Dog Days of Summer

(Kieth, Tony, Geoff)

Summer of 1985: The last days of summer are here. School starts back up in two weeks and there is little respite from the long, hot days. Kids all over Boulder City swarm the arcade, the movie theater, and the beach in a desperate attempt to stay cool. But first, a look into their private lives:

Jermiah Jones (JJ), 12yo Bookworm (Keith)- Friday, Aug 1st: Once dad left early for work, JJ quietly slipped downstairs (avoiding the squeaky boards) to raid the kitchen for a large bowl of Rice Krispies which he slurped on in front of the TV as he watched morning cartoons. He made certain to sneak back upstairs and crawl back into bed before mom woke. Later that day, when JJ stepped out of the library, Darrel (who he refers to as Bugs Meany) stole his favorite fountain pen from JJ’s breast pocket and squirted ink on his shirt, “Cool. What else can it do besides make you look nerdy?!” Darrel put the pen in his own pocket and left, “Later, nerd!” JJ yelled out (meekly whimpered), “Who’s the nerd now?”

Pete Gordon (Flash), 13yo Popular Kid (Tony)- Saturday, Aug 2nd: Pete rustled his brother Tommy awake so they could watch early morning cartoons, and to be awake to say goodbye to dad when he left for work. Pete played with his dog Max before heading out to socialize. He came upon a pack of laughing girls (Jenny, Stephanie, Tiffany, Connie) sharing the latest gossip, “Crazy old Bird-Brain Boyd. Story goes he broke his leg trying to duplicate Icarus’ flight towards the sun.”

Bocephus Cletus (BC) Riggins, 14yo Hick (Geoff)- Monday Aug 4th: Not the oldest but one of the bigger boys in the family, Bo was up at the crack of dawn to fill the cattle’s watering and feed troughs. Hours of physical labor if not fixing farming equipment that always broke. When he finally came in for breakfast, he found mom reading the newspaper, “Do you know a Darrel? The paper says he was attacked by birds while tubing on Lake Meade yesterday and is still in the hospital. Sounds like the poor kid could use a visit from friends to help cheer him up. Just like you cheer up Jasper.” Bo groaned as he wasn’t that interested in checking up on one of the school bullies. He took the paper on his way out the door.

Wednesday, August 6th, 1985: At first, they gathered at the local watering hole to throw rocks; see who could get the most skips across the surface. Then they rode their bikes to their “Boys Only” hideout shack behind Flash’s house out in the woods. BC showed the newspaper article about Darrel which got JJ smiling, “Karma is a beautiful bitch. Serves him right for stealing my favorite pen.”

Mystery Intro: When they left the shack, they came upon a small flock of head-bobbing pigeons pecking around the edge of the woods. All were startled when they distinctly heard the birds speaking, “Food, hungry”, “Gather twigs, nest”, “Pretty girl, mate?” Flash pulled a snack-bar out of his backpack and offered it as bait to draw them closer: [Charm 0] which only attracted crows that swooped down to surprise attack the pigeons and Flash’s hand. “Quick BC, pull out your slingshot!” If only he had one. They watched as the crows killed a few pigeons as the other pigeons flew north.

Most startling was to watch the crows pick up their kill and fly them up to a Goshawk circling high above. “When did birds learn to talk or work together?! I thought the smaller birds always chased off the bigger predators.”

JJ objected to the idea of killing one to get a closer look. But as Flash looked for a nice stone to throw, he found a dead pigeon the crows had overlooked. “Look at this thin wire antenna glued down its spine that extends into its tail feathers. There’s an incision in its scalp!” JJ winced in disgust as Flash opened the incision and found a miniaturized chip, “Just as I thought: remote controlled.”

They returned to their hideout to test the chip by grounding it on a 9-volt battery from a walkie-talkie. [Tinker 0] The chip fizzled. “I told you we should have waited for Alphie, our computer wizard.” JJ rationalized, “The chip was already broken when the bird died, not our fault. With Alphie quarantined, maybe we should ask Charlie who has a pet parakeet.” And that’s when Flash mentioned the gossip about ‘crazy old Boyd’, “Attempted flight, maybe he knows something about birds. Has anyone ever heard of him?”

They found Charlie at home as expected considering his parents’ efforts to keep him safe from germs per his allergies and auto-immune issues. Luck that his parents were grocery shopping. They politely watched as Charlie showed off his parakeet ‘playing cards’ before they asked about talking birds. Charlie doubted them, “You sure they weren’t parrots or macaw? Crows and ravens have been known to imitate human sounds. But a flock of pigeons?! I’m no expert but I suggest you go talk to the Birdman of Boulder, Mr. Boyd. Never heard of him? He was a renown nature celebrity who still lives outside of town.” Charlie opened the phonebook for the address of one Christopher Boyd: Lakeshore Drive. Flash managed to convince Charlie to come along, “Bring whatever meds you need. And put on a red shirt (Flash’s reference to an expendable Star Trek character).”

Boyd’s House: They stopped in front of a wooden house and overgrown yard surrounded by an 8ft metal fence. Birdhouses and feeders were everywhere with over 100+ birds of all kinds, to include their droppings! Pew! The gate was locked and no-one answered their calls to let them in. Yet that was when they saw a man inside the house frantically swatting at a bird attacking him as he hobbled backwards. They looked to the sky for a Goshawk before JJ offered to climb the fence with BC giving him a ‘fireman’s lift’ to start him off. “RIP!” JJ’s pantleg tore on the barbs at the top but at least he made it over as he waited on the front porch for the others. At least Charlie found a ladder for the others to climb up. That didn’t help Flash and BC when they had to jump down on the other side… and tumbled in bird-shit.

They stepped inside together where they found a lone parakeet fluttering around Boyd while a dozen other birds calmly sat on the back of the couch. “Get him away, save me from his bites!” [Charm 0, Luck 3] At first Flash tried to shoo the bird away, until he noticed birdseed bouncing out of Boyd’s breast pocket. He scooped other seed from a bucket to attract the parakeet that they soon trapped in a blanket. As Flash calmed the distraught ornithologist, JJ and BC checked the house for chipped birds.

That’s when JJ found the framed 1984 newspaper article about Chrisopher Boyd’s downfall from the TV nature program.

With the promise that Charlie would take the deranged parakeet off Boyd’s hands, Mr. Boyd was shocked to learn about talking birds that were chipped and wired with an antenna. “I knew that Donald Dixon was up to no good back in January when he approached me asking about the neurology of birds. I refused to help but decided to re-open my aviary… the old saying to keep your enemy close. I’ve seen a Goshawk flying around accompanied by crows, which is when my birds hide in their roosts and birdhouses. Dixon? He lives over on Hollyhock Lane.” As Donald opened up, in the background, Flash and JJ argued whether it was “a murder of ravens” or “a conspiracy of crows”.

Donald’s House: They parked in front of the 2 story, yellow brick house with red roof tile with its overgrown yard. They were just about to walk up to the house when they noticed the noisy neighbor (Gladys Kravitz) peeking out of her Livingroom window. Maybe it was JJ fumbling with his torn pants caught in the bike gears or Flash walking up to her front door…BC was able to sneak around to the back of Donald’s house. Flash introduced himself, “Yes mam, we are starting a mowing service. Well, no, we don’t have the mowers with us. Right now, we are just trying to drum up a list of customers and we see that your neighbor sure could use the service!” Gladys scoffed, “Donald hasn’t been around for close to a month. No idea where he’s gone. Maybe you can get the city to pay you for neighborhood cleanup. But my husband does ours.”

BC found the rear patio door unlocked and stepped inside to find the kitchen full of spoiling food and dirty dishes. After first listening to silence, he decided to go to the front window to signal the others to come in (could have used his walkie-talkie). And that’s when dog yapping echoed from upstairs as a ferocious wiener-dog came bounding downstairs, hobbling on its right-rear leg in a cast. As BC bend down to greet the dog, a female voice interrupted him, “Don’t you hurt Ham! And what are you doing in my house?!” BC hummed and hawed and baulked as he awkwardly tried to explain his presence, “Is Mr. Dixon home? I’ve got a sick bird I’d like him to look at.” Stacey held Ham tight as she answered, “My uncle is not home right now. You need to leave.”

That’s when Flash stepped into the room and challenged, “According to your neighbor, even you shouldn’t be here.” JJ sheepishly asked, “It’s been a long, hot day. Can I use your bathroom, PLEASE.” Meanwhile, BC studied the pictures on the mantel and display table, “This must be your uncle Donald in the Loop lab coat with his name on it. There he is again behind that woman Diane Petersen getting an award. Your uncle must be dating her, look, he wrote ‘The love of my life’ over her award.” Flash gazed at the bookshelves filled with books about (birds, neurology, animal behavior, others on love and courting), “Did you know that your uncle is possibly responsible for a kid in the hospital as he’s training birds to attack on command?”

Upstairs, JJ found Donald’s room and began to search. [Investigate 3] He easily found the journal and drawings in the nightstand that documented how to implant chips in birds and to wire them with a small antenna. There was even a diagram of a machine to perform the operation in mass production!

The diary was harder to find… JJ hadn’t realized yet on his own how you can hide things under your mattress. JJ flushed the toilet for audio confirmation of his excused absence before he returned downstairs. Only to overhear Flash inviting Stacey to join their group. “No, I’m not inviting her into our club, just home for a nice home-cooked meal.” JJ was shocked, “You invited a girl into your house?!” Nor was JJ pleased to learn Stacey had her own bike such that she could keep up with them. He didn’t realize Flash would have let her ride double on his bike.

Suppertime: Pete introduced Stacey to his mother and got them chatting before he excused himself to join the others in their hideout. They compared notes with JJ displaying the journal and diary he brought with him. It was a short meeting as JJ needed to rush home before his father got home from work. And BC needed to get home to help his brother Jasper get ready for supper.

Thursday: JJ was floored, “You had a girl spend the night?!” Flash explained how his mother coddled Stacey and set her up to sleep in the expected baby’s room, “Stacey lied that her uncle was away on a business trip, so mom insisted she stay the night. This morning, Stacey took off with her binoculars to go spy on Lake Meade.” BC recounted how his mother asked about Darrel, “Might be worth a visit. He could have info.” JJ thought about getting his favorite pen back but decided they should go to the library to research that strange number, IEX-4Z32. “My friend Agnes-the-Librarian could help us.” [Investigate 2] Agnes gave them access to the library computer which quickly allowed them to find that the number was a Russian ID code. Further queries revealed this particular ID was for a derelict Russian freighter now resting in the Sentinel Island scrapyard.

As they brainstormed how to get to the island (did they know someone with a boat?), BC looked at the map they had pinned to their shack hideout wall, “What about these access tunnels?” They coordinated to meet back in an hour, “Donald and Diane must be out there now. We need to get there and stop them before more people get hurt.” Flash returned home to get his tennis racket to smack birds. He wrote a note for mom explaining all “in case I don’t come back.” JJ returned with a flashlight and extra batteries. BC stuffed his backpack with useful items.

10am, Boulder Beach Campground: They leaned their bikes against the huge culvert that rose from the ground. Unfortunately, broad daylight and a busy campground made things difficult. JJ took off running, “Start working on the lock and get the bikes in; I’ll cause a distraction.” The young adults cursed at him as JJ ran through their sand volleyball game and even took the ball. Enough commotion to get everyone’s attention. Which allowed BC (with his Leatherman toolset) to unlock the hatch so they could lift the bikes in before they all climbed in. Soon JJ stood beside them short of breath, “First time I ever played volleyball. Was kinda fun.”

Their flashlights lit up the 8ft tall cylindrical tube that ran under the lake. Rails along the side provided the guideway for the Maglev service modules that operated thru the tube. “Is it safe? Could we be electrocuted?!” They rode their bikes outbound for 20 minutes before they came to another vertical service shaft, “This must be Big Boulder Island.” Just as BC started to climb, they all heard the alarm and saw the flashing red lights as they felt a bow-wave of air announcing an inbound service module. They laid their bikes flat as they climbed the shaft. Phew, just in time! BC was able to open the hatch and confirm this was the reported pigeon roost of over 1,000 birds. And those that stepped into view called out to him, “Food? Food?”

Sentinel Island: They continued on another 30 minutes before they came to another vertical shaft. Leaving their bikes inside, they all climbed out and hid as they surveyed the area. The beach was littered with rusting metal hulks of old flying ships waiting to be cutup for salvage. But one ship stood out: the only one with power lines running to it and a large swarm of birds circling overhead. They devised their plan: someone to deal with the birds while the others entered the ship to shutdown the microchip implant machine inside. “I wish Stacey was along to deal with her uncle and Ms. Diane.”

SHOWDOWN/CLIMAX- need 2 successes per skill attempt

Deal with the Predator Birds: They rolled their shirts in dirt for camouflage before sneaking closer. Flash guided them tree to bush to boulder, almost there, before they were spotted. Flash wielded his tennis racket as the others took off running towards the ship, “Serve and volley you bitches.” [Move 0, Luck 1] Flash smacked a couple of birds, but others swooped in and bit his exposed backside.

Get Aboard: As BC and JJ neared the tilted ship, they spotted a door access on the side. Someone had purposefully set a heavy bar to block it. [Force 0, Luck 3] BC grunted as he lifted the bar and managed to gently lower it to the ground (no noise to alert Donald or Diane).

BC and JJ entered the hull and surveyed the interior: they could hear the humm of motors above as they stood in a large open room that probably was a storage bay at one time. In the far corner was a metal ladder going up. But just in front of that was an open archway. [Sneak 2] JJ led them past the archway which turned out to be Donald’s sleeping quarters. They climbed the stairs, heading for the suspected machine. And that’s when Flash entered the doorway, just in time to see BC’s foot step out of sight on the ladder. He crossed the room to join them. [Sneak 0, Push 0] Donald woke at the creaking noise of the rusted flooring, “Diane, is that you? Come see what I’ve accomplished!”

Deal with Donald: “You’re not Diane!” Donald grabbed his remote control and activated a call to the birds for help. [Charm 1, auto success Pride- I feel I can convince others to follow my ideas: 1] “Mr. Dixon, do you realize your niece is waiting at your house? One kid has already been injured by the birds; that could have been your niece!” Donald broke down in tears as he realized Diane was never coming back, “I did it all for her. What have I done?”

Disable the Machine: JJ and BC stood on a balcony overlooking the ship’s bridge. Predator birds flew overhead, driving other birds into the throat of the machine’s conveyor belt lined with bird food. Multiple mechanical arms synchronized the process of capturing a bird, clamping it with padded hands, before another arm swung in to begin the surgical implant as another arm glued the antenna along its spine.

[Move 1] JJ tried to jam something into the gears to disrupt operations but the stronger gears snapped the item. Birds flew in to attack them. [Investigate 2] JJ frantically searched for other ways to disable the machine and saw the insulated wiring that slung in from overhead and attached to the machine, “BC, try to yank it out!” [Force 3] BC jumped off the railing of the ladder exit and grabbed the dangling wiring. His large size/weight easily stripped the wire from the machine. [Move 1] Flash arrived just in time to help control the live wire as BC touched it to the exterior of the machine, shorting out all electrical components.

Consequences: Donald helped destroy the major components of the machine to prevent others from picking up from where he left off. He helped load the boys’ bikes onto his boat for the long ride back to the marina where he met Stacey who was waiting for him per their walkie-talkie call (Flash had given her an extra one, which JJ insisted she return, “We don’t want no girls listening in to our secret conversations.”) Donald cried as he hugged Stacey tightly as they walked home together.

FADEOUT

Everything back to Normal:

Jermiah (Keith)- Come the next weekend, JJ was back in the library asking Agnes for help, “Can you suggest books about electricity? And explain the Dewey Decimal system.”

Pete (Tony)- Come the next weekend, Flash convinced his family to go camping at the Boulder City grounds. He showed his little brother where HE personally thwarted a great mystery, “That’s the access tunnel we used to get to the island.” Mom just rolled her eyes, “I swear Peter, you and your imagination. Why that note you left me had me worried until I remembered how you and your friends fantasize. Killer birds and chip implants. What an imagination.”

Bocephus (Geoff)- BC returned home acting like nothing had happened. And his siblings acted like he hadn’t been missed. Except for Jasper, “Seriously, what were you up to? I see the scabs on your arms. Who or what attacked you?”

BEHIND THE SCREEN

Diane Peterson was a child wonder in school and quickly graduated and was employed by the Loop to work on: genetics, neurology, and robotics. Except, she was too hyper and rarely finished a project. Which resulted in her boss docking her, then finally having to fire her when she failed to follow directives. Unknown to the staff, she had taken work home with her. She secretly continued her work with the help of Donald Dixon who had fallen madly in love with her at first sight (the affection not returned). Nevertheless, Donald resigned to secretly help her with her work.

They used an abandoned magnitrine shipwreck on Sentinel Island to continue their work (Diane for revenge, Donald in hopes of proving the staff wrong about Diane). Her carelessness and impatience led to some birds gaining speech and a form of human intelligence while others became aggressive and attacked them. Diane gave up and left. Donald stayed on in hopes of winning her back. Donald has gone insane and continues to implant chips despite the birds becoming more aggressive.

NEXT SCENARIO: