My computer has finally died. End stage Computer Alzheimer’s. It can no longer recognize that the Internet exists, much less connect to it.
The good news is that I’m in the middle of building the replacement. The bad news there is that it’s currently worthless because I’ve got an amber DRAM light for the second time.
That means I’ve either got another defective mobo, both my sticks of RAM are defective, or I’ve got a bent CPU pin somehow. At least those are the best guess diagnoses after ruling out stuff that we know is working.
Edit: Between that disaster and classes for my newest degree, I have not had much time or inclination to write. Got two scenes done so far with a third in progress.
My computer has finally died. End stage Computer Alzheimer’s. It can no longer recognize that the Internet exists, much less connect to it.
The good news is that I’m in the middle of building the replacement. The bad news there is that it’s currently worthless because I’ve got an amber DRAM light for the second time.
That means I’ve either got another defective mobo, both my sticks of RAM are defective, or I’ve got a bent CPU pin somehow. At least those are the best guess diagnoses after ruling out stuff that we know is working.
Edit: Between that disaster and classes for my newest degree, I have not had much time or inclination to write. Got two scenes done so far with a third in progress.
Actually, this is pretty standard luck for my family. For the third out of the last four years, my dad is in the hospital with a life-threatening infection for my birthday.
Status report: my dad has now been in the hospital for eight days with sepsis(thanks to a bacterium that kills half the people who contract it), I have determined that my RAM works, so it is either a bent CPU pin or another defective mobo, and I have another section of the update finished. Moving on to the next scene.
Status report: my dad has now been in the hospital for eight days with sepsis(thanks to a bacterium that kills half the people who contract it), I have determined that my RAM works, so it is either a bent CPU pin or another defective mobo, and I have another section of the update finished. Moving on to the next scene.
Status report: my dad has now been in the hospital for eight days with sepsis(thanks to a bacterium that kills half the people who contract it), I have determined that my RAM works, so it is either a bent CPU pin or another defective mobo, and I have another section of the update finished. Moving on to the next scene.
Good news on that front: they’re moving him to a nursing home until the IV antibiotics are done, which means they don’t think it’s going to kill him.
Also a relief for us, because the antibiotic has to be given three times a day and runs for three hours each time it is given. That’s a lot of hours to try to cover when my mom and I are the only ones around with the medical experience to hang or unhook an IV and both of us are working full time.
Good news on that front: they’re moving him to a nursing home until the IV antibiotics are done, which means they don’t think it’s going to kill him.
Also a relief for us, because the antibiotic has to be given three times a day and runs for three hours each time it is given. That’s a lot of hours to try to cover when my mom and I are the only ones around with the medical experience to hang or unhook an IV and both of us are working full time.
The Troubles Turn Hot: Recently, IRA activity has spiked in both Northern Ireland and England itself, including a few attacks that have the police baffled. The Army has yet to respond, but a new crackdown is expected.
Something even had the security staff around the PM’s residence in an uproar recently, and the timing seems suspicious. Hopes are that a few arrests and increased presence of troops will help calm the situation down again.
Helmeted Hero Arrests Cop-Killer: Escapee David Martin has finally been apprehended! That would be worthy of discussion by itself, since he killed the bobbies while making his escape and was known to be a gun aficionado. What has everyone in England talking is that a real-life superhero is the one who brought him in. Police have identified him only as ‘Guardian.’
Coming out of the Woodwork: Perhaps in response to Guardian’s appearance, a new masked vigilante has been spotted in Cornwall. Details are scarce, but all accounts agree that the new costumed crime-fighter stopped a mugging before vanishing into the darkness.
The Troubles Turn Hot: Recently, IRA activity has spiked, including a few attacks that have the police baffled. Hopes are that a few arrests will help calm the situation down again.
Hm. I take it that this isn't a local event, given our current position in London? We'd probably have to spend a weekend or two in Northern Ireland if we want to sort this out (turn it into an outing with Arturia?) From the "baffled" statement, I'm guessing that this will be another parahuman.
Helmeted Hero Arrests Cop-Killer: Escapee David Martin has finally been apprehended! That would be worthy of discussion by itself, since he killed the bobbies while making his escape and was known to be a gun aficionado. What has everyone in England talking is that a real-life superhero is the one who brought him in. Police have identified him only as ‘Guardian.’
Coming out of the Woodwork: Perhaps in response to Guardian’s appearance, a new masked vigilante has been spotted in Cornwall. Details are scarce, but all accounts agree that the new costumed crime-fighter stopped a mugging before vanishing into the darkness.
Hm. I take it that this isn't a local event, given our current position in London? We'd probably have to spend a weekend or two in Northern Ireland if we want to sort this out (turn it into an outing with Arturia?) From the "baffled" statement, I'm guessing that this will be another parahuman.
More than likely if the IRA has got one then we may see one on the orange side of the street and then a whole new round of catholics vs Protestants gets kicked off. With the bystanders, police and your British squaddie caught in the middle.
Though since this is Northern Island during the 80s they may send the SAS after them or some other soldiers.
[X] - Hold down your job. (4AP)
-[x] It's important to establish what the new minimum standards are. And those standards are 'to the best of your ability within the limitations of the circumstances.' You can be gracious in helping the rest of the staff to learn these standards, but these are the standards they will start working towards now.
[X] - Supply Solutions. (1AP)
-[x] This is a top-flight restaurant, which requires top-flight supplies. There's prestige (and money) in being your supplier. Challenge local suppliers to bring their best, and see what you can make of it.
[X] - Pleasing the Eye. (1AP)
-[x] High speed, high-skill production can be a form of art to behold in and of itself. Who says that western cooking cannot entertain by the manner of its preparation as well? Not just how it is on the plate, but how it is put on the plate...
[X] - Socialize with Arturia. (1AP)
-[x] A walk through the Notting Hill market, looking for interesting antiques, and possibly swords and similar with interesting histories for you to learn and share with Arturia sounds like fun.
[X] - Plan for the future. (1AP)
-[x] "So Arturia, how many children do you want to have?"
[X] - A patentable project. (2AP)
-[x] During this time in the 80's, it might be reasonably possible to sign distribution deals with different manufacturers in different countries. If you can do this right, you will be in excellent negotiating position for the next money-making idea you want to sign a deal with a manufacturer on.
Um ... Oops? Yeah, that was a typo. Also, Kelgar pointed out that the British Army would have been involved with the Northern Ireland bits. Going back to make a couple edits since I wasn’t as clear as I should have been.
Negative. Forgot to remove the ‘after holding down your job’ bit when I reworked the total AP.
Edit: Update is now in beta. I’m a bad author and beg forgiveness for the delays. I could blame my classwork, but it’s mostly a combination of low morale from still not having a functioning computer and laziness.
-[x] It's important to establish what the new minimum standards are. And those standards are 'to the best of your ability within the limitations of the circumstances.' You can be gracious in helping the rest of the staff to learn these standards, but these are the standards they will start working towards now.
[X] - Supply Solutions.
-[x] This is a top-flight restaurant, which requires top-flight supplies. There's prestige (and money) in being your supplier. Challenge local suppliers to bring their best, and see what you can make of it.
[X] - Pleasing the Eye.
-[x] High speed, high-skill production can be a form of art to behold in and of itself. Who says that western cooking cannot entertain by the manner of its preparation as well? Not just how it is on the plate, but how it is put on the plate...
[X] - Socialize with Arturia.
-[x] A walk through the Notting Hill market, looking for interesting antiques, and possibly swords and similar with interesting histories for you to learn and share with Arturia sounds like fun.
[X] - Plan for the future.
-[x] "So Arturia, how many children do you want to have?"
[X] - A patentable project.
-[x] During this time in the 80's, it might be reasonably possible to sign distribution deals with different manufacturers in different countries. If you can do this right, you will be in excellent negotiating position for the next money-making idea you want to sign a deal with a manufacturer on.
Later that morning, you had the distinct displeasure of finding yourself a lawyer. Thankfully, those that worked with patents were less odious than some of the other members of that profession. Still, it wasn’t the way you would have preferred to spend your morning.
That said, if you were going to be working with a lawyer, you wanted a good one. Your minimum standard was someone trustworthy that wouldn’t try to wield legal technicalities like a weapon against you.
You were able to do rather better than that, even without the internet. Or maybe because the internet wasn’t around. Patent attorneys were far from the most common solicitors, and it turned out that their reputation needed to be very good indeed to thrive in a city such as London.
The man you found had a sterling reputation, and actually meeting him the next day let you put your few remaining concerns to rest.
Charles Benson was dark enough of skin that without his very British accent you would have thought him a first generation immigrant from Africa. He was also straightforward and about as polar opposite as it got from the yakuza lawyers you’d dealt with back in Japan. Just walking into a room with them made you feel vaguely unclean, greasy even.
Mr. Benson looked over your drawings, comparing them to the existing CD player patent on the books, and determined that your modifications represented a substantial and thus patentable difference in function. He then handled the essential paperwork for a new patent in the time allotted for your appointment. He was even understanding about you needing to make payments for his services.
ASTtM
“Very well, Mister Emiya, I will have these filed later today. You may have to deal with a challenge against the original patent, but even though I’m not familiar with the device itself, I can say with confidence that you’ve made enough changes to the function of the original that any such attempt would be … remarkably difficult for the original patent holder,” your solicitor stated and extended a hand. You took it and gave a firm shake.
“I’ll leave the first payment with your secretary,” you replied, “and I’ll bring the balance by once I’ve deposited my first check.”
“If you’re as good a chef as you are at making drawings, I will have to stop by the Ritz for dinner,” Benson said, then gave you one last bit of advice, “With a patent pending, you may want to contact Sony about licensing your designs to them. I’ve heard music played from these new compact disks, and the quality is simply first rate. If, as you declare, this design makes it practical for them to be installed in automobiles, I suspect they will be very popular indeed.”
“Thank you, sir. I shall take it under advisement,” you responded before departing. If that was his advice, you’d be well served to consider it.
ASTtM
Your patents are now pending, and your lawyer is good enough that you don’t have to worry about shenanigans. His advice is to license your patents to Sony for production, which would be simple and easy for you. The downside is that it would almost certainly happen outside England, which wouldn’t help the British economy.
ASTtM
That afternoon found you up to your eyebrows in calculations. There was no doubt in your mind; the restaurant wasn’t getting the quality of food it was paying for.
For that matter, the last couple Executive Chefs had been trying to make up for their own inferior ability with superior ingredients. What they’d ended up doing instead was overpaying for mediocre examples of things like tenderloin when the previous Executive Chef had been getting a fair deal on top quality cuts of round steak for the beef tartare or paying for truffles when a dish would be much better served with shitake mushrooms.
You’d spent much of your shift today making a list of the items that needed changing and the places that were overcharging you for inferior product. Or, as it turned out, place. You had one problem supplier on your hands. Part of you wanted to move away from their services on principle, but you were willing to at least give them a chance to meet your standards. It might be that they didn’t realize that people down the chain were taking advantage of the situation to offload poor quality product or perhaps the last two Executive Chefs had just been awful bargainers.
What you discovered when you went down to discuss the issues with the quality you were seeing with the company supplying your kitchen, was that the guy was just flat out good. He knew the contract backwards and forwards and was able to quote it at you whenever you raised an objection. Everything that was delivered to you was within the letter of the contract, even if the mediocre quality violated the spirit of it.
That was fine. You had the checkbook with you, so you looked over your copy of the contract and wrote out a check for the comparatively small amount to get out of the contract.
That, it seemed, the man hadn’t expected and he followed you all the way to the main office trying to get you to reconsider.
You departed the premises with a receipt and the satisfaction of hearing the smarmy annoyance getting an earful from his boss.
That did leave you with the problem of finding a new supplier on short notice.
There, at least, you caught a break. It seemed that the economy was starting to accelerate out of the slump it had been in. As you were walking back to the Ritz, you happened upon a building just as a sign was being hung in front of it. “Bronson Whole Foods,” the sign proclaimed.
You almost walked past it. Your luck had been far from the best in your last life, but after a moment’s thought you reconsidered. Perhaps a start up would have the energy to hunt down the sort of quality you wanted. At the very least, you could be certain you were their biggest, most important client, and thus liable to get prompt and reliable service.
When you stepped through the front doors, you immediately liked what you saw. The produce was all fresh, of good quality, and being treated appropriately to maintain both. Some additional poking revealed that their meat case was well stocked and their Butcher knew what he was about. All in all, a well supplied and well stocked shop.
“Ah, hello, sir, is there anything I can assist you with today?” a man asked as he stepped up next to you.
“I certainly hope so. I’m Shirou Emiya, the new Executive Chef at the Ritz. I see you have a skilled Butcher. If you’re able to fill custom orders, I would like to place an order for whole tenderloin as well as round steak. Additionally, I noted that you stock whole shitake mushrooms, and-”
ASTtM
You pay a small fee to get out of an old contract, then stumble upon a new supplier that has both better prices and better quality. Since your patronage instantly increases the startup’s prestige, this forms an excellent foundation for a good long term business relationship.
Restaurant quality and profitability improve. Your bosses notice that you’re getting results.
ASTtM
The next day you broke out pens and notepads and started working through your household budget for the upcoming months. Frankly, you’re in a very solid position. Your expenses at your current apartment are very low, a reflection on the neighborhood as well as the cramped living space, and your food budget is reasonable thanks to Arturia no longer being a bottomless pit.
Doing the math reveals that with both of you working, you’ll need to open up a bank account or perhaps two. Carrying around that many pounds being an invitation to a mugging, severely injured muggers, and awkward questions from the Bobbies.
With Arturia offering occasional comments, you drew up a budget for the situation as it currently existed, then a couple of possibilities assuming that you could find a home within a couple of guesstimated price-ranges. What you found was encouraging, especially with the way your work had been going and the general upturn in the economy offering a promise of stability. That left one detail to plan for.
“So, Arturia, how many children do you want to have?” you ask. The question is serious, but you’re hoping for a reaction as much as an answer.
Arturia’s eyes come up to meet yours, but her usual composed expression is entirely absent. Wide-eyed and with a rising blush, she gapes at you for a long moment.
“I-I,” she stumbled over her words looking rather like a blonde-haired tomato before looking away and fidgeting.
“Several?” she asked more than stated, hovering right around terminally embarrassed.
You decided to lay off a bit, “I’m certainly not opposed, so it’s a good thing that we’ve got solid finances and good prospects. Children are expensive.”
That was enough to help Arturia recover somewhat. Her eyes left the floor and her shoulders relaxed.
Finally you gave in to the urge to pull her into a hug.
“I love you,” you told her, even as your ribs creaked.
“I love you too.”
ASTtM
Shirou and Saber each have 3 dots of Income each month. Untouched, this would turn into three dots of Resources each in one year’s time. Again, that assumes that every cent would be going into the bank or other investments. What really happens is that expenses happen.
Shirou owes 1 dot of income to his patent lawyer, the apartment consumes another dot of income, and keeping Shirou and Arturia in meals, clothes, and other miscellaneous expenses costs a dot of income each.
Two single dot expenses equals a two-dot expense. Two dual dot expenses equals a three dot expense, and so on. For the month, they will be banking 3 dots of income, and using the rest for basic expenses. Their simplified budget looks like this:
Gross Income: ****
Shirou: ***
Arturia: ***
Expenses: ***
Lawyer: *
Rent:*
Food, bus fare, taxes, and date nights: **
Balance of Income: ***
ASTtM
That night at work, you had a thought. With a chunk of your budget having been spent on getting out from under an awful contract, you really didn’t have enough anymore to secure new dishware. That didn’t mean that there was nothing you could do on the subject of improving the presentation of your food.
Hmmm, open lines of sight into at least part of the kitchen with at least a few chefs trained to make a production of what they were doing …
Maybe not full-up hibachi-style cooking, but something a touch more subdued to fit the atmosphere of the Ritz. It would take some renovations eventually, but you were going to need to have some work done in the dining room eventually anyway.
First you needed to get a few chefs trained to an acceptable standard for that sort of production.
That ends up being slow going, partially because you’re conducting the class during business hours, and partially because you just aren’t an exceptional teacher. Still, you’ve identified a couple chefs who seem to have both the coordination for the job and the interest. At this point it will simply be a matter of putting in the time each week giving them tips and demonstrations while you let your changes in quality of cooking, ingredients, and plating percolate.
Once you have the capital with your bosses, you can plan out the physical needs for the restaurant’s facelift.
Besides, in the meantime, you get to watch chefs flub showy flips and fast cuts. At least you’ve taught them enough that they aren’t wasting food or cutting themselves.
Training action locked in until Performance Chefs are ready for deployment. Follow-up action to unlock in the future.
ASTtM
The next morning found you in an excellent mood as you moved about the kitchen, finishing the preparations for a full English breakfast. You had a plan for the morning, and a hearty meal was just the thing before a stroll.
Arturia managed to arrive at her seat just as you were dishing up the mushrooms in brown butter and the tomatoes.
Showing great restraint, she waited for you to sit beside her before digging in with an “Itadakimasu.”
Once you’d both mostly polished off your meals, you confirmed that she didn’t need to be at work until the afternoon. That drew a raised eyebrow.
“That’s correct,” Arturia acknowledged, “Should I take this to mean that you have a plan for the morning, then?”
“I wondered if you might care to take a walk. The markets in Notting Hill will be opening in an hour or so. They’re supposed to have a nice selection of antiques, curios...” you trailed off, uncertain, but a glance at Arturia’s face seemed to indicate that she was interested.
“That sounds entirely acceptable,” she said, and a weight came off your shoulders. “Just let me grab my purse.”
ASTtM
The Portobello Markets at Notting Hill were busy as soon as they opened on a Friday when you visited them the first time with Rin, and they held to their custom. The place was a veritable riot of scents and colors with everything from clothing to food to paintings and vases on sale.
Despite your large breakfast, the first thing that drew Arturia’s attention was a stall selling an assortment of middle-eastern dishes.
Once her stomach had been placated with an offering of something that reminded you of baklava, you were able to actually explore some. You looked at some carpets that were only a little overpriced and several ‘antiques’ that were really reproductions.
Arturia’s eye for detecting such was almost as good as yours despite the fact that you were cheating with Structural Grasping in your usual reflexive manner. When you praised her for it, she blushed and admitted that she wasn’t watching the merchandise so much as she was the merchants.
“When I was king, I’d have had to have about half of them arrested for corruption or grave robbing,” she admitted.
“That bad?” the figure surprised you. You hadn’t thought that there were that many people fleecing the tourists.
“Well, mostly in that age it would have been peddling false religious relics,” she said with a shake of her head that spoike eloquently of disgust.
“There are always a few fools willing to dig up a corpse to sell ‘saint’s fingers’ or some other such nonsense to credulous pilgrims. It’s just that the precise wares have changed since then.”
You couldn’t help but snort.
“The more things change, ne?” you asked.
“Hmmm, but the important things endure as well,” Arturia said, taking your hand.
You smiled down at her and wrapped your right arm around her shoulders, pulling her into your side. She smiled up at you, a shorter distance than it used to be, and everything was right in the world.
Then an idiot that was too stupid to live tried to steal her purse.
ASTtM
“-much energy to worthwhile pursuits, you would doubtless have gainful employment thus benefiting both yourself and society instead of stealing from honest citizens to support yourself. I could understand if you were a dullard or crippled and thus lacked prospects, but you seem a capable enough young man. I shall expect to hear that you have turned your attention to more respectable pursuits,” Arturia concluded her lecture precisely as the police arrived.
To their visible surprise, the man tearfully allowed himself to be cuffed without protest, even confessing to a string of purse-snatchings and petty thefts in the Markets that had seemingly been unsolved.
Beside you, Arturia nodded, satisfied that her duty was done and allowed you to lead her off into the stalls again. Noting the bounce in her step, you found yourself curious.
“You seem quite satisfied with yourself,” you noted, “Not that it wasn’t an outstanding performance, but …” you trailed off. For a moment Arturia was quiet.
“By the time I was King, I did not have time to handle situations like that. Or I allowed myself to be told I had no time for them. I wondered sometimes, during my vigil, if things might have ended differently if I had made the time to deal with small matters such as that,” she said and looked up at you, face serene.
“My words reached that young man,” she declared, “He would rather starve in a gutter than steal again, and the world now is not what it was the last time I walked these lands. He will be able to make something of himself instead of dying in a ditch or on a soldier’s blade.”
You weren’t taken aback by her words, the way many, perhaps even most, would have been. After all, you knew what it was like to save someone. You who had been saved as a boy, then spent centuries saving others. And in the process carved a legend into that universe such that your name would be remembered so long as humans drew breath.
How long had Arturia forced herself to be the perfect King, when in her heart, however hidden, she longed to be that young wandering knight again? Able to take direct, simple action and solve a problem, instead of being forced to react to circumstances and only ever delay a problem to a later date?
Your arm wrapped back around her shoulders.
“A good morning’s work, Sir Knight. Now, what do you want for lunch before we have to head in to toil the afternoon away in thankless drudgery?”
“Curry,” she pronounced, and so it was.
Perception+Bureaucracy: 4 successes. Average on an 8 dice pool, still means Shirou is almost inhumanly good at sorting gold from dross. Very good lawyer found.
Perception+Lore: 10d10 dice=6 successes. Shirou has figured out where the previous chefs were overpaying and has settled on what actually fair prices would be.
Opposed Charisma+Presence rolls 7d10(includes 2 dice stunt, 2 dice circumstances advantage and 1 dice for being pretty)=3 successes versus 6 successes.
1 legend spent for a reroll= still 3 successes. Shirou can’t talk the guy around.
How willing is someone else to pick up the Ritz as a customer? 1d100=98 very willing. Shirou finds a startup that is willing to give him a good deal in exchange for the prestige and ongoing business.
Teaching roll [Charisma+Performance]: 4d10= 1 success. It will take a while.
Arturia’s lecture roll ]Charisma+Presence]: 11d10= 6 successes.
Current Exp total: 4
After the needs of your job and your current commitments, you have 5 AP. What do?
[X] - Hold down your job. You need to get paid, so this is sort of a requirement. Cost: 4 AP. Results: You do the minimum required to get paid. Your bosses won’t love you, but barring something both unexpected and awful happening the restaurant will slowly keep improving.
[ ] - Innovative Cuisine. Now that you’ve got access to the proper grade and scope of ingredients, you can turn your attention to the fine details of tweaking the Ritz’s current recipes. As they are, they’re solid, but uninspired. Of such fine details are the differences between the Great and the merely good made. Cost: 1 AP. Results: Improved dishes, increased revenue, happy bosses.
[X] - Pleasing the Eye. Your original plans about plating went in an entirely unexpected direction, but if you want to have chefs other than yourself capable of the sort of casual excellence you envision, you’re going to need to put in the hours to train them up. Cost: 1 AP. Results: Chefs trained to cook well and look good doing it. Eventual synergy with restaurant update.
[ ] - Socialize with Arturia. Weekends are for dates, right? Cost: 1 AP. Results: Fluff, WAFF, happy Arturia.
[ ] - Search around for crime to stop. Clearly, as an Ally of Justice, you should be patrolling the neighborhood looking for wrongs to right. Now that you’ve scouted the area out you’ve even got some idea of where to start. Cost: 1 AP. Results: Crimes thwarted? Justice upheld? Maybe just an annoyed Arturia.
[ ] - Investigate the disturbance. Rumor has it that something happened at the PM’s residence. Maybe the bobbies would appreciate some assistance?Cost: 1 AP. Results: ???
[ ] - A patent pending. Your patent lawyer recommended that you contact Sony to license your patents to them. In order to do that, you’re going to need to demonstrate that they work. That means building examples, which means time and money. Cost: 2 AP. A 2-dot expense. Results: Working examples of your inventions. Probably annoyed neighbors, given your current living arrangements. You may want to find a home with a workshop first.
[ ] - Home Hunting. The apartment Merlin set you up with is … well, it’s an apartment. It’s small and cramped and has you living in proximity to other people a lot. You miss your suite in the Palace. With your new budget, you can find something better than what you’ve got without overstretching your means. Cost: 1 AP. Results: A list of homes for sal or rent. .
[ ] - Gym Hunting. It’s been a while since you were able to work with Arturia. Her Instinct might help you fake working as a team, but you’d rather not depend on that. Cost: 1 AP. Results: Find a place where you can spar with Arturia, or at least exercise together.
[X] plan: I’ll think of one now
[X] - Hold down your job. You need to get paid, so this is sort of a requirement. Cost: 4 AP. Results: You do the minimum required to get paid. Your bosses won’t love you, but barring something both unexpected and awful happening the restaurant will slowly keep improving.
[X] - Pleasing the Eye. Your original plans about plating went in an entirely unexpected direction, but if you want to have chefs other than yourself capable of the sort of casual excellence you envision, you’re going to need to put in the hours to train them up. Cost: 1 AP. Results: Chefs trained to cook well and look good doing it. Eventual synergy with restaurant update.
-[X] continue your previous efforts and also look at the aesthetic side of the restaurant now think how people feel when they eat in her and look to improve it still in keeping with the ritz high class reputation.
Both of the above are hold overs from last turn so for reasons they stay in place. I want to keep going with lf plan but also add my bit to it.
[X] - Investigate the disturbance. Rumor has it that something happened at the PM’s residence. Maybe the bobbies would appreciate some assistance?Cost: 1 AP. Results: ???
-[X] Gather what information you can on the disturbance before approaching the police see of you can get in contact with someone high up in police or govt as quietly as possible to arrange to coordinate with the Police and the security service and if possible get more information to work with. From there base your response and load out based on the analysis of the threat vector. Ask Arturia for help with getting in contact with the right people and with what ever social and protection stuff comes up.
We helped with the cop killer and I’d kind of like to avoid the head head of the UKs Govt being mastered or assassinated. Especially if it’s the IRA the bastards would make it a high body count event.
[X] - Home Hunting. The apartment Merlin set you up with is … well, it’s an apartment. It’s small and cramped and has you living in proximity to other people a lot. You miss your suite in the Palace. With your new budget, you can find something better than what you’ve got without overstretching your means. Cost: 1 AP. Results: A list of homes for sal or rent
-[X] Try to find a place with a shed or workspace in it so you can tinker and with room to expand your family in along with a decent kitchen. Also look at it an eye towards setting up some hidden defences against intrusion and attack.
Need a place to live now and there are some pretty sweet places to live in and around london and the commute shouldn’t be to bad. Hell we could look for a motor bike for saber she’d like that.
[X] - Innovative Cuisine. Now that you’ve got access to the proper grade and scope of ingredients, you can turn your attention to the fine details of tweaking the Ritz’s current recipes. As they are, they’re solid, but uninspired. Of such fine details are the differences between the Great and the merely good made. Cost: 1 AP. Results: Improved dishes, increased revenue, happy bosses.
-[X] progress has been made with the show cooks but improvements still need to be made look how you can blend eastern cooking with western so it will be palatable to the current clientele. Also look at developing new dishes that can be added to the menu have Arturia taste test and the staff to get their opinions and modify them. Make it so there is a good mix of simple and advanced dishes.
Keep improving the ritz means more money for us in the long run and one step closer to unlimited cookworks.
[X] - Search around for crime to stop. Clearly, as an Ally of Justice, you should be patrolling the neighborhood looking for wrongs to right. Now that you’ve scouted the area out you’ve even got some idea of where to start. Cost: 1 AP. Results: Crimes thwarted? Justice upheld? Maybe just an annoyed Arturia.
-[X] Plan out a patrol route and follow it aim to both stop crime and help people you come across. Since you can’t just stop crime you also need to show yourself as a person people will trust.
Keeps our combat skills up and build up the rep and allows us to influence the pattern of heroing on Earth Bet.
[X] - Gym Hunting. It’s been a while since you were able to work with Arturia. Her Instinct might help you fake working as a team, but you’d rather not depend on that. Cost: 1 AP. Results: Find a place where you can spar with Arturia, or at least exercise together.
[x] Two pronged approach look for an official well equipped gym with a decent amount of equipment and attached hall. Also for power training see if you can find an abandoned factory or warehouse to use.
Need a place to train if all else fails we can find an empty dockside warhouse to use for training there are plenty in london right now.
