Log:Harrisburg Dreams, Prelude

Harrisburg Dreams 2009/10/25 	 Lisa Danzinger Lorelei Martin Danzinger 1

Scene One: Prelude

The sun is shining on this late october day while the hovercars pull up and and away from the country club, moving around the arch of the parking area to drop people off and pick people up. A bored looking attendant stands at the door, checking everyone with some sort of strange scanner.

Lorelei is among the people to arrive by hovercar; her fame meant she walks places far less than she used to, of necessity.

The attendant looks up and smiles. "Miss Lorelei. It's lovely to see you again." He runs the scanner over you, and smiles. "Go on in." OOC: I assume Lorelei doesn't carry any firearms, bombs strapped to her butt or the like.

Lorelei just nods and smiles to the attendant and goes in.

Lorelei says, "Thank you," and follows. A private room was perhaps to be expected at the moment, and may be no bad thing anyway, she supposes.

You arrive in a small, well appointed room with a spread of foodstuffs on salvers. Sitting at the small table, with an open chair, are Martin and Lisa Danzinger. They look like a pleasant looking middle-aged couple, with Martin being a thick, heavyset man with broad shoulders and a thick neck, and Lisa being a slightly heavy woman in her late forties, blonde, with slight freckles and a cheerful smile. They're holding hands when you arrive, almost as if you were expected. "Lorelei!" Martin gets up from his chair and walks over to you, extending a hand as Lisa follows. "It's wonderful of you to make it."

Lorelei shakes hands. "My pleasure. How are you?"

Martin grins. "We're fine." Lisa comes over and gives you a warm hug. "How have things been since the last charity function?"

Lorelei says, "Oh, I've been well, thanks. Hard at work, though, and away from Colonial Bay too much!"

Lorelei says, "But you two must be run off your feet!"

Martin smiles. "Well, we should sit down and eat then."

Lisa laughs. "Let me get you a chair. Come on over." They pull out your chair and sit back down.

Martin says "So what's all this about? I would hope it's about putting your face next to ours in this awful slugfest I'm in."

Lorelei sits and smiles. "Well, I was hoping to hear about your ideas for Harrisburg, certainly. I'm... reluctant to get into politics. But with fiasco over how it's been handled - well. I think I should give you a chance to change my mind!

Martin chuckles a little bit. "Well, what we're going to do is we're going to build low income housing. The School is almost finished. You can come see it tomorrow. We're working all weekend." He smiles a little bit. "There will be a community center, playgrounds, all that stuff. I hardly handle the details of it anymore, but we have a model of it out at the trailer if you want to look at it. New Harrisburg." He says. "Tell me, are you familiar with someone called the Devastator?" He says. "We got a threatening note last night." He pulls out a strange looking holocard, with a funny looking D stamped on it. "Touch it. Go ahead. This one's different."

Lorelei frowns. "The Devastator? No." She reaches out tentatively and touches the card.

The card flares to life. It's a shiny, three dimensional holo-image, of a golden helmeted man's head with purple goggles and a purple cape. "Martin Danzinger...I am the Devastator! Harrisburg no longer belongs to you! It is a free and independant state! Cease your renovations, or I will destroy you! This is your first and only warning! After this, I will take deadly and decisive action! You have been warned." The image fades away with a loud pop.

Lorelei frowns deeper. "That looks serious. Have you told anyone else about this?"

Martin says. "Needless to say, I don't think it's any more serious than the five attempts to blow my head off, the six people who got arrested for carrying rifles to my last rally, or any of that other stuff. My new construction machines are working overtime to make sure that school is ready on time." He says. "You're sure? This guy sounds like a superpowered nutcase out to make a name for himself."

Lisa says "At first I thought it was just a clever prank, some teenager dressed up in a holo-suit and filming himself."

Lorelei says, "Maybe he is. But the nutcases are often the most dangerous - certainly the ones most likely to put other lives at risk to attain their ends..."

Martin nods. "I'm not sure the police can do anything about someone like this if you think this is a serious threat."

Lorelei says, "It *could* be a prank. But I wouldn't bet on it, not in this city."

Lorelei says, "You have a public appearance tomorrow, you say? My advice is, make sure you have some heroes there."

Lisa gently clasps Martin's hand. "If we could perhaps prevail on you to gather a few superheroes for tomorrow's opening? That might be feasible. This Devastator guy, if you say he's as serious as you think, what could he do?"

Martin turns to Lisa. "Honey, do you think it's wise? What if it's just a crank or something?"

Lisa gives Martin a disapproving look. "Better safe than sorry."

Lorelei shakes her head. "I'm sorry, it's so hard to say. He could, as you say, be a nutcase in a costume. Or even someone trying to help your opponent's cause in the election. Or he could be someone of serious power. Without knowing about him, there's no way to know. I think you'll have to be there - you can't be seen to back down, can you? But make sure there are heroes on hand to watch you, because it's also possible he's a serious threat..”

Lorelei says, "But I'll certainly contact as many superheroes as I can. I wish I could be there tomorrow.... unfortunately I've an engagement I can't get out of."

Martin nods. "I'll do it. I'm not afraid of this guy. I was doing construction and wearing a helmet before that jerk ever put on that stupid gold hat and purple goggles." He grins and turns to Lisa, who squeezes his hand a little nervously.

Lorelei smiles, thinking if he'd backed down he wouldn't be suitable material for mayor anyway. "So did I read something about people protesting house for the rich in Harriburg or something? What was that about?”

"Schoffnaus thinks I'm gonna sell out." he says crankily. "He says I won't be able to do it without real investment from his side of the fence, and that's not gonna happen without luxury condos and private communities. But how the heck am I gonna do that? That would require me to bulldoze the entire neighborhood."

Lorelei says, "Hmm. What sort of investment are we talking?"

Martin nods. "Well, I'm running out of money. I don't expect to make it to tax time next year without some new investors." He says firmly. "I was hoping to prevail on more charitable concerns to make donations for the good of the people of Harrisburg, but I'm running for Mayor. I can't be seen as a charity case."

Martin sighs and says "I'm going to owe millions. This Devastator could ruin me."

Lorelei says, "Hm. So how are you going to handle this? Are you saying he's right about his concerns?"

Lorelei says, "If he's not a fraud. Well, as I say, I'll contact as many heroes as I can."

Martin laughs. "Schoffnaus is only right if he wins the election and I can't get public funding, which he won't grant because he probably got his own project of military action. He probably wants to deport all of the people in Harrisburg. Free and independant state. Hah."

Lorelei says, "Ah, right. Public funding.... of course!" She nods. "I'll do what I can. I just wish I could be there tomorrow myself...."

"Thank you." Lisa says, extending a hand to you. "Try the cheese slices. It's like they were made here."

Lorelei says, "Thanks - nothing like good cheese!"