The Garage Who: ACME Agents  What: The ACME Garage (Or "ACME Moving Vehicles Net") Status: Open

1 Philo (Copied and pasted from ACME Dorm RPG. this deserves to be its own thread.) The cell doors went closed with a satisfying crash behind his back. The officers undid his handcuffs and he rubbed his wrists eagerly as he walked down the long winding hallway, facing taunts from the other prisoners as he strode past. "You're a sell-out, Grunge!" "You ain't gonna be able to stay clean for very long." Grunge waved a hand in front of his face, pushing away a small swarm of flies. "*Snnrrk!* Tell it to de judge, ya buncha *wheeze* canaries. *Ah-choo!* The doors shut behind him and Grunge stood in another bland-looking room, thought a more welcome one: the shower. The orange prison outfit fell to the ground, and moments later so did hair, axle-grease, mud, crud, and various indescribables. The officers waited outside, ready to hand more soap or turpentine if he needed them. Once the whole ordeal ended, Grunge stepped out into the prison hallway in a fresh new set of coveralls, looking every bit like a new man. He inhaled sharply. "My cold is gone..." He said with an aire of relief as he was escorted out and into one last room, belonging to the parole board. "Philo Theodore Goldwater the Third, AKA Top Grunge: Your parole is hereby granted. You will be released into the custody of the ACME detective agency pending a review of conduct as to whether you will recieve a full release." The gavel fell. That was two days ago. Philo sat alone in the ACME agency's garage. He'd started work on a vintage 1950s cadillac. The other grease monkeys had been around but nobody had paid any attention to him, or he to they. He was designated "The New Guy" by some of them. Philo rather liked the idea. Now it was pretty late in the day, though, and he was the only one in the garage, still tightening bolts.

2 Calico Cali Corranos, a blue-eyed, brown-haired Brazilian popped open the garage's back door. She wore her jeans, boots, and a bright blue coat over a tight black tee shirt that had the words "ACME Bomb Squad" written in rubbery white letters. "Ooh, desculpe-me, senhor!" She cheerfully apologized in Portuguese for her harsh entrance, "I thought no one was here, so quiet." At 28 years old, Cali was ACME's first female demolitions expert. Around her waist was a belt threaded with equipment that told people more about her profession if they missed the phrase on her shirt. Today, she was here to find shrapnels for crime scene reconstruction. Literally, Corranos was here for metal scraps. A car bomb ripped the contents of a mystery container to shreads and finding the size of the bomb would give field agents a search radius. "You are the big man who took the long bath?" She asked with a complimentary smile in a Brazilian Portuguese accent, "parabéns! You aremuito melhor now." When saying 'muito melhor' she gave him two thumbs up.

3 Philo "Yeh..." Philo gave a sigh. "I hope I didn't leave too much of a mess behind in deh shower." He couldn't tell whether or not this apperent South American girl knew who he really was. All that dirt must have kept him disguised him pretty well after all. He smirked to himself. When he was with Carmen, he used to think these ACME gumshoes were almost psychic in their deductive ability. He appreciated how normal they were. "Er-eh, dere's somethin' I can help you with?"

4 Calico "Do you have scrap?" She smiled, holding out an almost empty can of shrapnels the other mechanics had left for her. Cali's eyes were on the cadillac while she was asking for scraps. All she knew about cars was how to blow them up and which wires were good trigger spots. The vintage doesn't look like much under this light, but a someone who cared might want to see it in the sun. "That's gonna be a hot car," She gave a mini thumbs up, this time to the Cadillac. "I am Cali, with the bomb squad, we're gonna make an explosion today in lab 2A. Come, if you want to, bring friends?"

5 Philo Philo raised an eyebrow. While there was indeed something about a controlled explosion that seemed fun, being both there, on parole, and a former VILE agent somehow seemed inappropriate. "I'll pass, but I'll let deh other guys know." Philo led Calico to the door of an adjacent room and opened it up. The room was easily big as the garage itself, and filed with several very large pieces of twisted metal. "Welcome teh ACME junknet." He sniffed. "Deh gumshoes tend teh go through vehicles kinda fast. Whatever can't be saved gets put here until deh recycling guys show up. Take yer pick: you might find something just deh right size. Jus' don't touch deh pile o' stuff over dere. Some wise guy is usin' it teh practice modern sculpture. It's supposed teh be a swan."

6 Calico [[Sorry Philo! :) So much work last month of school!]] If "explosives" wasn't Cali's true love, "junk" would have been, but no matter how she looked at it, the thing in the modern sculpture pile didn't look like a swan. She made a face and shrugged, "I guess it is art." Adjusting her belt, Cali bent down and looked for bits and pieces that could be used as shrapnel. "I hear so much news about Carmen Sandiego..." Cali started making conversation, "What is it like working with her?"

7 Philo Philo was shocked. Well, not that shocked. It would have been easy to figure out that if he was jailed here, he would have worked for Carmen in some capacity for another. He gave a shrug. "Dere's a lot more routine den yeh'd think: steal deh loot, get chased by deh gumshoes, get caught, get thrown in jail, give 'em a clue where Carmen is, wait, get out, an' start all over again."

8 Calico Cali grinned, she was happy with a few brightly painted metal pieces about 5-10 grams each. "If it is routine, then why are so many people sticking out their necks for her?" Cali put the pieces in her bucket, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you sound like a sheep. I am always interested about situational loyalty. Is she kind, or beautiful, or something?" For a Brazilian, Cali was taught from a young age to fend for herself. Her mother owned four different businesses and had a separate account from her father. Relatives would gather to tell stories about why they chose their profession. Those stories were why Cali came to the United States and why she liked her job so much.

9 Philo "Everybody gots their own reasons." Philo sniffed. "I wish I could tell ya more 'bout Carmen, but really, I dun know. She could get along wit'out any of us if she needed teh. But she sure is...interestin'....I guess that's what's really goin' on here. We're all interested."

10 Calico Cali got all the shrapnel she needed for now. She looked Philo up and down and had to agree with him, she'd be interested too if VILE gave her something for her troubles. Too bad she didn't like hiding or running away from things. "That is making a lot of sense," she agreed. She could see her and Philo being alike in plenty of ways, and he probably didn't have many friends yet. "Tomorrow, we're going to the desert for testing the Rocket Propelled Grenades, amigo," she said, "we're bringing the van with some lawn chairs and some ice cream, could use some help with van, want to volunteer?"

11 Philo "Yeh, I guess so..." Philo said, looking away and crossing his arms. Doubtless all the talk about Carmen had made him become a little distant.

12 Miss_Guided Two Days. Weekends, when properly utilized, were marvelous things. It had been a fabulous weekend away from the garage. Away from a face full of grease, a nose full of gasoline... contacts in her eyes. However all good things end and this weekend was no exception. Entering by way of the open front garage doors junk sneakers shuffled in, her frame dressed again in the standard baggy cargo pants and loose fitting tshirt, a bandana holding back her bland blond hair. Missy sipped on a coke as she entered, pausing mid sip as she heard foreign voices with no familiar ones to accompany them. Who was in the garage at this time? She followed the sound of talk, leading her to the scrap room and the sight of two people who she didn't really know... or did she? The first was female. There might have been a possibility of meeting her somewhere in the dorms, though keeping to herself a floor above the party room meant she hardly knew the agents as well as she should. The girl wasn't the main concern, it was the gentleman. Missy's eyes scanned him as she felt her stomach knot itself up. She couldn't place a finger on it but she knew who this man was... in some way that gave her the urge to either fight or run. Never a good sign. "Uh... hi. Everyone doing ok in here?" she finally said, bringing herself fully into the doorway.

13 Philo "Yeh, everythin's fine." Philo said a grin creeping up half his mouth. He'd succeeded in selling himself to one gumshoe. He knew that the curiosity of others would not be as easy to satisfy as was this South American firecracker. "Somethin' I can do for ya?"

14 Miss_Guided Her head cocked to the side at Philo's reply. Wow... he certainly acted like he belonged here, didn't he? "No... I'm here to work at my station..." she replied, then entered the room proper, extending a hand to shake. "Melissa Wayward. I volunteer down here. You?"

15 Philo "Philo." He reached out his hand to shake her's. He was not yet used to shaking a hand and leaving behind some sticky, smelly residue behind. "I....jus' got started."

16 Miss_Guided Philo? Yeah, the name sounded familiar too... but from where? Trying not to make too obvious display of her mind trying to scan itself for answers she pulled her hand back and smiled. She hadn't even been given the chance to worry about certain things being seen in the garage by new, uninformed eyes. "Nice. The guys could always use a new hand. So you've worked in garages before, Philo?"

17 Calico As Missy walked in Cali saw a new pile of junk she thought would look good as a pole holder for barbed wire. She was busy with this while Philo talked and came to the conclusion she could wait another day before deciding if this was really good for barbed wire or something more industrial like an electric fence. "Olá Missy!" Cali Corranos smiled, she jumped back in from her thoughts about the pile of junk. "MisterPhilo was talking about working with Carmen, before when he wasmuito dirty 'guy with motorcycle'. Yes, and I put name on van for tomorrow's rocket test, you join us?"

18 Miss_Guided ((Best. Timing. EVER Calico!)) Missy's eyebrows raised a little in a questioning glance. Dirty guy with mo- Her stomach immediately stopped knotting and started, in stead, to feel like it was sinking. Top Grunge. Philo Goldwater the... what, second, fourth or something? The outward reaction was minimal. "Oh." However inside there was an immediate panic. If you were to look into the case files of one Melissa Wayward you would not see any form of real interaction with VILE despite her three years of listed service with ACME. She should, by all accounts, have never really met Top Grunge before. So why the panic? ...because Top Grunge had met her before. Just not as Melissa Wayward. Smiling she looked to Calico, as if the link to VILE was minimal. "Rocket test, huh? Sounds awesome, I'll be there."

19 Philo Philo huffed. So the South American did know after all. The conversation the two girls were having did not make him feel better about the situation. In fact, he was getting real annoyed. Philo crossed his arms and growled. "So dat's it? Not gunna bring up no issues 'bout havin' an old arch enemy in here tightenin' ya fuel valves?"

20 Miss_Guided Missy looked back to Grun- sorry, Philo, shooting him an apologetic smile. Did she feel comfortable with him down here at all!? NO! Forget his work on the cars, what about the day to day!? What was she going to do with him down here? "...I'd have thought you'd have heard enough about it by now..." Missy replied softly. "You don't look much like a dirty motorcycle guy anymore... you seem to have cleaned up your act. You know, literally and metaphorically." She tilted her head a little to the side. "Besides, they wouldn't put you down here if you were still a bad guy, would they? Well, I hope they wouldn't..." Her nose wrinkled. "I hope they don't expect me to babysit you or something..."

21 Philo If the little blond-haired girl had done what was expected, Philo would be less steamed. "I'm old enough teh take care o' myself. I wish yeh were old enough to see dat." Philo wiped his hands with a nearby grease cloth and tried to storm off.

22 Calico Cali listened to the two. She wasn't great with English conversations, but she could hold her own in comprehension skills. When one of them tried to storm off, it doesn't take a professor to guess who was upset. "Don't let this drive you crazy, amigo," Cali tried to sound neutral, and she could talk, because Philo can't leave, "it is better than jail, yes?" "I have to go wear the silly bomb suit and blow up things," she grinned with a Brazilian smile and waved to leave, "any of you two stressed, you come see me. I have all the cures."

23 Philo "I don't think an explosion is gonna settle dis...." He looked again at Missy, standing there looking all aloof. "Although..."

24 Miss_Guided Missy put her hands up casually, giving a bit of a shrug. "Easy there, Phil-o, no need to be violent... I was just trying to figure out whats going on, thats all. They don't send former felons down here all that often." She extended her hand with a smile. "Are we cool?" Cause we probably wouldn't be if you knew...

25 Philo "Whatever." Philo stood with his arms crossed for a moment, looking at her extended hand with trepidation. Then he extended his hand and shook hers. Lightly. Girls didn't like firm handshakes, probably.

26 Miss_Guided Missy's hand gripped his in return. It was significantly tighter. She hadn't done it on purpose believe it or not, it was just something she'd gotten used to working in a world of tough cops and tougher thugs. A good firm shake, a direct look into the eyes with a smile. Girls may not like firm handshakes but women do. "Good. Welcome to the garages." Keep it brief, keep it simple. With that she turned and headed to her work area to... find something to tighten or something.

27 Philo (I think we've gone as far as we can go. This should be closed.)