Office
Crying Shame
“The suspect was, unfortunately, killed when he ran into traffic. Truly, a crying shame.”
Meaning: Got what he deserved.
Super Lexicon Dictionary, Online
“Crying shame means that the Cape community considered the guys death to be deserved, for some reason. It’s kind of a slang phrase. If a Red Cape ends up smeared across the countryside it tends to be called a crying shame they couldn’t be brought in, for example.” Ryan explained.
“I think it started getting used because of Lady Frankenstein down south. She seemed to get a lot of her ‘donated’ parts from people whose death was a crying shame, even as far back as the forties. A lot of soldiers got new limbs from those deaths.”
“That’s unsettling. And now I will never not know that.” Lisa groaned.
“Welcome to the cape community.” Ryan chuckled.
“Well, there is still another door over here, I bet goes to an office to go. It’s on the side of the dome going towards the lab." Emilia said. “I think we should take a peek, then I think we should take a break, have some food and rest a bit, we've been going all day.”
"Agreed. Maybe the office has some clue as to what else might be in here with us. I mean, other than the rainforest." Ryan waved at the window. “If not an escape method.”
They walked back into the bedroom then crossed over to the office. Unlike other tubes, the office was accessed by a transparent tube, letting them see a pond, with fish swimming in it, and get a good look at a lot of the nearby forest. The second door revealed more of the orange shag, but the walls here were actually not all glass, with wood paneling going up about half way. A Dart board hung on the wall with three pictures pinned to it, Escobar, Empire, and Manors. Tiny throwing knives were on the floor under the board from where they'd fallen out. It was a clean minimal space much like the rest of the house and lair, without a lot of clutter.
"I'm going to admit, for a Villain, and a smart guy villain to boot, he's nowhere near prone to the 'Souvenirs to my greatness" routine as is normal. Does he not know how to keep score?" Ryan joked.
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"Maybe he kept his trophies somewhere else?" Emilia said. "Think about how many trophies are trackable.” She was looking over the wide desk. "This seems to be old DEA and ATF reports on where cocaine farms were located, and smuggling routes were likely active.”
"Keep track of an enemy, makes sense. He had to have someone in deep with one of the two agencies to get this. I wonder what his long-term plan was, related to them." Carl said. "Oh, hmm, there's pictures of those weird birds that we saw in here. Greater Rhea. Seems bigger than what we saw out there, though. "
“Maybe he did something to make them smaller?" Lisa suggested. “I'd imagine keeping his microenvironment stable he couldn't really use anything too big.
Carl nodded. “Wow, he really kept track of the DEA. It looks like he had lists of a lot of agents and informants, and notes on who he thought was bribable and with what.”
Lisa ran a finger down the page. “Porn, candy, hero gossip, porn, gay porn, Football tickets. Ewww! kiddy porn? He drew a red line through that one.”
“Yeah, I recognize the name.” Emelia commented dryly. “He was the crying shame.”
“I reverse my judgement and fully support the concept.” Lisa groaned.
Emilia shook her head taking a picture of the page so she could research more when she had service again. “Oh look, a map!
"Map? Yeah, cocaine map."
“No, okay well yes there is a cocaine map too. But look.” She pulled out a very rough blueprint of what looked like a weird bubbly peace sign. "Compare the sizes, this is the facility we are in. We are here.” she pointed to one end of the sign. "He must have had this place put in in the 60s.”
"With a kind of head here in the middle being this office. And there's another airlock room here, so access to his lab on both sides. At least I think that’s what this square here is.” Carl frowned.
“It's not easy to read. I think this is a map of the plumbing.”
"I'm more interested in this.” Frowning, Ryan considered the wood paneling and found a hidden latch. It opened, revealing a hidden door. “That door seems to go to something marked submarine, and the lab has access to a Garage. That's two potential ways out, though I don't know that any of us know how to work a submarine.'
"Nope. I can maybe, just maybe, work a paddleboat." Lisa said with a shrug. "The Garage sounds like a better option. Especially with a villain that liked Giant Crocs. As a bonus we know where it comes out.”
"So, we have to go through the lab. And like villains everywhere, he made it a pain in the ass, a long walk back the way we came." Ryan rolled his eyes. "Well, he had to be normal somehow."
"Well, I agree with Em, let’s take a break back in the living room and have some supper." Carl said, "I don't know about you, but my stomach is grumbling, and since Lisa pulled that cooler down here it be a shame not to take part in that bounty.”
"Agreed. Back to the kitchen. The living room thing is probably the best place to rest at, to be honest." Ryan nodded, grabbing the map.
Lisa was glad for the halt. She was in reasonably good shape, but it felt like they’d been walking for hours. Even walking back the way they’d come, towards the kitchen area, was a bit of a struggle. The aches were forgotten instantly however, as they got to the kitchen.
They froze. Soda cans from the cooler were all over the floor, her stove was in scattered pieces and much of her carefully prepared and wrapped food tossed all over the place. "Oh shit." she whispered.