milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Back home there's everyday work (if dealing with possessed cinnamon buns and haunted highway overpasses- don't ask, but you really shouldn't take the BQE across the Gowanus for a while just to be on the safe side- can ever be called everyday), and an overenthusiastic ghost, and an angry sister. This is not very appealing to Ray right now. There's also his daughter, but she's a big girl. She can take care of herself for the handful of picoseconds between Ray heading for Milliways and Ray returning, Ray figures, much as he misses her while he's here. Right now he just doesn't want to deal with everything else back home. That'll happen soon enough.

So for the moment, he's reading a copy of the New York Daily News. There's a two-page spread on the city's proposed new disaster response plan. The police and firefighters' unions' response to the suggestion that special units be set aside specifically for the 'undefined phenomena' category of disaster is absolutely fascinating.

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Nathan briefly remembered some of his experiences in Bosnia, and duties in combat.

He sighed, "...No, no it isn't."

He then asked when he looked toward Ray again, "So what the hell do people do here if they can't leave? Just sit around getting drunk all the time? My brother mentioned there's rooms, but is that it?" Not that he's necessarily accepting any of it, but realizing his options are kind of limited. He's gonna to keep trying to escape as soon as he can though.

"Getting drunk's only one of the possibilities," Ray says. "Your brother's right. There are rooms upstairs. Two of them've been converted to libraries, for what that's worth. There's a workout center down that corridor over there- free weights and a few other kinds of equipment more than Nautilus or anything like that. And there's an outdoor area as well. It's a little cold for going swimming, but there's enough room out back that the mounted NYPD officers I know would be happy to take their horses out there for exercise. Um, if you're musical the piano's available for public use. And the Bar can produce anything a Barnes & Noble or a Best Buy small electronics or entertainment section can- I've bought movies, books, and laptop computers through the Bar on a few occasions."

"Really thought of just about anything, huh? Except..." Nathan held up his cellphone which was still saying no signal, plus his lifted hand showed his stopped wristwatch.

"Can't contact anyone or get the time," he grimly finished.

"Yeah, there is that," Ray admits. "The best I can offer on that front is that it allows you to regroup and get your campaign ducks in a row without being disturbed by phone calls, but I realize that's not exactly the most reassuring prospect in the world. Sorry." He rubs at his neck, thinking. "You can get newspapers and other periodicals from the Bar up to the time you got here. Any newspaper or periodical. Including the ones you haven't had time to go over yet, but that you might need to read through for strategic purposes?"

"Well, that's something at least. Good suggestion," Nathan remarked approvingly.

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