Fixing News

## Premise

It’s no surprise that Mayor Bronson likes to maintain a very *particular* image of Wellspring City. So when he discovers a mysterious blog documenting some of the city’s less-than-perfect happenings, he’s determined to shut it down at all costs. Will our heroes be able to find the blogger before Bronson?

## Cast

* Zen (DM)
* Brittney Megan Bronson (Talatala)
* Tailwind (Tallestnull)
* Nikola N. Change (Authorticity)
* Shaun (Verl)
* Kat Afka (Lordlyhour)

## Notable NPCs

* Rhett Bronson
* Carolina "Lina" Noticia (played by kt)
* Perspicuity Witt
* Nightlight (played by kt)

## Plot Summary

### Part 1

Brittney is hanging out in her room one afternoon when Mayor Bronson's assistant knocks on her door and calls her into her father's office. Brittney can tell the offices aren't as tense as they were in Look Out!, and it seems to be business as usual. Mayor Bronson shows Brittney a blog page, asking if she recognizes it. The blog, which is called *Hellspring City*, has pictures of mutants in Wellspring City and various conspiracy theories. Brittney truthfully says she hasn't seen the page before, and Mayor Bronson explains the blog has been around for months but only came to his attention recently. He suspects the blog is run by someone close to Brittney's age and asks her to poke around her school and see if she can figure out who runs the blog. Brittney agrees, and the mayor dismisses her.

Brittney heads out to a nearby BronsonBucks to take a better look at the blog on their wifi. Brittney rolls a terrible Investigation and doesn't glean much info from the blog. She confirms the blog doesn't have any info about her, then heads to the junkyard with coffee to get Tailwind's help. Tailwind is taking some pipes out of a car when Brittney arrives, and they have bandages on their hands. Brittney calls Tailwind over, gives them a coffee, and shows them the website. She asks if they can figure out who runs the website, and they say they'll try, though the group isn't usually the ones being obvious about mutant stuff. Tailwind takes Brittney into the shed, where Tailwind now has a conspiracy board set up, and Factoid has been transferred into a setup of clear plumbing tubing. Tailwind boots up their computer and tries to track where the website is hosted, and gets a variety of random locations in response. Tailwind and Brittney look through the photos to see if they can find a pattern in where they were taken. Most of the old photos seem to have been taken in Endsville, and the photos from Wellspring City seem to be from downtown and the surrounding area. Tailwind speculates on some locations they can check out, and Brittney says they should let the others know what's going on. Brittney starts running through the list of kids she bullies to potentially pin the blog on. Brittney texts the rest of the group about the website and sends them a link to it.

The next day at school, Nikola is clearly overjoyed by the news someone else in Wellspring City doesn't like the way the city is run. Shaun says the blogger is probably going to be murdered for speaking out against the city government, and points out that if they post pictures of the others, it'll be bad. Nikola says they've remained on the down low for a while now, and they've been lucky not to be found out so far. Brittney telepathically warns Nikola not to talk about this sort of stuff in public, and Nikola reluctantly quiets down. At this moment, Lina comes up behind the two, introduces herself as the student council treasurer, and asks Nikola about the petition for the anime club they started in Look Out!. Nikola pulls out some notes about the club they prepared and starts telling Lina about the activities they have planned for the club. Brittney recognizes Lina, who is also moderately popular at school. Her parents work at the city's newspaper, she is apparently loyal to Bronson, and she says hello to everyone at school.

Nikola reads the surface-level thoughts from Lina's mind while talking to her, which are all about anime at the moment. Nikola starts talking to Lina to try to steer her thoughts, and asks about publicly-accessible building rooftops to view the city from, trying to see if any of the places Lina thinks of match pictures from the blog. A couple locations seem like they might be a match for photos on the blog, but they're commonly-visited areas. Lina brings up Nikola hanging out with Brittney, but Nikola claims to not know Brittney that well. The two exchange phone numbers, and Lina says she'll file the paperwork to start the anime club. Lina asks about Nikola's accent, and Nikola says they're from a farm a few hours outside of the city and invites Lina to visit. Lina asks to do a story on one of Nikola's grandparents for the school paper, and Nikola says they're hanging out with the group after school but agrees to have Lina over to do the interview tomorrow after school. Lina heads back over to her original lunch table for the rest of lunch break. Shaun mentally scolds Nikola for revealing they're all friends to an outsider when they've been trying to keep it secret.

Focusing on the photo taken of Shaun in slime form as a dog, the group tries to remember if they saw anyone taking photos of Shaun that day. Brittney, Nikola, and Tailwind saw a few people that might have taken the picture, and Lina was at the dog park that day, though they didn't see her taking any photos. Brittney notices the website has a page for sending in reports and thinks about arranging a meeting, and Kat suggests they ask Perspicuity if he knows anything about the blog. Brittney doesn't go to the 8-12 with the rest of the group, and instead looks into the report page of the blog, intending to lure the blogger into a meeting. Brittney convinces Nikola she just wants to figure out who the blogger is to avoid them, and Nikola offers to help Brittney because they want the blogger as an ally.

Everyone but Brittney heads to the 8-12, where Tailwind asks if Perspicuity could track someone down. Perspicuity says his wilderness tracking skills are rusty, and Tailwind says they have a different kind of tracking in mind. Tailwind shows Percy the blog, which he recognizes, and Nikola points out the picture of Shaun. Nikola asks Perspicuity who he knows that doesn't like the mayor that may be writing the blog, and he says their grandparents are the people most outspoken against the mayor that he knows. Percy tells the group that he thinks the blog has multiple authors, most of whom seem to be fairly tech-savvy, and one of them signs off as Nightlight with a little symbol that Tailwind recognizes from some graffiti in Endsville. Tailwind plans to also message the blogger, but Nikola interrupts them and tells them Brittney is also going to send a message, and they should coordinate attempts. Tailwind concedes, saying that if they're going to revisit Endsville to lure the blogger out, they have to finish the project they've been working on first. Tailwind sets up an account on the blog with the username TheBetterMayorBronson and the stickbug as the profile picture.

In the meantime, Brittney has been trying to come up with a message, and looking for info on the vigilantes on the blog, which is mostly speculation. She decides she wants to send some additional proof with her message, but doesn't currently have any pictures of any of the group as mutants. Brittney texts Nikola to ask if they have pictures of the mutants they've fought, which they don't, but they send her a selfie in mutant form instead. Nikola asks after sending the selfie what Brittney wants it for, and she answers that she's using it for her message to the blog. Brittney also heads into a secluded alleyway and attempts to turn into her mutant form from A Fright to Remember, managing a less extreme but distinctly mutant appearance, and takes a selfie herself. She sends both photos along in her message, requesting a meeting with the blogger in a secluded alley late that night. Brittney gets a message back confirming the meeting, and the group start making plans for the meeting.

### Part 2

Nikola tries to keep an eye out for Lina for the rest of the day, but doesn't see her. Nikola, Shaun, and Kat head for the alley 2 hours ahead of time, but Brittney decides to wait and show up closer to the meeting time, and Tailwind stays at the junkyard working on a project to be backup if needed. Kat wears his gas mask and brings a Gameboy to play while he waits, Nikola shows up in normal gear and switches to mutant form an hour before the scheduled meeting, and Shaun decides to stay in civilian mode. The alley Brittney specified for the meeting is between two warehouses near the junkyard, with a fire escape leading up to the roof of one building. Kat climbs the fire escape, then jumps across the gap to the roof of the other building and starts playing his Gameboy on the roof. Shaun climbs the fire escape and sets up on that roof. Nikola stays in the alleyway proper and starts texting the others, trying to get their story and goals established.

Shaun is vocally opposed to the idea of telling the blogger they can transform, and Brittney proposes the cover story that she and Nikola are from Endsville and come to Wellspring only occasionally. Nikola suggests warning the blogger that Mayor Bronson is looking for them, but Brittney argues against giving them any accurate information. Nikola says they should have a reason for seeking out this meeting, and Shaun and Brittney say it's to ask the blogger to be more careful with their info. Nikola suggests he and Brittney set up mental links between the group so they can communicate quickly during the meeting, and reminds everyone they're not here to hurt or threaten the blogger, but Brittney argues that scaring the blogger off may solve their problem. Nikola and Kat say they shouldn't make the blogger their enemy, but Brittney and Shaun argue that they have to be ready to defend themselves if the blogger is hostile or anti-mutant. Shaun tells Nikola to only mention one of the group who's watching out, either Shaun or Kat, to see if the blogger knows about both via their own surveillance.

Nikola asks the group if anyone has a way to check for invisible people. Brittney suggests Detect Thoughts, which Nikola uses to sense that there is one unexpected set of thoughts at the edge of their range. Nikola texts Kat and asks him to check if he can see anyone, but he doesn't. Nikola texts Lina and listens to see if a ringtone goes off, but doesn't hear anything or get a response. Nikola telepathically tells Kat that they sense the thoughts from up on the roof with him, and texts Brittney to come over early. Kat casts Faerie Fire to try revealing the person up there, but it doesn't outline anyone, which he tells Nikola. Nikola telepathically reaches out to the owner of the thoughts to ask if they're the person he's here to meet, and the stranger swears and then responds "maybe". Meanwhile, Brittney arrives at the alley in mutant form and asks the stranger to come out so they can start the meeting properly. Kat sees a cloaked figure come out from behind the A/C machinery and descend from the building, and they run to stand at the entryway to the alley.

The hooded figure introduces themself as Nightlight and waits to hear what Nikola and Brittney have to say. Nikola presents the cover story they agreed on, which Nightlight is only a little skeptical of. Brittney asks Nightlight for proof they can be trusted, and Nightlight asks the two for Endsville's original name as proof of their story. Brittney correctly answers that it was called Wyllvylle and again presses for a reason to trust Nightlight. Nikola asks what Nightlight needs for them to prove they are on the same side, and Brittney starts reading Nightlight's mind, which is cataloging details of Nikola, Brittney, and Kat and trying to determine if they're trustworthy. Nikola says that the proof they aren't associated with Bronson is their appearance, and reads Nightlight's thoughts while asking them why they run the blog. Nikola can tell that Nightlight knows information they can't post because it would put people in danger. Aloud, Nightlight answers that they blog because they're mad about Bronson and how he acts about Endsville. Nikola asks if Nightlight has ever tried to make lasting change in the city, and Nightlight says it's hard to do. Nightlight also says the two should explore Endsville more, because if they're from there they should know more about it.

Nikola asks how many people work on the blog, and Nightlight refuses to answer, thinking of a mutant from Endsville without giving specifics. Brittney asks if the photos on the blog are submitted or taken by the bloggers, and Nightlight asks why they're concerned with the photos. Brittney tells Nightlight she doesn't like or trust them, and Kat yells at her to be nice. Brittney says she doesn't want attention on the vigilantes, that might lead to a negative response. Nightlight makes the connection that there must be a photo on the blog of someone these three know that isn't here, and says they won't post photos of these 3 but doesn't know whose photo *was* posted to remove it. Brittney asks for every photo Nightlight posted to be run past the group first, but Nightlight refuses and ends the meeting, running away down the street. Brittney tries to run after Nightlight, but Nikola catches her wrist, and Nightlight turns a corner and hides. Brittney says they should arrange another meeting with just Nikola talking to Nightlight and the rest hiding.

Nikola and Brittney argue over Brittney's insistence on scaring Nightlight instead of trying to make friends with them, and Brittney leaves to go home. Kat comes down from the roof and Nikola asks him for a hug, which he provides. Tailwind texts the group asking how it went. Nightlight was curious what game Kat was playing on the roof, so Nikola asks Kat in case they can use it in their conversation with Lina. Brittney decides to order cameras to monitor the bridge to Endsville. Shaun, Kat, and Nikola head over to the junkyard to catch Tailwind up, but Tailwind isn't there.

## Notes

This game was cursed. Multiple connection issues and interruptions plagued us throughout.

Tailwind has not experimented with not feeding Factoid, so has not discovered that it doesn't need to eat.

The report page of the Hellspring City blog looks like the tumblr submission page.

Nikola's grandmother Hildegaard reads the Hellspring City blog.

Perspicuity's username on the Hellspring City forums is ZenMaster.

Brittney got a burner phone after Superhero Fast-Track that she's been using to text the others in the group.

Before meeting with the blogger, Nikola lets their grandparents know they'll be out late and they should have bail ready just in case.

Discussed off-camera, Nightlight was able to see that the Gameboy Kat was playing reads *Property of Bie* (Kat's sister's name)

## Session Recording

Part 1

Part 2

## Art Gallery

Title card for part 1, drawn by ktThe Hellspring City blog, made by ktLina, drawn by ktNightlight's symbolThe photo of the stickbug Tailwind used as a profile picNightlight in the cloak they wore for the meetingTitle card for part 2, drawn by kt