Dove Creek 3

~ start 0e95e21a-9518-40ba-934f-8bd50d6aab50
if is_quest_accepted and are_quest_requirements_met
	Leon: *He glances at the bundle at your belt, then back to his column.* [#end]
		Woodard is fifty paces from this desk and you are standing at mine. Deliver.
elif is_quest_accepted
	Leon: *He looks at your hands first. Then your face.*
	- I lost the badges [#get_lost_quest_items]
		Leon: *He takes one slow breath, opens the drawer, and strings a second set without a word until the knot is tied.*
			*He sets it down in front of you.* [#end]
			The Institute does not usually restock grief. Do not make me do it twice.
	- The knot still stands
		Leon: Then the entry is still open, and it's yours to close (location 32,19). [#end]
			Go. Daylight is billable.
else
	Leon: There is a final entry.
		The replay is broken, but the heart of the site will not disperse. My instruments man calls it a knot. I will call it what it is: the dead of both orders, collapsed into one body. Dusters fused to Sentinel plate.
		It no longer re-fights the battle. It is the battle.
	Leon: Put it down and the file closes - the only way a file like this closes. It stands in the deep of the draw, where the creek turns (location 32,19).
		*He finishes stringing the badges and knots the cord, the way a job is finished properly.*
	Leon: [#quest_info=561bf92d-5340-419c-9154-a738ae7935ac]
	if is_quest_accepted:
		Leon: [quest: accepted]
			*He pushes the strung badges across the desk.*
			The badges are the Rangers'. Cleaned, logged, released - the Institute's claim on Dove Creek ends at this string. When the knot is down, take them to Woodard.
		Leon: TIP: the [enemy: Paradox] answers to the same rule as the echoes - energy washes over it, a SLASH edge opens it up. [#end]
			His dead. Both ledgers get the entry.
	else:
		Leon: [quest: declined] [#end]
			Then the entry stays open. Entries like this one do not improve with age.
=> END

~ start 5500b939-2571-47d6-9827-6f4152b35844
if is_quest_accepted and are_quest_requirements_met
	Wesley: *You put the bundle in his hands. He knows what it is before the string is off.*
		*He takes them one at a time. Four badges. His lips move on each name, the way a man checks a patrol in.*
	Wesley: *When he's done, he watches the creek line for a long moment.*
		The knot's down. The water out there is just water. First time in two winters my roster and my road agree.
	- Your men were right. The Sentinels started it
		Wesley: *He shakes his head, slow.*
			That's the story I told for two years. It bought me nothing but four graves I couldn't visit.
			A twelfth gun stood on that ridge. Whoever it answered to, it wasn't Keats. And it wasn't me.
	- Leon's people were doing their jobs. So were yours
		Wesley: *He weighs that, then nods once.*
			The bookkeeper and I finally agree on something. Every man at that creek did his duty.
			That's what somebody paid for. Duty - aimed both ways at once.
	- Nobody's clean. Someone sold you that battle
		Wesley: *His jaw works.*
			Sold. That's the word I've been walking around. Route sheets and schedules moved like freight, and both sides billed for the same funeral.
			You know what's worse than an enemy? A market.
	Wesley: *He strings the badges back together and hangs them inside the guard post door, where every Ranger walking out will pass beneath them.* [#complete_quest]
		The road is open. The dead are home. And whoever filed that ridge smooth is still out there, carrying this territory's mail.
		*He offers his hand.*
		The Rangers owe you. So does the Institute, not that Sellard will spend the word. Take the pay - both houses' worth - and keep your eyes on the freight.
	Wesley: Back to work, then. [#end]
elif is_quest_accepted
	Wesley: *He notes the bundle-shape in your kit and doesn't reach for it.* [#end]
		The knot first (location 32,19). Then we'll talk about what you're carrying.
else
	Wesley: *He glances toward the Institute desk across the yard.* [#end]
		Whatever the bookkeeper is cooking in that ledger, bring it to me finished or not at all.
=> END