, looks up into Archie's eyes, and simply asks, "Archibald. What is it that you do, exactly. At work. What is it. Why all the late nights and weekends? Why all the... the skullduggery! Why all the strange people you know! I want to know. I need to know. And I needed to ask you this outside our home, where this job seems to be intruding more and more the past six months! By our covenant, Archibald, made before God. Tell me. Please. Don't treat me like a stupid Salt Lake wife anymore." A tear in her flinty grey-blue eye. "Please." It's at that exact moment that Archie's Special Rapport with Charley goes off. Danger! Threat! Charley using her powers!
Rob
Archie looks Melanie in the eyes. Exhales. Speaks earnestly and honestly. "Oh, sweetheart. You're not a... you're not one of those Salt Lake wives. You're my brick. You know that, right? I'm nowhere without you. But the work I'm doing now, it's — wait, where's Charley?!" He looks around in alarm. Is there any audible or visible commotion yet to distract / derail / explain his sudden reaction?
Michael
Very vaguely in the distance there is evidence of a kerfuffle happening in the parking lot where Archie vaguely remembers seeing (as the Ransoms were parking the Monaco) an earnest quartet of United Farm Workers activists offering literature and petitions. That's where Charley is, Archie thinks to himself, internalizing the Special Rapport with Charley. And Jane.
Rob
Archie puts one hand on each of Melanie's shoulders. "We will talk about this, sweetheart. I promise. But … what's going on over there? Is that Jane? Or Charley? In the middle of that kerfuffle?" He peers towards the parking lot, pretending to see the girls in the middle of whatever's going on, even if he does not.
Michael
As Archie gets closer to the kerfuffle (damn good word) he sees clearly the state of play: a crashed table, flyers and petition pages fluttering everywhere in the breeze, the two young college students proving themselves unequal to the task at hand (as compared to the older weathered farm workers who are standing firm and tall): two burly Teamsters, one with a tire chain and one with a sledgehammer by his side, screaming obscenities at Jane and the UFW folks. In the meantime, in the parking lot a batch of four big rigs are currently flashing their headlights and blasting their horns … but there's no one in the cabs. Charley, Archie realizes, with not a little bit of pride. She's nowhere to be seen but Archie knows somehow she's well-hidden and safe, even from the two Teamsters trying to get into their cabs and figure out what is happening to their electrical systems. Speaking of pride, there is Jane standing shoulder to shoulder with the Chicano UFW representatives. "Pack up yuh little fuckin' table and get out of here, ladies," says the tire chain Teamster to Jane and the four activists, seemingly lumping in the male college student and farm worker with the "ladies." Jane loudly but calmly says, "The police will be here any minute, you … you turd. Clear off!" The rest of the crowd, Archie notes, is acting just as he'd expect them to: staying on the sidelines, gawking but unwilling to take action to stop these savages from terrorizing these law-abiding citizens. Kitty Genovese, Archie thinks to himself coldly and cynically, in a voice that's only about a quarter Stoney. Bees. Dumb, idiot drones.
Rob
Archie pushes through the circle of onlookers and puts himself directly between Jane and the tire chain Teamster. "Hello, what is all this? There's no call for that kind of language!"
Mel
Meanwhile Charley has a think about what else she can do to help. She’s got it! Certain those trucks aren’t going anywhere our girl Charley makes her way to a near by pay phone. She jimmies it (War Games style) to connect her with channel (5?) news …
Michael
"Why don't you fuck off, f____t, this don't concern you," the chain Teamster says to Archie, getting right in his face, spittle landing on Archie's glasses and face. The sledgehammer Teamster is going over to the UFW pickup and getting ready to smash in the truck's windshield.
Meanwhile Charley has a think about what else she can do to help. She’s got it! Certain those trucks aren’t going anywhere our girl Charley makes her way to a near by pay phone. She jimmies it (War Games style) to connect her with channel (5?) news …
Charley uses I/O Tap to get an outside line and has the operator patch her through to the KPIX switchboard.
"KPIX 5 News Line."
Mel
Charley clears her throat and tries to make herself sound as adult as possible. “Yes, hello! I think you should send a team down to the Alemany Farmers Market immediately! There are armed men here! I think they are teamsters and they are attacking people. It’s just disgraceful!”
Michael
"All right ma'am, one moment, I'm taking notes for the mobile news team … can you give us any other information on the situation, please?" Charley can distinctly hear in the background of the phone call the News Line intern turning on a police scanner to see if he can find any information on this Teamster attack. I'm going to do a Reaction Roll right now, straight 3d6 3d6+1, higher is better. (Apparently I roll these, who knew.)
>>>> 3d6+1 … 12
"All right ma'am, we're sending the news van and it appears that the police are also on their way. Stay safe and hang tight, okay?"
“Yes, thank you young man!”
Rob
Archie doesn't look at all threatening (how could he?) but he doesn't back off. "Well, pardon me sir, but you've made it my concern, by cursing at me and my family." He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and stands his ground. Still locking eyes with the Teamster, he says to Jane, "Janey, help these folks rescue their flyers, will you?" Trying to get her to move off from the site of confrontation. (Archie's ok with getting punched out here if it comes to that — might be his best way of postponing that conversation with Melanie.)
Michael
In Archie's mind, Stoney very clearly says, What are you doing? to Archie. Twist his mind! Render him lobotomized with the Word! You coward! "Oh, is that your daughter?" the Teamster says, leering at Archie. "She's one hot little piece of ass, chief. Lucky you." He raises an eyebrow, smiles and reaches out to tweak Archie's collar (I'm guessing Archie's not wearing a bow tie on a hot summer Saturday) as he backs off from a physical confrontation. The sound of shattering glass breaks this awkward scene as Sledgehammer Teamster finishes swinging his weapon at the truck's windshield. "Come on, let's get out of here," Tire Chain Teamster shouts to his companions. It's then that he realizes thanks to the other two that a) their vehicles are not operative and b) an SFPD black and white, lights flashing, is making its way down Alemany Boulevard to the farmer's market. The Teamsters scramble, yelling at each other about the trucks.
(Morale check Reaction Roll for the Teamsters; fleeing the scene and leaving their trucks here would probably prove more trouble than just trying to hash it out with the cops, who could be sympathetic to them.)
>>>> 3d6 … 14
They're gonna take their chances with the cops.
The KPIX Channel 5 news van follows about a minute behind.
Charley can see all this from the payphone on the corner.
And by this point, the crowd has sort of grown in size from the spectacle of it all—lots of eyewits now to bolster Jane and Archie's side of the story—Archie doesn't need to use esmology to know that the social tide has turned and circumstances favor law and order now: no more bystander effect. And Melanie, who followed up behind Archie and clearly caught Archie standing up to the Teamster, walks over and embraces him as the Teamsters, hanging out near their fucked-up trucks, are accosted by the pair of cops who've just pulled in. Another squad car pulls up in due time as the KPIX news team starts setting up the film cameras. It's all over but the shouting now. Archie Gary Coopered himself out of this situation. But in Archie's mind, Stoney lingers. You got lucky. That daughter of yours pulled your bacon out of the fire, followed by Stoney's louche, squawk-like cackle.
Not sure whether he meant Jane or Charley (or both) there, but the ambiguity seems entirely intentional considering Stoney.
(Didn't mean to speed through all that but I didn't think that Archie would necessarily take any matters into his own hands during that rapid-fire denouement. If he would though, let me know and we can retcon it. I have a button to end the scene on for the Ransoms when Rob and Mel are ready.)
Rob
(No, that's good. That's about the best things could have played out from Archie's point of view. Definitely thought about busting out Enthrallment but it could've created more hassles than it solved.)
Stoney's influence and Archie's annoyance at the passive crowd do make him a little abrupt in wanting to get out of there. He picks up a handful of flyers from the ground, and shoves them, a little brusquely, at the farm workers. "You know you need a permit to give out literature here."
To Melanie and Jane he says, "Time to go." He has no interest in talking to KPIX.
"Now where on earth are Eddie and Charley?"
Michael
Eddie comes back with the last of an ice cream cone — one of those thin flaky sugar cones — and looks at all the cops and news vans in a sort of nonplussed way. "What the … " he says as he notices his dad, mom and sister standing amidst the smashed windshields and tossed union literature. Charley just sort of just appears on Archie's other side, seemingly out of nowhere (there's that Stealth crit ) as the five Ransoms make their way to the Monaco. As they do, yet another earnest-looking hippie type is handing out Xeroxed flyers amidst the parked customer cars. Jane still grabs one, even after all that chaos that just turned so violent; so does Eddie, mainly out of politeness. (Archie and Charley, it's up to you if you take one.) But Melanie loses her temper seeing her children accosted yet again by some … political type. "I've had enough out of you... kooks in this... kook city! Leave my family alone, please! We don't care about your..." she looks at the goldenrod flyer in her hands, "'Warnings' about … 'mad scientists'! Go back to your hippie hovel, get a haircut, and GET A REAL JOB!" Melanie's mouth is a line, her face bright red. "Let's GO, Archibald." Jane and Eddie have maybe seen their mother like this once or twice before in their lives; Charley, never. Eddie looks down at the flyer in his hands as he gets into the backseat in between Jane and Charley. He says to Charley, having learned enough over the past few months about her tendency to get carsick. "Hey, Charley, don't read this while the car is moving, okay?"
