Gun Running

[Madotsuki]

Madotsuki wasn't entirely sure what to expect from a place called the "Blue Moon Cafe," but she certainly wasn't expecting the quaint building she now stood in front of. The sign didn't even need to say anything; a blue crescent-moon was all it needed. Unlike the Song and Dance, the dreamer didn't feel as if the establishment was about to collapse on her. Patrons celebrated inside, despite a lack of music. All in all? This was the superior pub.

Crusher swung the door open, and the bartender, an older women with graying, black hair done up in a bun, smiled back at him. Despite her otherwise homely appearance, a pistol hung from her belt.

"It's great to see ye, Brenda dear." Crusher embraced her in a hug. "'ow's it going?"

She sighed, polishing a glass. "Same as always. Thankfully there didn't seem to be any more incidents."

Madeline glanced at her fellow Night Terror with a knowing frown. "...Are you referring the robots?"

The woman shrugged. "What else would I be talking about?"

"If that's the case, then there was another incident. All the machines in an arcade in Tier 2 bugged out, and Skynet was mentioned there as well. Madotsuki was there, weren't you?"

The dreamer nodded.

The woman tittered and served a patron a drink. "I've never trusted those confounded machines."

"Me neither. Anyway, me and my friends need to talk in private."

With a nod, Brenda lifted the platform that normally blocked entry to the back of the bar. The group ducked past it and she opened up a nearby door that led to the back of the building. Once the three made it through, the raven-haired lady shut the door behind them.

The room was sparsely furnished with a poker table. Surrounding it were about five chairs, although Madotsuki doubted it could bear the weight of anything sitting in it. The walls were caked in grime, and a nearby refrigerator hummed loudly. Another door stood at the wall opposite of where they entered.

"Sorry about the mess," Crusher apologized, raising his voice to be heard over the roar of the fridge. Apparently the appliance wanted to be included in the conversation. The man walked over to it and pounded on it, and the whirring noise died down to an acceptable level. "Again, sorry. I usually use this place to play poker with the boys."

"What about that door?" Madeline pointed to the entrance.

"That leads to our 'ouse."

"You live here?"

"Yup. Me and Brenda."

"...You really live in a cafe?"

"What underground group is good without a front? Anyway, ye came to talk business?" Crusher took a seat and grabbed a deck of worn cards. "'ow about we discuss this over a game of poker?"