Dove Creek 2

~ start 0e95e21a-9518-40ba-934f-8bd50d6aab50
if is_quest_accepted and are_quest_requirements_met
	Leon: *He clears the desk to bare wood before he lets you lay them out. Then he sorts. Badges left, plates right. His lips move, name by name, down the ledger column.*
		*It takes a long time. You don't interrupt. Under his pencil, some of two winters' open entries finally close.*
	- There's one left over
		Leon: *The last tag sits alone on the wood. No stamp. No badge cut. The edges have been filed smooth, the way a man files a thing he doesn't want traced.* [#complete_quest]
			Eleven of ours on this page. The Rangers' dead post to Woodard's roster, not mine. And this... this posts to no column anybody keeps.
			*He counts everything. He does not touch it.*
		Leon: A twelfth gun stood at Dove Creek. No colors. Filed edges. And here is a fact I have checked twice, because I check everything twice: the freight house that carried our escort schedule that week also carried the Rangers' route sheet. Same house. Same week. Both invoices stamped paid.
			Nobody found that battle. Both sides were delivered to it. On time.
		- Which freight house?
			Leon: *For the first time since you met him, the pencil is idle.*
				The kind that also carries the mail. And the medicine. And everything else this territory runs on.
				Follow that thought to its end if you like. You'll want to stop walking before you arrive.
			Leon: *He squares the badges into their own stack and pulls fresh string from the drawer.*
				There's a final entry. Stay where you are.
			Leon: [#load_quest=561bf92d-5340-419c-9154-a738ae7935ac]
elif is_quest_accepted
	Leon: *He doesn't look up from the column he's ruling.* [#end]
		Six tags. The crossing (location 33,20). The dead keep excellent records - all you have to do is collect them.
else
	Leon: *The ledger is open before you reach the desk. Your description is already in the margin - written days ago, waiting.*
		The shooter. Eight units of Scar phenomena discharged at Dove Creek, which as of yesterday is Institute property. Sit. So far you're an expense. I intend to convert you.
	- Am I in trouble?
		Leon: Trouble is a Ranger word. You're a discrepancy. Discrepancies get resolved, or they get billed.
			*He turns the ledger so you can see it. A column of names. Eleven lines, none of them closed.*
			Two winters. No remains released, no effects returned, and the ground itself in dispute. My column does not reconcile, and I have written these eleven names at the top of every month since.
	Leon: The echoes carry effects. Identity tags - ours are stamped plates, the Rangers cut badges. Put one down and the tag stays behind. Cold. It stays cold in a closed hand.
		Don't ask me the mechanism. I file it under the same heading as the rest of the Scar.
	Leon: Bring me six. To be explicit about what I'm buying: I am not paying for vengeance - vengeance is a Ranger line item.
		I'm paying for reconciliation. There is a difference, and the difference is what's left of eleven people.
	Leon: [#quest_info=588a7dd0-d7b1-4d31-b379-4cc51716cf7d]
	if is_quest_accepted:
		Leon: [quest: accepted] [#end]
			The crossing at the creek bend (location 33,20). Count them as you take them.
			I will be recounting.
	else:
		Leon: [quest: declined] [#end]
			*He writes a single word beside your description and rules a line under it.*
			Then you remain an expense.
=> END