Season 3 / Robert McCay - "The Great Train Robbery" [The Third Trial Projection]

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Despite himself, Vincent flushes a little bit at the Muse’s grinning answer to him, before nodding a few too many times.

“Yeah, no, it looks— I mean, the color goes well with your wings, too.” The Style had definitely caught his eye first, but the green pairs nicely with the purple and blue going on there too.

…Robert’s answer to him, though, is a little… ominous, to say the least.

“Well… We’ll find out whatever we do here regardless, now. If I don’t get the chance to talk to you about it all while we’re in here, I can fill you in after, at least. Just like the first time,” he offers with a nod.

He still remembers what Robert had Told him that first time, too. It’d be up to him if he gets told anything more after this one, though. Guess they’d see.

Kaoru Naito

Kaoru’s obviously trailing Hikaru in search of divine nectar, also jumping over the counter. 😛 yum yum yum yum Kaoru wants drinky <- that’s his train of thought.

Robert McCay

Hikaru Suzuki “Half of them probably have ‘whiskey’ written on them, come on… I’ll save you the trouble.”

Robert sighs and reaches back to show that he can’t even move far enough from his spot to reach the bottles. Hikaru and Kaoru are free to take the projection whiskey… but while it smells like the beverage, it doesn’t actually taste like much of anything.

Hikaru Suzuki Now he has his prize, he sits down by the Muse and squints at the posters on the wall - seems like he’s more interested in making small-talk with the singer, though.

Erin | Vincent Churchwell “Yeah, no, it looks— I mean, the color goes well with your wings, too.”

Muse is eating up all the attention they’re getting this projection! Maybe they’ll show up a little more often in the MILGRAM afterwards.

Robert McCay

Hikaru Suzuki Now he has his prize, he sits down by the Muse and squints at the posters on the wall…

Pinned to the far wall are an assortment of sepia-tinted wanted posters. Rather than depicting a random assortment of individuals, though, they all seem to be outlaws working together in a posse…

WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE:

LONG WEEKEND MIKE - A lazy rascal who’ll finish you off as soon as he finds the time!

GLASS-EM GEORGE - A cut-throat feller with a penchant for poison!

DEAD MAN DOUG - A dour man in a black suit, dressed for your demise!

BIG TED - He’s big, and he’s ted. Need I say more?

HANG-UP HANK - Don’t leave this guy on the line, or he’ll have you hanging from it!

And most of all…

THE NOTORIOUS RAINY DAY JANE - A fearsome dame who lurks in the shadows and holds a deadly grudge a decade long! Leader of this nasty gang of crooks. Reward doubled if y’all bring her in.

The Muse claps their hands together.

“Oh yes! That’s your cue, Robbie.”

“Huh? I— er— yes, this poor saloon’s been strugglin’, the whole town’s in hidin’, on account a’ those bandits!”

“I heard they’re planning to hijack the next train out and cause even more trouble… Oh, if only we had some dashing rangers to bring law and order back to our pleasant country town…”

“Yer really enjoyin’ this, aren’t ya?”

“Ha! I’ll say any old shit if I get to wear a dress like this!”

Their sparkling laughter falls off quickly, and they lean forward with an uncharacteristically serious expression.

“No, if you really want to know what’s going on… Train should get here in about five minutes. Find those crooks and cuff ’em. I don’t know much more about what’s happening here, but… Don’t waste Joe’s efforts, okay? Don’t give up until you find the truth.”

“…Y’callin’ me a liar? I’m right here, y’know!”

“So what if I am?! It’s pretty damn obvious you’re hiding something from us…”

The Muse catches themself snapping and goes back to preening their feathers.

“…I’m sure you had your reasons, of course. Just hope you think it was worth it.”

“…”

As if on cue, you hear a train whistle blow in the distance. The Muse waves you on your way as Robert hangs his head in silence. You’ve got a bad feeling about where this is going.

Hikaru Suzuki

Hikaru snorts at the idea of any of them being ‘dashing rangers’. This might be just about the least-fitting band of crime fighters ever imaginable. He gives Kaoru a little toast as he continues to listen to whatever’s going on here. Interesting. So that’s what the handcuffs are about… He ponders the depictions of the criminals on the wall. Unable to link the names to anything in particular, he does his best to commit the descriptions to memory, just in case there’s anything useful there. A fearsome dame sounds pretty awesome, he thinks. He hopes they get to meet her.

“Guess we can’t sit around any longer,” he sighs. “Sounds like we have a train to catch.” He drags himself up from the table and frowns at the tasteless whiskey. It doesn’t feel right without the burn in his throat, but a drink is a drink…

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

….Hm. Seems the Muse is also upset about secrets being kept from them, huh… Vincent wonders if his own psyche was split into different people like that if parts of him would be mad at himself for doing that too.

Ultimately, Vincent gives the Muse a nod.

“We’ll find them, and do what we can. Thanks for… making it clear what we’ve gotta do, at least.” If Robert himself wouldn’t cooperate, whatever. He glances at everyone else here next, including the two holding (flavorless) drinks. “I’m ready to head out them when yall are. Seems like we’ve got a train to catch.”

Bow-wow

Luca visibly almost puffs up at the prospect of catching some criminals, and he salutes to Robert and the Muse, a chipper expression on his face as he makes his way toward the door.

“We’ll get ’em! No need to worry!”

He definitely doesn’t trust some people here to actually do their job properly, still.

Robert McCay

You hurry out of the saloon just as a train pulls into the station down the street, pulled by a large black steam engine. It slows to a halt as you approach. You swear you see a shadow hop the railing in the distance…

Then, suddenly, the whistle blows again. Already?! If this is a passenger train, this must not be one of its main stops. Iron wheels grind against the tracks as the engine picks up speed— if you’re catching a ride, you better sprint.

Tatsuko Onizuka

Tatsuko doesn’t need to be told twice what to do. She’s already running to the train, ready to hop on and Fuck Up Some Guys. To her, she’s pretty much been given free rein to do whatever she wants in order to catch these guys.

“LET’S FUCKING GOOOI!” She has a wild grin on her face. And they said projections weren’t fun.

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

….Dear lord, Vincent may be strong but he has Not been in the business of actually Running much pretty much ever in his life, other than in prior prison emergencies—If this is what it came down to though, he is Trying now to actually do so. Run goth boy, run.

Thankfully his legs are really long, so despite everything he’s not Terrible at it even if he’s sweating more than he’s like to about it, with little clinks and jingles of his outfit’s metal bits as he goes.

Bow-wow

Luca may be more athletic than he looks, but he feels like he’s fighting a losing battle to keep up with a moving train. He takes off his hat, frantically waving it above his head as he hollers,

“EXCUSE ME!!!! CONDUCTOR!!!! CAN WE HOP ON????” He hollers as loud as his voice can physically go.

Kaoru Naito

Kaoru runs because he loves running 🙂 he doesn’t actually think they will fail out of the projection if they’re defiantly slow, but he has missed RUNNING!!!

Hikaru Suzuki

Hikaru’s only advantage in the field of running is being leggy, so he doesn’t have any smart words to say as he runs with the rest towards the train. This outfit suddenly is not feeling very useful!!

Robert McCay

Just barely, the five of you catch the back of the train and pull yourselves onto the caboose. Good thing this isn’t real life, or someone could have really gotten hurt! Except you still feel pain in projections, but… all’s well that ends well, right?

After taking a second to catch your breath, you rotate the handle on the door and swing it open.

This tailing car is full of crates and barrels… maybe it’s not a passenger train after all? On closer look, though, you spot suitcases, hatboxes and shoeboxes too, and even someone’s pet bird with a blanket thrown over their cage.

Strung between nails on two large crates is a hammock, and lounging on that hammock is a short, stocky man dressed in black, with a rusty red bandana covering his neck and a black cowboy hat resting on top of his face to block out the light. He’s snoring loudly.

“Zzzz… zzzz…”

Kaoru Naito

Kaoru points at that guy and then the group and then crouches sneakily and motions like, one of you go on. he doesn’t wanna. Sneaking is boring unless someone’s searching for you.

Hikaru Suzuki

At some point when running, Hikaru had dropped his bottle of whiskey… he looks at where he’s bound to have bruises now after crashing onto that train carriage. This sucks!

As soon as they find themselves with someone else in the room he goes very quiet. Stealth mode activated… He looks around at the others and gestures with his head towards the sleeping man. Sorry, Kaoru, he’s also being a coward. Someone else go first, okay? He doesn’t want to be jumpscared if he’s only faking being asleep…

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Thank God that worked out- Vincent takes a moment to catch his breath, before realizing there’s a Sleeping Guy here, immediately assuming that’s… probably Mike, huh. He tries to be quiet from there, though his eyes do wander towards the birdcage there, curious about the bird as well… Probably best to let it sleep while they get this guy…

Kaoru and Hikaru both motion for someone else to go, so Vincent gives a nod and moves forward, his handcuffs out and at the ready as he tries to very quietly sneak up and see if he can just… do it while the dude is still sleeping. He’s ready for the dude to wake up at any moment though, just in case.

Tatsuko Onizuka

If Tatsuko catches the implication that they should be sneaky, then she ignores it completely. She decides to announce her presence by loudly kicking over a box.

“ALRIGHT PARTNER, HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE ‘EM! WE CAN DO THIS THE HARD WAY OR THE HARD WAY!” She’s having way too much fun with this and really wants to fight someone. Why is she here again?

Robert McCay

The bandit slumbers peacefully through everyone’s attempts at stealth. Tatsuko’s yell rouses him, though, but only for a second.

“Hmmmwwhazzat? I’m sleepin’ here! My name ain’t Long Weekend Mike for no reason, now shoo.”

He falls back asleep immediately. Guess you didn’t have to bother with sneaking after all…

Erin | Vincent Churchwell Kaoru and Hikaru both motion for someone else to go, so Vincent gives a nod and moves forward, his handcuffs out and at the ready as he tries to very quietly sneak up and see if he can just… do it while the dude is still sleeping.

Feeling someone pulling on his arm, the man startles awake again and peeks out at the crowd from beneath his hat.

“'Ey, I’m on break, what the hell is this all for?!”

In his drowsiness, though, the bandit barely resists the handcuffs clamping around his wrists. As they snap into place, there’s a flash of bright light and a rattle— like someone changing the camera reel in your head— and you find yourself transported somewhere else, as someone else…

“Are you sure you’ll be okay, Daisy? Isn’t it an… awfully big night for us to be gone?”

“Exaaactly, he’ll be partying it up at the premiere and come home too wasted for his usual bullshit. I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t envy you, girl, y’know how he gets…”

“R-really! The missus and I, we got it covered. You all go enjoy your long weekend.”

From your vantage point behind a crack in the door, you watch the housekeepers disperse in a cloud of worried gossip. The lead maid now stands alone in the large kitchen. You stealthily make your way inside.

“Daisy… y’know what t’do?” Your voice is soft and willowy, with a pleasant Texas drawl.

“Yes ma’am. It’s all set up and ready to go. Ha, imagine me retiring before I even hit forty!”

“It’s the least I could do, dear, fer all the help you’ve been to us, an’ all the trouble you’ve been put through. Just be careful… be quiet.”

“Of course, ma’am, the bastard won’t feel a thing. I’ll drink a marg for ya when I make it to the Bahamas.”

The film cuts short, and you find yourself back in the train. Long Weekend Mike is nowhere to be seen, however, even though Vincent never loosened his grip. In his hand— in Mike’s place— you find a spiralbound paper calendar marking the shifts for a sizeable crew of housekeepers. From July 24 to July 27, however, only one person is scheduled for the entire weekend… someone by the name of Daisy Jones.

Nothing about the rest of the car is remarkable— in fact, trying to pry open one of the boxes reveals it to be totally empty. The door to the next car stands unlocked. You should probably move on…

Hikaru Suzuki

Hikaru flinches immediately as Tatsuko makes her racket, ducking behind whoever is closest to him.

Thankfully, things seem okay, and he just looks thoughtful after the vision fades. Interesting. He sure would like to have a margarita in the Bahamas right now…

He is one of the people who wants to poke around in the boxes in the car, but as the calendar seems to be the only thing of interest, he’s ready to move on.

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