17:50 - RYAN BRANDEIS-WHITE - THE ENGINE ROOM

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

Ryan--
"I am trying to defend your son in court. Obviously, finding the boy will help, unless of course he has been gruesomely murdered, in which case, let me remind you that you can not be compelled to testify against yourself, if say you were to be guilty of accessory after the fact or some other associated crime."

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Lisa-
"Hahaha, I'm dead, what do I care? Tim should have been
arrested when the police first talked to him. There are other
ways to pay for crimes, and he needs to accept his punishment."

The oven dinged in the other room, and she glanced to it with a weary look.

"That's the roast. Would you like some dinner? I'm curious to know
more about you, what you want out of life. It's very suburban of me
to proselytize to my guests, but I am in a position to make some offers."

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

Ryan--
"Please tell me the roast isn't the Bedford boy. So, are you making offers on behalf of your... Goddess?"

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Lisa-
"Haha, oh that's gruesome. I never liked children,
I don't want anything to do with one that's not
even mine."

She moved into the kitchen, where you could see her remove a

roasting pan from the oven with a dishrag. The smell of beef

and cooked carrots filled the room.

"And yes. I could offer something... It depends on what you want,
and what you're willing to do. What do you want out of life?"

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

Ryan--
"Are you expecting me to confess some dark secret? I'm not sure your little set here is enough to get me to implicate myself in something dark or besmirch my own reputation. So, how long is this charade supposed to last?"

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Lisa-
"Funny that your mind goes right to the dark. It's a simple
job interview question, Mr. Jones."

She cut open the roast bag to reveal a very typical beef roast, with

potatoes and carrots.

"What would convince you that this is real? You aren't a spiritual man,
so wouldn't anything you saw become some kind of special effect?
A trick of the light?"

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

The use of my birth surname had me on my heels. I had done a damned good job of scrubbing that name from records. I even dropped a boxful of meaningless legal paperwork on the desk of the registrar and had my name retroactively changed in my undergraduate records.

Ryan--
"Well, you must admit, I've wandered into a meticulously crafted fantasy set created by a complete whackadoo that probably murdered a bunch of people, the dark reply was kind of a given."

"I don't know, 'Lisa'. Presumably something quite fantastical. Difficult or impossible to arrange in advance. I must admit, I'm curious as to what you're prepared to do. How far will this go?"

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Lisa-
"Well, how about I just indulge you. Little Timmy is a dangerous murderer,
exactly as you say. I know you've been imagining ways to self-defense him
to death, so I'd like to encourage you to do so. If you do, there will be a great
reward, as he's needed here with the rest of his family.

No need to incriminate yourself by passing comment now, just take that
 'on board.' We'll be helping from this end as best we can. Just be sure to do it
in the engine room, preferably by drowning. Makes for the most pleasing
corpse. Less gruesome, looks much better for you. I'm biased, I suppose,
since that's the way I went."

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

KIT YmmYAQR6+2
Rationalize if necessary +1···

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

((Haha, they sort of cancel each other out.))

Something about this is just too bizarre to be real. How had they

set up some kind of fake soundstage in this rotten old boat?

((You may come up with whatever rationalization you'd like,

though he certainly doesn't find this to be real.))

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

They must have found me on a photography forum and bought into ExposeBokeh's psycho theories. Or, worse, they found, Corey Gunnar. That was still an oddly specific guess for her to make. Was I really that predictable?

Whatever. It was clear that Tim's little cult was larger and better funded than previously thought, if they could construct something as elaborate and expensive as this charade and even afford good investigators. On the bright side, if I could expose them without looking like a conspiracy nut, I could create reasonable doubt quite easily. Tim was a simpleton relative to whoever planned this. Even if he did the killing, it was because someone was pulling his strings. I could work with that.

Ryan--
"So, is this a family by blood or a family of faith?
Commitment? Where are the rest of the folks I came here with?"

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Lisa-
"I don't mean anything so esoteric, just me, his father and sister.
We belong together, as all families do. Oh, hope that's not a sore
spot for you, sorry. As for the rest, I don't know. I might ask them
too if they seem a good fit. First come, first serve. I think you've
got it in you though."

She cut the bindings off the roast and started slicing it with a large steak knife.

"You don't believe this. That's OK. Just file that away for now.
 Do you want some dinner or do you want to go back to the boat?
If you want to eat you have to wash your hands."

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

Ryan--
"I believe it is real, just not that it is what you would want me to believe it is. Given that, I'd have to be pretty foolish to trust any food or drink, now wouldn't I?"

"'Back to the ship' it is then, eh."

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Lisa-
"Haha. We'll see how you feel at the end of the night.
I will see you again, don't worry about that. Please close
the door on the way out, you know the flies around here."

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

Ryan--
"It was a pleasure meeting you, ma'am. I think this will really help with Tim's defense. Good evening."

I let myself 'out'.