Northern Front - Gameplay

Denise smiles reassuringly. "It's no problem at all! Hopefully all that time spent reading was fruitful - but as we would say here, any time spent reading is productive. Come again at any time!"

After a few moments to decompress, Dallas decides to put off reconvening with the CCA HQ by heading to Arnie's Bar-nies again, for the second time today, striding purposefully through the doors and taking up their customary perch at the bar. "Arnie, what's good today?" they call towards the proprietor.

After watching the others file out of the room, Maialen turns back to Crawford. "Director, about Mrs Nordin - perhaps I should be the one who speaks with her? As you know, Dallas and I spoke to her about her missing husband, and....." She uncharacteristically fidgets a little, thinking of the best way to phrase it. "We failed in our promise to get him back safely. The least I can do is tell her the bad news gently."

A strong scent of coffee and fried potatoes fills the diner - signatures of Arnie's usual preparations for his patrons, a handful of which are seated throughout the place.

The customary grunt from Arnie confirms - it's "the usual", pretty much the stuff he serves all day, but his regulars swear it's delicious any time of the day - coffee, hashbrowns with mushroom gravy, and a couple fresh, local crab legs.

Unorthodox? Absolutely. Delicious? Absolutely, somehow.

Arnie is still working on his crossword. Or is that a different one? Nobody knows.

Crawford finds herself avoiding Maialen's gaze as she contemplates the situation. "It's... not your fault, Maialen. If anything, it's mine for not being able to prevent his death. The hardest part though..." she trails off as she has trouble finding the words.

"As you can imagine, one of our primary jobs involves keeping knowledge of monsters hidden from the general public and keeping the image of this town pristine and appealing. Cases like the jogger are easy - we just employ a simple memory wipe and he forgets he was ever down the gullet of a frog.

With Cathy though... A missing persons case would spread like wildfire, even without mention of a monster. What would we even tell her about her husband's disappearance?" Crawford sighs. "I've been at this job for a while, but some things never get easier..."

As usual, Dallas orders the same thing they always did since setting down legs in this town a few years ago. It was a good place, if a little weird, they’d decided, and they were more than happy to integrate themselves with the citizenry while they managed their assignment. Dallas checked their surroundings to confirm whether or not it was the same crowd that was always here at this time. Their suspicion was that it probably was.

"Keeping the image of the town pristine.... I must admit, that's a difficulty that I haven't come across before." She thinks out loud for a minute. "In the previous agencies I touched base with, normally they would decide on a wildlife attack, or tragic accident, but neither of those seem particularly appropriate if we're trying to keep attention away from the town..." She shakes her head. "Regardless, Director, if it is not my fault, then it is not yours either. As long as we have no method of predicting these situations, the best we can do is react to them." Bitterly, she remembers her prophecy from the morning. "Not that that prediction did me any favours..." She adds to herself.

Dallas takes a moment to soak the atmosphere and scan the diner's patrons.

It's, well... The usual. The usual folks carryin' on their usual business and usual conversations.

A snapshot of a locale blissfully unaware of the troubling developments that Dallas now knows.

---

Crawford purses her lips. "On some level, I do know that it's not my fault, but... This is still my job, what I was appointed to do, you know? And the people here don't even know that I'm failing them when shit like this happens." She puts a hand to her forehead and lets out a frustrated sigh. "Population under 1000. Tourist town, tiny island, divided by a cluster of mountains... What I wouldn't give to be able to just pass things off as wild animals every time. I don't think the woods are even big enough for a bear to have a family..."

Crawford collects herself and meets Maialen's eyes. "Alright, enough bitching from me. I signed up for this knowing what it'd take to keep people safe.

I appreciate the offer, Maialen, but I think it's best if I deal with the Nordin family situation. It isn't pretty, but pretty is a pipe dream when it comes to monster hunting."