The Mad Egg Scramble

 The Mad Egg Scramble.

The day started normally enough. It was Easter, the annual event where some humans seem to celebrate a zombie rising. They are odd creatures. Anyway, me and my friend Firefly were at a coffeeshop ordering some cookies when all of a sudden where was a "Pssst" sound and a voice out of the shadows:

Grady: Hello there, it's me, your old pal Grady from... The Office

Starbright Wingtips: mmmm, munchies

Grady: I know it has been a while, but we can see that you are done eating... the hashbrowns looked great

Grady: Look, we don't have much time, so I wont bother you with explanations, but we have another unique situation.

Starbright Wingtips grabs a handful of baked goods

Grady: I am sending the coords to our client now. Get there as fast as you can.

Grady: Downloading Coords...

The voice sounded serious, I looked about but I was unable to locate the source of the voice, so I turned to Firefly (who was looking blissed out on a sugar high) and said;

Starbright Wingtips: I can't tell if this is a drugs run, again, or some proper top secret stuff

Starbright Wingtips: oh well, lets go find out

Firefly nodded enthusiastically and we headed outside to the car park, stepping over a beggar on the way, she asked me for one hundred Lindens with the promise that she would pay me back tomorrow, I just laughed and kept going. I am cruel but fair. Looking over the lot I noticed a Taco truck and suddenly got hit by a case of the munchies:

Starbright Wingtips: ohhh, taco's

Starbright Wingtips: we can grab some before we set off

Starbright Wingtips pushes past the NPC's

Starbright Wingtips: yes yes I know, "ice cream so good" now get outa my way before I inflict violence

Starbright Wingtips: ahh garcon, a dozen of your finest taco's please

Starbright Wingtips: good, right, lets get out of here

Starbright Wingtips: pay? hahah

Starbright Wingtips: right, what car shall we steal today?

I chose an old Japanese sports car, mainly because it was one I knew how to hotwire. We pulled out of the car park and immediately got hit by some very weird shit. It was like reality turned itself inside out. I was really beginning to regret that taco.

Starbright Wingtips: I can see this must be an important mission, that was definitely a penguin ambush

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): oops

I knew that this stretch of road had a reputation for being a bit of a race track so I put my foot down without too much worry about the trees, lamposts, houses or people:

Starbright Wingtips: 96 mph, lol

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

Starbright Wingtips: I'm sure those things we hit will be fine

Starbright Wingtips: a lick of paint will fix it up

 Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): whooo hoooo

As we approached a patch of open country a strange voice issued from the car radio suggesting that we stop the car and jump down a rabbit hole. Well, we'd both had quite a lot to smoke and consumed a mountain of edibles, so we gave no thought to the source of the voice and thought that this seemed like quite a reasonable suggestion:

We both jumped and fell down what appeared to be some sort of wormhole in the space/time continuum. It's a common feature of rabbit holes, but one which the rabbit community usually keeps top secret, so I knew this was important and possible involved Penguins! We landed in a clearing in some woods and looking around I saw a rabbit and some scattered eggs. I knew then that my suspicions were on the right track. Penguins are birds and birds lay eggs!

At this point the rabbit turned round and suggested that we walk through a door that was conveniently placed nearby in the trunk of a large tree. I was keen to find out more about the eggs so I thanked the rabbit and we both walked into the tree. There was a feeling as if we'd passed through some kind of barrier and next thing we knew, we were standing in a large room where everything was large. Thing just kept getting weirder:

Starbright Wingtips: here <holds out her hand> have some more red pills

Starbright Wingtips: I think we're going to need to be very stoned to deal with this

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips gulps a handful

As we looked around the room I noticed a door on the other side of the very large side table. On the table was a pitcher full of liquid and a glass. A disembodied voice, which may very well have been a figment of my imagination, suggested strongly that we both have a drink before going through the door:

Strange Voice (possibly in my head): Approach the door, A drink perhaps? What might it do? Likely nothing

Starbright Wingtips: how are we supposed to have a snack and a drink, we can't reach

Starbright Wingtips: here, you jump on my shoulders and try to grab the bottle

* A Few Moments Later ... *

Starbright Wingtips: ahhh, that's better. I dunno what that was, but it hits the spot

Starbright Wingtips: now lets just wait for the pink elephants to finish dancing and we'll go through the door after them. The cavern on the other side of that door had an atmosphere of power, and a strange smell of old straw and rabbit poo:

Strange Voice (possibly in my head) Approach... The Bunny

Starbright Wingtips: what's up doc?

The Bunny: Welcome Starbright . I have been expecting you

The Bunny: To get right to business, a contracted a leprechaun on March 18th

The Bunny: He was to help get a very special set of eggs to an associate

Starbright Wingtips: hmmmm

The Bunny: But, the little pranking bastard has spread them all over creation

Starbright Wingtips: go on

The Bunny: Last I heard from him was an angry drunken voice message challenging me to fight

Starbright Wingtips: so, you want me to hunt him down and kill him?

The Bunny: Nooooooo!! You... you will help me retrieve these eggs

Starbright Wingtips looks a bit disappointed.

The Bunny: My bunny magic will guide you... like... well like magic!

The Bunny: Now, off with you to do my bidding!

The Bunny waves its paw like a Jedi...

Starbright Wingtips:  ok bugs babe

The cavern and odd giant rabbit begin to fade out and before we know it we are standing by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I tell Firefly to stay by the road while I go hunting for some transport. A few minutes later I return to Firefly so we can continue our journey:

Starbright Wingtips: ok, it's not ideal but it's all i could steal

Starbright Wingtips: lets go

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

Starbright Wingtips: so, its a tuk tuk with a turbo engine

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yay

Starbright Wingtips: this should be ..... interesting

Starbright Wingtips: pray to whatever gods you worship

Starbright Wingtips: of course, this is a race track

Starbright Wingtips: so ....

Starbright Wingtips: just keep repeating "we're not going to die"

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): weeeeee

Starbright Wingtips: this is all very odd

Starbright Wingtips: is this reality or are we still down the hole?

Starbright Wingtips: we might be stuck in the Matrix

Starbright Wingtips: you know, sometimes I get the feeling that I'm just a little cartoon avatar being controlled by a being I can't properly comprehend, it's a mad thought, eh?

 Starbright Wingtips giggles

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

Starbright Wingtips: although I suppose everyone feels like that to some extent

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips: everyone round here anyway

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): that Musk guy thinks we live in the Matrix

Starbright Wingtips leans forward to lights another spliff in the cover of the windshield

Starbright Wingtips: Mr Musk strikes me as an NPC, so he's probably right

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips: ice cream so good

Starbright Wingtips: heheheh

Starbright Wingtips: ((that line is a tiktok NPC meme btw))

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): (( oh ))

Starbright Wingtips: ((the girl who came up with the NPC concept used that as one of her lines. she would do or say certain things depending how much you donated, like a video game NPC responding to options. at her height she was apparently making 7000 USD per day, just for doing that))

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): ((wow))

Starbright Wingtips: ((all non nude and non sexual too))

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): ((nice))

Starbright Wingtips: ((well fair play to her, doing that would have driven me insane by day 3))

Starbright Wingtips: ((well, more insane I mean))

We'd been travelling downhill since we left the rabbit hole and were now approaching a nice area of upscale housing with its own docking area. I had a feeling we were going to need a boat next, so I parked up and we walked towards the dock. There was a lovely looking motorboat moored, so I decided we needed to liberate it for the cause:

Starbright Wingtips: ok, now keep your eyes peelded, there's something very odd going on here. we're been drugged, sent to alternative worlds, or had some great hallucinations. we're looking for eggs laid by a rabbit, we've been sent all over the place and have no clue whate going on

Starbright Wingtips: sounds like a monday

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

We set off heading mostly south and west:

Starbright Wingtips: we're on the water so keep an eye out for penguins

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): ok

The journey was uneventful, but that seemed more ominous than calming:

Starbright Wingtips: its quiet, too quiet

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips turns the radio on 

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yay

I saw Angels airport and marina ahead and for no apparent reason I decided to dock there. Something was calling me, I could feel it. As I was finishing docking all of a sudden a loud voice seemed to boom out, it might have been some weird spirit thing, or it might have been the PA system, it was hard to tell:

Disembodied Bunny Voice: The waters to your North, I can feel it, i know they are there

Disembodied Bunny Voice: Get down there and find them, minion!. This is no time to dally!

Starbright Wingtips: There's a large mysterious sunken city in those waters, I think if we are going to look there we will need a submarine 

 Starbright Wingtips: i have a slightly radioactive used one

Starbright Wingtips: that'll do

 Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips:  Let's go find some eggs in a submarine!

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yay

Of course, the problem with getting people extremely stoned and then giving them complex tasks to carry out soon reared its head:

Starbright Wingtips: i can't figire out how to grab them

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): drive up to them

Starbright Wingtips: ohhh, doh!

We patrolled around for a while and passed some very interesting artifacts under the water and I saw a sign that my people might have been here in ancient times. Sadly we had no time to explore, we had a mission to complete:

After a slow start we made some progress in our collection of these eggs. After last week's explosive experience, I was taking no chances and placed each egg in a towed wire cage. Once we got back to the docks we counted our haul:

  -------------- Round 1 Egg Counts --------------

Super Rare Eggs Found: 0

Rare Eggs Found: 1

Common Eggs Found: 4

Round 1 Eggs Collected: 5

Round 1 Egg Points Earned: 6

Starbright Wingtips: we found some at least

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

I was just making this last comment when that voice boomed out again. I still couldn't decide if it was magic or the PA system. 

Disembodied Bunny Voice: Yes... YES! Be very careful with those

Disembodied Bunny Voice: More valuable than a mortal's life they are!

Disembodied Bunny Voice: The little drunk must have dropped these on the trip to the New World

Starbright Wingtips: I know, you just can't find the staff these days

Disembodied Bunny Voice: He has taken the rest to lands freshly sprung from the oceans

Disembodied Bunny Voice: And this is where you shall go... now!

As soon as that last thing had been said there was a big cloud of smoke and what sounded like some cheap firecrackers going off and we suddenly found ourselves in a completely different place.

Starbright Wingtips: well that was fun but I wish we'd had a yellow submarine; we could have sung as we worked then.

[16:45] Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

[16:45] Starbright Wingtips: plus we might have met an octopus in a garden

[16:47] Starbright Wingtips: so. now we're somewhere rural, so we have to watch out for penguins, rabbits AND rednecks

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips: I'm not too worried about the rednecks and I know what I'm dealing with when it comes to penguins, but that rabbit has me worried.

We walked through the unlikely looking farmland looking for a vehicle to, err, borrow:

Starbright Wingtips: got to say, i have seen flatter hay fields.

Eventually we saw a large house in the distance and as we got closer I could see beach jeep parked down the side.

 Starbright Wingtips: I don't think some rich trust fund kiddo is going to miss this jeep for a few hours

Starbright Wingtips: we should be done with it by then

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): ok

We climbed aboard and set off down the road in search of our next adventure.

Starbright Wingtips: going to see old blind Pete eh?

Starbright Wingtips: he used to be my driver

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

Starbright Wingtips: opps, few scratches in the paint as we sideswiped that tree. I swear it dodged into our path.

Lusch Motors - Scout Surfer GTFO 1.9: No fuel.

Starbright Wingtips: wtf, really?

Starbright Wingtips: lol

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

Starbright Wingtips: I learned all I know about driving from blind Pete.

Starbright Wingtips: including how to check the fuel gauge before I set off

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

We abandoned the jeep and set out on foot along the road. Luckily we didn't have to go far before I spotted another big expensive house with an almost identical jeep parked outside

Starbright Wingtips: They're all nepo babies here and all seem to own very similar jeeps. that's very handy

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

We set off again, heading for somewhere unspecified location, the road system here was very windy and so to save some time I even cut cross country. It was totally deliberate, honest.

Starbright Wingtips: telegraph poles now too, they all hate me

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Eventually we reached an area where there seemed to be a strange atmosphere. I slowed to a stop and the radio began to issue instructions to us, cutting in halfway though a Spice Girls song. We were instructed to drive around recklessly and hit things with the jeep. Well, Pixies are know for their obedience to commands so I felt I had no choice. I put the jeep in 4WD and floored the accelerator, We lept off the road and careened away leaving deep ruts in the grass as we mowed down flower beds, post boxes, residents and the occasional mad egg that bounced into our path. It was a wild trip and I still felt high AF from all the drugs earlier. Eventually I ran out of targets and slowed to a stop. 

 -------------- Round 2 Egg Counts --------------

Super Rare Eggs Found: 2

Rare Eggs Found: 3

Common Eggs Found: 8

Residents: 34

Round 2 Eggs Collected: 13

Round 2 Egg Points Earned: 20

As we celebrated our results we suddenly heard that rabbit again. It was coming out of the car radio this time. I have no idea how they are able to do that.

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yay

Starbright Wingtips: yay

Disembodied Bunny Voice: Wonderful!... just wonderful!

Disembodied Bunny Voice: I fear I am in danger of being impressed!

Disembodied Bunny Voice: But, you have one more place to go

Starbright Wingtips: oh oh

Disembodied Bunny Voice: I can not move you there, it is too far... but I can get you to the train station...

At that point it seemed that someone had thrown a flashbang grenade at our feet. We were momentarily stunned and when our senses cleared, we were in a totally new place.

Starbright Wingtips: i'm confused. how did we get here? where's the jeep? wtf?

 Starbright Wingtips: oh well, nice old train here, lets borrow it

We managed to get the steam train going, it already had a full firebox and was all steamed up, it was almost as if it had been set up for us specially. It was highly suspicious. Anyway we got on board and as we steamed along we discused what had been happening.

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): aliens?

Starbright Wingtips: maybe

Starbright Wingtips: or old magic

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips: this is nice scenery

Starbright Wingtips: but it reminds me of .... rabbit country

Starbright Wingtips: so be careful. if you hear "what's up doc?" shoot first, ask questions later

Starbright Wingtips: questions like: "so I guess we're having rabbit for dinner then?"

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

Starbright Wingtips: apparently rabbits have concrete lined tunnels 100 meters underground

Starbright Wingtips: oh, hang on. I think I'm getting them confused with other burrowing pests

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

Starbright Wingtips: I hope we don't have to go to Cannabis Airfield. They have kamikaze rabbits there

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

Starbright Wingtips: they tend to explode

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): that would make a mess

Starbright Wingtips: it does yes, at least you don;t have to de-gut them before you make rabbit stew though, so that's handy

Starbright Wingtips giggles

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): and pre cooked

Starbright Wingtips: yes, also precooked with the fur burned off

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips: I'll suggest to Outy that he should rename his rabbits as ready meals

Starbright Wingtips: lol

Starbright Wingtips: the only problem with long journeys through belli is that i start to experience some serious dejavu

Starbright Wingtips: maybe its just a glitch in the matrix

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips: I mean, it couldn't be that things repeat every 500 meters, could it? that'd just be silly

Eventually we reached the end of the line and left the train standing on the tracks hissing and dripping and sounding like it might well explode at any minute. We hurried through the station building and got out into the car park where we just saw one lone car that looked as if it had been sat there for some time. It was an old 90's model so hotwiring it took about 5 seconds:

Starbright Wingtips: oh look, an old abandoned rally car. this'll do us

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yay

It was a race engine and so we set off at very high speed.

Starbright Wingtips: ooops

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): oops

Starbright Wingtips: damn, there goes my no claims bonus

Starbright Wingtips: oh hang on, I don't have any insurance. phew. that's ok then

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yay

Starbright Wingtips: blind Pete was an amazing instructor

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips: I bet you've never felt safer in a car, right?

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips: at the start of each lesson Pete would put his hand on my leg and say "Luke old boy, you've just got to close your eyes and trust in the force" and I used to say "I'm not Luke and that's not my leg"

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): lol

We soon came to an area where I felt that same strange atmosphere. At that moment the car stalled and I saw a large egg wrapped in pink cellophane bounce across the road. We looked at each other, giggled dove out the doors in pursuit of these mad eggs. After a few minutes of running around like loons it appeared that the remaining eggs had all escaped.

-------------- Round 3 Egg Counts --------------

Super Rare Eggs Found: 2

Rare Eggs Found: 3

Common Eggs Found: 8

Round 3 Eggs Collected: 13

Round 3 Egg Points Earned: 20

Starbright Wingtips: yay

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yay

As we stood there celebrating that rabbit voice started up again, this time I am sure it was coming out of a hole in the trunk of a nearby tree. 

Disembodied Bunny Voice: You have done it!

Disembodied Bunny Voice: Now, come back... come back to me quickly!

There was another flash/bang (whih were beginning to give me a real headache, or maybe it was coming down off all those drugs) and suddenly the lanscape changed again: 

Starbright Wingtips: oh crikey, we're back here again

Starbright Wingtips: this landscape seems .... familiar

As we stood at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere I wondered what we could do next. Fortunately a taxi was passing just at that moment, so we carjacked it;

As we drove down these familiar looking roads at high speed another disembodied voice came floating into my ears;

*uC* Evil Doll: Starbright Wingtips... I've seen your past, and I'll shape your future.

Starbright Wingtips: ha

Starbright Wingtips: I don't think so

By this point in the day I was begging to think LSD shouldn't be taken at breakfast time. We managed to get back to the dodgy rabbit hole without further incident and hopped over to it and into it, doing the whole rabbit pose and twitchy nose thing.

Starbright Wingtips: lets go see peter rabbit again

Firefly Twilight (dancingfireflys): yes

We walked back through the series of caverns and being a bit peckish I did snack on one or two of the mushroooms growing there, again. We walked through the final door and approached rabbit.

The Bunny: Welcome back Starbright . You have done.... well!

The Bunny: I will not keep you

The Bunny: Instead... I shall reward you!

The Bunny waves its paw like a Jedi again...

============= 2024 Egg Hunt Totals =============

Round 1 Eggs Collected: 5

Round 1 Egg Points Earned: 6

Round 2 Eggs Collected: 13

Round 2 Egg Points Earned: 20

Round 3 Eggs Collected: 13

Round 3 Egg Points Earned: 20

TOTAL GAME EGGS COLLECTED: 31 out of 104 total eggs

TOTAL GAME POINTS EARNED: 46

WE then found ourselves in a car dealership, holding the keys to one of the machines in our hands:

Vik Svoboda: Take a look around. You will find awesome prices from a very friendly, helpful, and talented creator!

Stormcrow V2 Grid Drive Completion Reward Giver: Giving gift to [Starbright Wingtips]

Second Life: Stormcrow V2 Grid Drive Completion Reward Giver owned by .Nᴇɪʟʟ (sime.stormcrow) gave you '[Stormcrow Store] BZ WZ / Black'  ( Noble Town (119,57,21) ).

Starbright Wingtips: yay

Christi Charron: A special 'Thank You' to this weekend's Grid Drive sponsor, Stormcrow, and it's owner .Nᴇɪʟʟ (sime.stormcrow)!

Atomic Shenanigans

 Grid Drive Blog 23/03/24 - Atomic Shenanigans.

Hi again everybody. Here I am again with details of another adventure I became involved in against my will the other day. It's a hard job keeping the world secure from the Penguin Menace. 

The day started normally enough. I got a dodgy suggestion from DoSL;

Christi Charron: Tour the festival and see the awesome food truck displays

Starbright Wingtips: hmmm, a food truck tour, I am suspicious

Starbright Wingtips: it'll probably involve drugs, again.

Starbright Wingtips: mmm, ice creams, lets get some.

Starbright Wingtips: I was going to get a lemon ice, then I remembered the warnings about not eating yellow snow, who knows if it's really lemon.

Starbright Wingtips: anyway, lets have a look around.

We wandered around the food truck convention for a while, trying the various burgers and BBQ on offer. Overall it was a lovely area and we noticed some details thar show that our overlords are on top of things totally;

Starbright Wingtips: city newspaper is 4 years old, I am glad Linden are keeping things up to date. 

But eventually our culinary experiments caught up with us and we headed over to the long line of portacabins to, err, powder our noses. This is where thins really went a bit mad, I am sure it had nothing at all to do with the coke. All of a siddent there was a bright flash and when I opened the portapotty door I saw a new landscape;

Starbright Wingtips: we got flushed out i guess

Starbright Wingtips: I must admit it's not where I expected to end up. I remember that sewage plant from the last drive. Unless it was all a bad dream, it's hard to remember.

Starbright Wingtips: anyway, it looks nice enough, lets explore

We wandered along downhill towards the outskirts of a strange town and came to a road. It appeared we might have a lot of walking to do, so I did what anyone in our situation would do, I stole a vehicle.

Starbright Wingtips: lets use this, hop in

Starbright Wingtips: oh, I don't mind cries of "omg we're going to die". I'll be screaming just as loud.

So we set out driving aimlessly across Belli, although I was sure something freaky was going on and I kept my eyes out for penguins at all times. The roads of Belli were as treacherous as ever and we did encounter a few more unfortunate travellers who had also been sucked into the portapotty pipes. 

Starbright Wingtips: I f**king hate the lamposts of Belli

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): yes

Aᴘᴘʏ (appaloosahorse) shouts: it sucks! that's the challenge

Starbright Wingtips: stupid road

Chris Camberley-Lionheart (chrisger): rolls eyes

Having found a stretch of road with some serious potholes I decided that it'd be a lot smoother ride if we just went offroad;

However, offroad Belli has just as many hazards as the street do;

Starbright Wingtips: i hate the trees too, lol

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): lol

Despite all of these challanges we eventually found ourselves at a railway station and a little voice in the back of my head was telling me that the cops were probably out looking for the bike by now, so I decided we ought to swap to another mode of transport. Luckily there was an old tram at the station, so I, err, borrowed it for a while.

The coke from earlier was really kicking in at this point and so as we toured Belli a certain amount of confusion arose over which direction we should be going, which was good going considering we only had two choices, ahead or reverse. 

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): are we going the wrong way?

Starbright Wingtips: yes, lol

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): the signal is red

Starbright Wingtips: where did we go wrong?

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): this is confusing

Starbright Wingtips: lets have some more coke, it might clear things up.

We travelled through Belli observing the wonderful scenery with a kind of glassy eyed wonder, utter profound "wow" and "cool" comments and other conversational gems

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): oops

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): fixed it

Starbright Wingtips: yay

Starbright Wingtips: we're on linden turf, so keep an eye out for penguins

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): lol

هرزاده (dancingfireflys): yes

Starbright Wingtips: I like the scenery here, even things like having a mix of trees

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): I like the houses to, they give me a sense of enormous well-being. 

We eventually reached the end of the line and were just pondering what we should do next when I got a call on my mobile. It was spooky, almost as if we were being watched;

Starbright Wingtips: Hello, who is this?

Christi Charron: If you lived here, you'd be home right now!

Christi Charron: You would also be my neighbor as my house is near here :)

Christi Charron: Let's head to the dock

Starbright Wingtips: err, ok I guess. We're doing this because ....?

Christi Charron: There's someone waiting there you need to talk to.

So we walk though the outskirts of the town and approach the shoreline where we see a small dock with some seaplanes parked next to it. We see a suspicious looking short person waiting on the dock wearing what looks like a trenchcoat and fedora. I walk up with a cheesy grin and wave

Starbright Wingtips: Wotcha matey. Have you lost your preciousssss?

Warship Waifu: Hey Starbright. I'm sure you're one of Christi's "Let's Go See Pretty Things" grid drives right now, but your help is needed in the gulf.

Starbright Wingtips: see, it's those bloody penguins again, I bet you!

Warship Waifu: We have a "Broken Arrow" situation we discovered recently while looking through old top secret military records.

Warship Waifu: Years ago two submarines were sent out, one carrying a large "tactical" nuclear warhead, the other sub was just a decoy.

Warship Waifu: The two subs never arrived, and they were eventually forgotten about over time, they likely collided shortly after leaving port.

Warship Waifu: Our plan is to find the two submarine wrecks using sonar from a boat, then search the wreckages using deep sea vehicles.

Warship Waifu: We need someone to retrieve the sonar and take it to the search team at the JGA marina, as our delivery driver had a bull-riding accident last weekend.

Warship Waifu: I contacted you because you're known for your reliability and speed, and we only have the budget for one more day of operation.

Starbright Wingtips: bull riding eh? nasty

Warship Waifu: Please go retrieve the sonar device from a warehouse in Tulagi, and take it to the search team at the JGA Marina

Starbright Wingtips: and this is all official, is it? hmmmmmm. Ok I guess the quickest way to get there is to "borrow" one of these planes. It goes against every instinct I have to break the law by taking someone else's vehicle, but this is an emergency, right?

So with no further ado we waved farewell to the totally not dodgy person giving us dodgy instrctions which may or may not be official and we began our flight south to the Jeoget Gulf. It was at this point we started to suffer from some electronic warfare interference with our GPS ((Navhud))

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): i am so confused

Starbright Wingtips: why

شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): it is all showing up on screen in some strange language

Starbright Wingtips: penguin hacking

20240323 Nav HUD: オフロード車両に乗って続行します。しつこいですが、飛行機は削除しないでください

[11:47] Starbright Wingtips: it must be

[11:47] Starbright Wingtips: they want the nukes

We climbed out of the plane and began to look for a vahicle to take us to the warehouse on the docks where the sonar was apparently being stored. I could see we were in a military area so in order to blend in and not arouse any suspicion, we stole a military looking vehicle;

We drove past bunkers and tanks and guns galore, keeping our eyes peeled for odd stuff and eventually pulled up at the warehouse. There didn;t seem to be anyone around so we wandered inside;

As we were looking around for something that looked like a sonar we heard a voice from behind us and a large dark figure emerged from behind a rack of shelves and spoke to us;

Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): Hi :) I am helping with the warhead salvage operation and saw you over there

Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): If you're looking for the sonar device, it hasn't arrived yet

Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): It is stuck in transit still

Starbright Wingtips: Typical, I blame penguins!

Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): I'll locate the sonar device for you but it'll take a few minutes, then you can go pick it up as this operation is low on time and budget

Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): Until then, you can wait in the lounge located in the building to your SE

So we wandered over the road to the bar, it was timely stop as we were on a Mandated Union Rest Break by then anyway, so we killed some time in the bar.

Starbright Wingtips: I guess we'll just have to wait here for Cpt. Brightflame Reaper 

Starbright Wingtips: It's looks like drivers of SL encourages drink driving, hmmmmmmm.

Starbright Wingtips: but I guess it's ok, we'll mostly be in boats from here by the sounds of it

* A few Minutes Later *

Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): Okay, I located the sonar shipment finally

Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): The crated sonar is stuck in transit in a warehouse south of here in the town of Eifukucho

Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): I'll send the location to your Nav HUD now so you can go retrieve it and deliver it to the search team, so they can use it to find the sunken submarines

Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): Good luck! You should head back to your plane.

We headed back to the jeep and then drove back through the maze of field fortifications and equipment to the airfield. I was very glad to see that this region was prepared for the inevitable penguin attack once we managed to recover the nukes. Still musing on this threat we climbed back aboard the seaplane and took off heading south. Our navigation instruments took us dangerously close to a volcano but we managed to land without too much drama, apart from running over a pedestrian on the runway. oh well. We parked next to the terminal and as I stopped the engines I receoved a call on my mobile;

Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): Hey Starbright.  The shipping manager at the Eifukucho warehouse is Ramos Regent.

Starbright Wingtips: How did you get my number, wtf?

[15:16:56] Cpt. Street Brightflame Reaper (street.repine): Never mind that, Ramos will meet you at the warehouse and should be there when you arrive or shortly afterwards. Now you have to drive to Eifukucho to pick it up.

So we headed through the terminal and out to the car park where I spotted a likely looking vehicle with a notoriously easy to break ignition system;

We drove south, keeping our eye out for spies, penguins, air pirates and zombies. After an uneventful drive we reached our destination and parked carefully;

We walked into the warehouse where a surprisingly ordinary chipmunk approached us;

Ramos Regent: Hi! Capt. Street said you were on your way to pick up a crate in Eifukucho

Ramos Regent: Unfortunately the warehouse is locked as the normal warehouse manager was struck by a dirigible yesterday :/

Starbright Wingtips: Oh, another accident, it's not at all suspicious that everyone we need to speak to is injured or missing. I think there's something fishy going on.

Ramos Regent: If you'll wait in my family's bar around the corner, I'll make sure your drinks are free!

Starbright Wingtips: Sure, I need to top up my booze levels a little, I have more driving to do yet. 

Starbright Wingtips: what was that old song "have a drink, have a drive"

Miss Della (della.randt): lol, yes

* A few minutes later *

Ramos Regent: Hello, I have unlocked the shipping facility and you may now go retrieve your crate!

Ramos Regent: I apologize for the wait.

Ramos Regent: You can take the train to the shipping facility to pick up your crate, as parking there is limited.

So we staggered over to the elevated railway station and climbed up to the platform to await the train. It was only a minute before it arrived which may have been due to normal Japanese efficiency, or it might have been due to the strange feeling of being watched that we were all beginning to notice. Once it arrived we clambered aboard;

The train pulled out and it was only a couple of stops later that our stop came up, we exited the train and wandered about the town for a while until we located the warehouse with the sonar in;

We eventually found the warehouse, walked in and saw the sonar right away, sitting in a crate in the middle of the floor, not suspicious at all. Once we had managed to steal a dolly, we were able to wheel the crate back to the station and back onto the train. After an uneventful return journey on the train we go back to the car. Dealt with the other drivers who unjustly claimed that we blocked them in (pepper spray is a great invention) and then drove back to  Jeogeot Gulf Airport. 

** Sadly at this point the NavHud started to glitch and I got booted from sl before I could save my chatlog of the final part of the drive. So detail from this point will be a bit lacking. Sorry **

After arriving back at the airport we humped the crate out of the plane and down to the dock where we found a suitable boat for the next part of the mission which was to use the sonar to locate the two submarine wrecks;

It wasn't long before we realised that these submarine wrecks were located in an active combat zone so while we bravely dodged bombs, torpedoes and strafing runs by planes we searched hard for these subs. Eventually we spotted them both after a long and gruelling voyage and as we started to feel distinctly hungover we headed back to the port for the final stage of the mission.

We got back to the docks with our happy news of having located the two wrecks. We were then asked to take the explorer submarine, Oceangategate, to retrieve the lost nuke warhead from whichever wreck it was on. We climbed aboard full of confidence and I sat at the front of the boat trying not to notice the Home Depot stickers on everything as I used the  playstation controller to move away from the dock and out into the deep water.

We headed down to the location of the first wreck, trying not to notice the creaking sounds coming from all around us. Next to the playstation was our radiation detector and I kept my eye on it as we got closer;

Radiation Detector: Stop moving so the radiation scanner can get an accurate reading

Radiation Detector: Remain stopped while radiation scanning is performed...

Radiation Detector: Scanning for radiation traces...

Radiation Detector: No high levels of radiation or warhead found.  Continue to the second submarine wreckage. 

So we did. I tried to get the sub to go faster because by now we were all starting to feel a bit, err, nervous about the whole situation. We aproached the second wreck and finally got some good news;

Radiation Detector: Stop moving so the radiation scanner can get an accurate reading

Radiation Detector: Remain stopped while radiation scanning is performed...

Radiation Detector: Scanning for radiation traces...

Radiation Detector: High radiation levels are present. The warhead must be nearby!

Radiation Detector: Locate the warhead and manoeuvre the sub next to it to pick it up with the grabber claw thing.

Radiation Detector: Warhead retrieved!  

At this point we received a suspiciously timed text message;

Warship Waifu: You found it!  I knew we picked the right person for the job! Deliver the warhead to Tulagi Seaport.

So, we set off at flank speed for Tulagi and despite the risk of warplanes we decided a run on the surface was probably safer since some of the seams inside were starting to get a little, err, damp. Once back at the dock we saw our suspicious looking contact waiting for us in some convenient shadows;

Warship Waifu: I see you over there! Welcome back.

Warship Waifu: The Bomb Disposal Unit isn't here yet as one of the lead technicians had a bungee-jumping accident while on vacation

Warship Waifu: Please deliver the warhead to an empty quonset hut, to be stored away from everyone for now

Warship Waifu: BE CAREFUL! Everyone I know seems to be having some sort of horrible accident lately >.>

Starbright WIndtips: Yes, we had noticed that. It's all highly suspicious. We'll take care. 

So we loaded the bomb onto the jeep and drove it over to the storage hut. Once there I recived another suspiciously timed text message;

Warship Waifu: Rez the "Tactical Nuclear Warhead" in the rear of the barracks and the bomb disposal crew will come secure it

So we carried the warhead and just as I was about to put it down

 [17:17] Warship Waifu: WAIT!!!

**BOOM**

[17:17] Starbright Wingtips: oops

[17:17] شهرزاده (dancingfireflys): lol

So, that was the end of our adventure. It was a lot of fun so a big thank you to |everyone who helped put this drive together. I am sorry I had technical problems and lost the last bit of our group chat. I hope you enjoyed reading this. 

Kidnapped by a Cat Lady!

Kidnapped by the Cat Lady!

Hello, I thought you all might be interested in my recent adventure where I was kidnapped by a mad woman who slipped something in my coffee and attempted to traffick me, I think. It's all still a bit confusing. 

Well the day started normally enough, I got a call from Fam who wanted me to deliver their drugs, again. So I stopped by to pick up the coke to take to the staff at Jeogeot Gulf Airport. Those pilots have a serious habit!

The journey to the airport was fairly uneventful and although I passed a lot of interesting places I didn't have time to stop and explore any of them, which was a shame. The Roamer felt like it was running with one flat tire though, it wasn't a smooth ride at all. So I decided that once I got to the airport, I would steal something better. I arrived without incident and gave the package to Karen at the desk, of course she was her normal charming self. 

It was as I was hot-wiring a Jeep in the car park that my day went really batshit crazy. This weird old lady climbed into the passenger seat. She had a large handgun poking out of her handbag, so I didn't want to be rude. She asked for a ride to the Route 9 bus stop and she seemed to be mostly harmless, apart from a strange cat pee smell. I figured I was in an open top vehicle so i could probably cope and so we set off.

Her directions were appalling, I was beginning to doubt that she knew where she wanted to go at all, we wove across Jeogeot, even going offroad at one point, lucky I stole a Jeep really.

Eventually we made it to the bus stop, having collected a dozen speeding tickets and accidentally clipping the odd pedestrian who was standing too close to the road. I got out of the Jeep to escort the mad old lady (who was rabbiting on as if she knew me) to the bus to make sure she got on it, so I could escape when all of a sudden I felt dizzy and I might even have passed out for a moment.

Next thing I know I'm being shaken awake by someone who keeps insisting that they are my Great Aunt Yoko.

Great Aunt Yoko: Ah finally, can you smell this fresh air?

Starbright Wingtips: All I can smell is cat pee and, I think, chloroform. 

Great Aunt Yoko: Well I certainly can, the person in the seat in front of me permanently farted!

Great Aunt Yoko: Anyways, let's go!

So with that she takes me by the arm, drags me to my feet with more strength that I'd have expected from a little old woman, puts her arm through mine and starts to walk me towards what looks like a Japanese temple.

Starbright Wingtips: What's going on, where am I?

Great Aunt Yoko: We're at Little Yoshiwara in the Bakumatsu Period Japan Cultural Area. Milarepa. It's one of my favourite spots. 

Great Aunt Yoko: There are so many shrines here!

Great Aunt Yoko: But don't worry, I won't walk you to all of them!

Great Aunt Yoko: Just to most :D

Great Aunt Yoko: How nostalgic, this brings back memories

Starbright Wingtips: Yeah, I think some of my memory is starting to come back too.

Great Aunt Yoko: Rattle the bell and make a silent prayer

Starbright Wingtips prays for rescue.

Great Aunt Yoko: Let's take a short break, I am getting a little hungry

Great Aunt Yoko: Why don't we grab a bite while we enjoy the surroundings a while

Starbright Wingtips: You used "while" twice in the same sentence, are you drunk?

Starbright Wingtips dodges a blow from the old woman while she sits at the street vendors cart

*A few minutes later ....*

[10:38] Great Aunt Yoko: Okay I think I'm good again, let us move on!

We moved off again along a path which leads under the trees which surround this little town, as we move along it I can see yet another shrine ahead of me.

Great Aunt Yoko: Wow, this big fella looks like uncle bob!

Buddha whispers:  San nin yoreba, Monju no chie.

Where three persons come together, there is the wisdom of Monju.

Starbright Wingtips backs away warily while keeping an eye on the statue and the old woman 

Starbright Wingtips: Very deep I'm sure, but could we please get out of here?

* The two travellers turn away from the shrine and begin to walk up a path taking them upwards *

Great Aunt Yoko: So many shrines, so little time

Great Aunt Yoko: Let us head to the last spot in this pretty location and move on

From the viewpoint we moved into a wild hill meadow by some cliffs, there was a mist in the air and bones on the ground.

Great Aunt Yoko: Oh my, this place used to look much friendlier back in my young days!

Great Aunt Yoko: But then again, I guess so did I too!

Great Aunt Yoko: I have seen and witnessed a lot in my life but this...

Great Aunt Yoko: This place gives me some chills.. Let's hurry on

I suddenly feel dizzy as the world fades away around me and next thing I know I'm being shaken awake by cat lady again;

Great Aunt Yoko: Oww... What happened? Where are we?

Great Aunt Yoko: This place looks surreal!

As if in a daze we stumble along the path between Shrines and Temples as we look around and take the strange unreal scenery.

Great Aunt Yoko: Wow..

Is the only comment either of us can make as I wonder if I had mushroom omelette with the wrong mushrooms last night. Eventually we reach the other end of the walkway where there is a small shrine in front of a large and slightly ominous black tower. I step up to the shrine and silently wish for save travels back home. I suddenly feel faint, again, and everything goes black.

I open my eyes and find myself in an entirely new location, again! At least I seem to be back from the surreal world Unfortunately so is the cat lady aka my "great aunt", who is throwing up soundly on the side of the road

Great Aunt Yoko: Urg.. I'm getting too old for this...

Great Aunt Yoko: But at least I think I know where we are, this is the Hamamura Islands, specifically the Serenity Forest.

 You notice a large black tower behind you, close to the one you approached earlier.. spooky

Great Aunt Yoko: Yea I certainly remember this place!

Great Aunt Yoko: Come on, let me show you around a little!

Great Aunt Yoko: Oh my, I better not say what this right kitty is shaped like..

Great Aunt Yoko: That's some strange ramen on the left

We continued walking amongst the temples and market stalls with cat lady chattering away when suddenly I saw it.

A bloody Penguin! Everywhere I go I see these damn things, it's almost like they're spying on me. I treated this whole experience a bit more seriously as soon as I knew penguins were involved! Luckily at that moment an opportunity came up for me to fill the cat lady in on the threat we were facing.

Great Aunt Yoko: This spot looks relaxing, let's take a moment to take the surroundings in

As I explained the penguin situation I could see her eyes get wide as she slowly inched her chair back away from mine. Sadly before I managed to finish my warnings, she drained her Saki, stood up and announced it was time to climb to the top of a mountain for no apparent reason.

Great Aunt Yoko: Alright, time to move on!

Starbright Wingtips; but but .... the penguins!

Great Aunt Yoko: No time for that, come on and hurry. <struggles up a long flight of steps> Let's pray they install a lift before until our next visit..

Great Aunt Yoko: What a magnificent view from here!

Great Aunt Yoko: Your great uncle and me had a large garden like this as well!

Great Aunt Yoko: Well we had just vegetables in it I have to admit

Great Aunt Yoko: And it was only half the size..

Great Aunt Yoko: Also my cat kept getting lost in it, so we had to burn it down in the end

Starbright Wingtips gives the cat lady some side-eye while saying "ok..." and moving away from the edge. She ignores me and walks around a bend in the part, I follow her to find her standing at a tunnel entrance.

Great Aunt Yoko: Oh we gotta go explore this more, even if we get cursed!

We hurried through the caves descending from the entrance only stopping at a gap in the rocks that we though led back out

Great Aunt Yoko: What a bummer, it's just a lookout!

Eventually we came out at the foot of the mountain and although the cave exit was a bit grim, the path led back into the forest and the view soon brightened up.

[11:13] Great Aunt Yoko: And are those graves? Looks like a graveyard..

[11:14] Great Aunt Yoko: Tsk, let's get back, I'm so old I'll get that view soon enough!

So we walked on through the forest and eventually came to the shore where we found a boat tied up at a pier. The boat crew apparently didn't speak any English, so we used the time-tested method of just shouting at them slowly in English until they seemed to understand that we wanted to be taken home. They set off and I settled back into the cushions and drifted off to sleep. I only woke up when the cat lady shook me and told me I had arrived. I climbed off the boat to find myself in another Japanese looking landscape.

Great Aunt Yoko: What nice people, I almost feel bad that I threw up over the side of the boat so much.

This town did have one advantage over the other places we'd just been, it had a road and I could see a few parked cars. I stole another Jeep and hit the road, trying to find something that looked a bit more like reality than anything I had seen for the last few hours. 

I drove for miles, then saw a train station with a light on in the booking office. I pulled in to park in front of it and just as I was stepping out the Jeep, feeling like things might be back to normal the cat lady started to talk.

Great Aunt Yoko: Okay pumpkin, it is getting late..

Great Aunt Yoko: There is one more place I would like to show you tho

With that she thrust a small slip of paper into my hand, I saw that it looked like a train ticket. Before I could say a word I seemed to pass out, again. I woke up at a train station, sadly it wasn;t the same one.

Great Aunt Yoko: Ah Kyoto, I went to school here as a kid you know?

(At this point even the Nav HUD was getting confused about where we were and where we were supposed to go: [11:43] 20240224-03 Nav HUD: Setting waypoint to the best-guess appropriate one. lol)

Great Aunt Yoko: How nostalgic

Great Aunt Yoko: When I was little I used to hide behind the large board and scare the praying visitors

As we walked through the streets of downtown Kyoto I looked around, wondering where all the people were. I was still shaken up by the sight of the Penguin and I had a sneaky suspicion that I wasn't actually back in reality yet.

Great Aunt Yoko: Wow, they expanded their business by a lot

Great Aunt Yoko: Well, I guess that's the only way to come by these days

We stole some bikes and rode around the deserted streets of Kyoto while I kept my eye out for more penguins and eventually reached the outskirts of town where the bus stop was.

Great Aunt Yoko: Hah, that was quite a trip!

Great Aunt Yoko: Let us take the bus, I am exhausted..

Having given up on asking questions of this mad old woman by now I just climb aboard, sit down and close my eyes. Before I know it I'm being shaken awake at a new stop.

Great Aunt Yoko: Oh Tanpopo, my dear childhood friend used to live here

While the bus idles the old lady drags me to a roadside shrine.

Great Aunt Yoko: She passed away a while ago, let us go up so I can say a quick prayer for her

Great Aunt Yoko: Oh Kiki, you left us behind too soon

Great Aunt Yoko: We should have waited for the driving instructor after all

Starbright Wingtips looks at the old lady with an expression which says "why am I not surprised?"

Great Aunt Yoko: By the way, you still owe me 50 bucks

Great Aunt Yoko: Tsk, You always tried to get around paying back your debts you lil dead raskal

Eventually the old lady turns from the shrine and ushers me back onto the bus. 

Great Aunt Yoko: Alright, thanks for taking this detour with me pumpkin, let's return

Great Aunt Yoko: It's been very kind of you to spend this lovely day with your old great aunt!

The bust sets off again and the motion of the bus combined with a very busy day soon have me fast asleep and being shaken awake what seems like only seconds later. We climb off the bus at what seems like an ordinary shop car park, are we finally back to reality?

Great Aunt Yoko: Oh my, I almost fell asleep on the bus

Great Aunt Yoko: I guess it really is time you bring me back to the airport

I look around the car park and am unsurprised to see a green Jeep sitting there, so I go steal it, again. Following directions from the old lady I get back on the road and as I'm motoring along, I get my first definite clue that this is reality when we pass what is probably the only sewage works in Jeogeot.

Without further incident we reach the airport car park where I first met this madwoman. 

Great Aunt Yoko: Ah, what a long day

Suddenly a child comes running towards you, screaming something!

Child: Aunty Yoko! We have been searching for you for hours!!!

You witness a vivid discussion for a while as you wonder just wtf is going on. 

Great Aunt Yoko: Oh my, it seems there has been a mistake on my end

Great Aunt Yoko: I accidentally mistook you for my lil pumpkin here haha!

Great Aunt Yoko: Oh well, you can be my lil pumpkin too from now on if you'd like!

Starbright Wingtips: errr

Great Aunt Yoko: Haha just kidding, you're more of an asparagus anyways!

Great Aunt Yoko: But thank you very much for the nice day, I hope you enjoyed our trip as well!

And with that, Yoko disappears in a car, driving into the setting sun on the horizon. As she pulls out of the car park I get on the phone to Fam "dude, about that coke, I think it's bad, man what a trip I just had. You'll never believe it!"