005: Baby You're a Haunted House

And the nights, they last forever
And days are always making you blue

In the dark we laugh together

'Cause the misery's funny to you

*- Baby You're a Haunted House,* by Gerard Way

## Session Summary

The Runaways sped their way towards Doc Hazzard, needing to get medical attention for Smoke and Fridge. As they drove, Nova, K2, and Bit Chaos tried to keep the mood light with some casual conversation, until they made their way from the Badlands into Heywood. Hazzard had no problem patching the injured members of the team up and took Fridge upon his request to install mantis blades where his injury on his left arm was. (Since some of the work was already done, he figured why not just take the chance to make the upgrade now?) Smoke was fixed up without any incident, but Doc Hazzard revealed that the surgery and recovery on Fridge were probably going to take longer than expected. The group opted to let Fridge recover quietly.

Smoke mentioned that they wanted to get to Pacifica and that the team should probably restock some of their goods and purchase new ones. Hazzard recommended going next door to a new shop that opened up called CHAPEL. The Runaways agreed and went next store, where they realized that the shop, itself, was a point of sale and mercantile AI. Pleased with the AI's personality, as well as the convenience of finding much of what they needed there (along with fortunes after each purchase, and opening a CHAPEL exclusive sales account) they soon left for Pacifica.

Smoke directed the group to wait at a bus station close to Pacifica, and eventually, they were approached by a young boy (named Remy) who was full of teasing questions. Satisfied with the answers he got, he led the Runaways through Pacifica to a church located in the center of Voodoo Boys territory. While there, they were introduced to Gaspard, who revealed that he was not in charge of the Voodoo Boys, but was someone close to Yemalla, the person in charge.

He was initially dismissive of the concerns that Smoke presented to them, specifically about AJ4X and Alt Cunningham and the threat they presented. His manner did change after Smoke revealed more about who she was when it came to her past, and stated that they knew one of the former leaders of the Voodoo Boys, and presented the rum and cigar. He accepted the boons. He blessed the space with the rum and cigar, inviting the Runaways to join in. After speaking in Creole to an unknown person, he replied that he had a task for them to perform in exchange to doing business.

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

Gaspard gave them the task of exorcising a safe-house that had recently gone into lockdown. Normally, the Voodoo Boys would abandon it, but they had sadly abandoned all of the goods they were storing in the house, and they were valuable enough to need to be reclaimed. They agreed and were given the address. The group discussed their own superstitions and approached the house, only to discover that the house itself was not only locked down but completely off the grid (probably the reason why it was so alluring as a safe-house to begin with.) As the groups discussed their strategy, they all witnessed as a white, ghastly figure appeared in the window of the house, and float back into the shadows.

The group investigated the house and found themselves upstairs. The house itself had no power, so flashlights were necessary to navigate. In a second-floor bedroom, Bit Chaos found a loose board in the back of a closet. Taking the board down revealed a series of tracks along tunnels hidden in the walls. The group, one by one, climbed inside to find out where the tunnels went and found that it led to another bedroom on the other side of the house. Sadly, while trying to exit the tunnels into the new room, Bit Chaos tripped a wire and cut herself out from the rest of the group. K2, Nova, and Smoke made their way out of the tunnels the way they came, leaving Bit alone in the room.

While alone, Bit was confronted by a strange figure. The wall in the closet opened, and the ghostly, floating figure of a hallow-faced woman floated out of the wall, her feet not touching the ground. Bit Chaos tried the door but found it locked. She screamed, alerting the rest of the group that she was in danger. They raced through the house to break down the door and rejoin Bit. Smoke recognized that the figure was not a ghost or demon, but rather a person strapped to a series of gears and pullies.

"Not enough," the figure replied.

Nova opened fire, killing the looming shape in the process. Nova stayed with Bit while she gathered herself. K2 and Smoke crawled into the tunnels and followed their path, leading them into the basement, where this person had clearly set up shop. It seemed to serve as a lair where they not only lived but performed their own surgeries and upgrades in an effort to install more cyberware. Smoke also discovered an old Night Corp employee ID with the name of Eve Fisher upon it. The picture seemed to match how the woman would have looked before she scarred herself in her home performed surgeries.

The group gathered back up and posed with the dead remains of Eve Fisher to prove the job had been done, and it had a rather mundane answer. Gaspard agreed that the deed was done. The Runaways left the building in their wake.