Woods Random Legacy: Chapter 26 - Day Zero

(This chapter has a soundtrack.  Enjoy it!)

Leisure Day was bright and sunny.  While there was no breeze, the heat and humidity were low enough that the townsfolk flocked to the park to participate in the various festivities.

Unknown to those at the festival, things were about to go very wrong at four locations spread across the town.

10:37:36 AM

10:37:37 AM

Heads turned at the sound of the explosion, even as the cell phones and pagers of the fire fighters began going off, summoning them to the fire department.  Luckily nobody was at the gym on the holiday!

10:38:07 AM

As the second explosion echoed across the town center, words like "terrorist" were on the lips of every sim at the park.  Some stayed put, feeling that if a strike was going to be made on the festival it would have already, while others quickly moved away from the crowd, fearing for their safety.  But where to go?

10:41:27 AM

As the third explosion in under four minutes rang out, panic was taking hold at the festival.  Nearby, the fire fighters were facing a crisis.  How were they supposed to fight so many fires at once with only one engine?  What was priority?  And how many more explosions would there be?

10:42:07 AM

The fourth and final explosion was further away than the others, and as nobody was home to report it - the fire alarm having been disconnected, the investigation would later reveal - it burned for several hours before the fire department finally dealt with the other explosions and arrived to put it out.

Luckily, the conditions of the day were such that the neighboring houses were undamaged.  Not so luckily, the Woods' family home had been destroyed beyond repair.  The Sunset Valley police department vowed not to rest until they'd captured whoever was behind this horrifying act of vandalism.

In a dark, windowless room, the Trifectum met.

The Magician sat at one end, the fingers of his long hands laced together as he considered the Lone Wolf, seated at the opposite end of the table.  Next to a table covered with various potions, the Seer slumped motionless onto the meeting table, draped with a coarse robe of plain cloth.
Magician: "Must you bring that device here?"

Lone Wolf: "Not everybody is as stuck in the past as you are.  Modern technology can be useful, for example the incident in Sunset Val-"
The Magician cut him off, waving a hand dismissively.
Magician: "I don't need your machine to tell me that.  As I recall, all members of the family had airtight alibis, as there was no evidence to suggest that the explosions were set on a delay of any kind.  The police department ended up arresting somebody named Tyrone Kimura-Campbell, who was found with the necessary equipment in his possession."
Lone Wolf: "Yes, the one who'd had a fight during high school with the Woods boy."
Magician: "It strikes me as odd that such an old argument could be the motive for this crime, what do you think?"
He addressed the Seer, but it was the Lone Wolf who answered him.
Lone Wolf: "I think we all know who actually set the explosions.  But there's one thing I don't understand.  How could he set them for a time delay, without evidence being left behind?  Surely he didn't use all the-"

The Magician interrupted again, snapping at the Lone Wolf.
Magician: "Of course he didn't!  We're still alive, aren't we?  An explosion of that size would have wiped the entire country off the map.  Perhaps a tiny bit, but not the entire thing.  All isn't lost."
The Seer murmured, her eyelids fluttering.

 Magician: "What's that?"
He leaned close to catch her whisper, then shook his head, giving her shoulder a tender pat; she trembled under his touch.
Magician: "No, not yet.  Just a little bit longer, I promise, mei delicata."
The Lone Wolf looked down to his laptop screen, too uncomfortable to watch the display.
Magician: "Lone Wolf."
The Lone Wolf looked up.  The Magician had resumed his previous posture, hands clasped in front of him with his elbows on the table.
Magician: "Keep an eye on young master Woods."
Line Wolf: "I'll try, he's slippery like an eel though."

Magician: "You will succeed.  You are my eyes, and my ears.  Do not fail me."

~ * ~

Sorry for the long wait, got smacked over the head with homework.  Updates might be spotty for the next while, because I've got even more homework that needs done(seriously, the professor wants our essay topics set by this weekend, even before the add/drop deadline for the course, when they won't be due until the end of march!), but I haven't abandoned the story!

Does anyone have any tips on shooting scenes in dark rooms?  I can't get the ambient lighting as low as I'd like, and when I inserted a light in between VJ and his laptop to simulate it lighting his face it also lit the back of the laptop, which was just stupid.