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Claudia has decided that the best way to deal with the immediate situation is to not think about it if she can possibly help it. Staring at the lack of a door and angsting isn't going to make her feel better, and it's probably like that 'a watched pot never boils' thing.
So after breakfast, she leaves a note with Bar for Ray:

Ray-

Long story, but do you have anything that could tell if someone's been screwing with my head? I know bad Artifact juju isn't exactly bad ghost juju, but anything that might help would be good, right now. My door disappeared so I'll be around... for the foreseeable future, I guess. I'll be in the garage today.

-Claudia

And after that, she heads down to the garage, sets up the stereo (now with 100% fewer Lord of the Rings references on her 'work time!' playlist) and starts working on the El Camino again. Long as she's here, she might as well finish the damn thing.

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KATHUNK KATHUNK KATHUNK KATHUNK

Wrr eep woop?

That would be the sound of a nine-foot-tall walking junkyard lumbering over and peering curiously at Claudia's shins.

"Do what?"
It takes her a second to extricate herself from the car, but then she... well, she doesn't really smile, she's still not in that great of shape. But she doesn't look unhappy to have company, either.
"Oh. Hey, D0G."

D0G points at the El Camino with an inquisitive noise.

"It's a car. Faster way to get around than walking. I... well, I was going to take it home, but right now I don't know what's up with that."
But as long as she started work on it, she might as well finish.

D0G knows what a car is, duh. He was asking what you were doing. But now he's wondering about why she can't go home. Mwoo? he inquires, canting his head to one side.

Claudia sighs. "It's... a long story," she says. "Someone may or may not be screwing with my head. Didn't even mean to come here, but the door disappeared on me."

Mwoooooooo... says D0G sympathetically. Having your head messed with is bad. So is not being able to go home.

"Yeah. So... I'll figure out what I'm actually doing with the car later. But I started working on it a while ago, and I figure if I'm here, I might as well finish it."
It's something to do. She needs something to do, or this is going to be a lot worse than it has to be.

D0G hesitates for a moment, then reaches out to offer Claudia a hug.

...Okay. She can roll with Robot Hugs. D0G's used to humans enough that she shouldn't get squished, and she really, really needs it.
So: Robot Hugs.

Claudia won't get squished, no. She will, however, get lifted a good foot and a half off the ground by the hug.

She squeaks, when D0G picks her up - but it does startle a laugh out of her (a small one, but still a laugh).
"Okay, probably should've seen that coming."

Eventually, she does get set down again and D0G takes a step back. Bwoo?

"I... think I'm a little better." Not entirely, but that may take some things she can't get here.
"Thanks."

Werp AAP! D0G cants his head toward the elevator door. Maybe talking to Alyx will help Claudia feel better!

She does hesitate for a second... but, well, it can't hurt to try, right? So she follows D0G's lead.

Once they've reached the Bar proper again, D0G leads her to an out-of-the-way table where Alyx is watching a small hovering robot knit a baby shoe.

Alyx turns in her seat when she hears D0G approaching, and frowns in concern when she sees his traveling companion. "Claudia?"

"...Hi," she says, when she manages to tear her eyes away from Skitch's work. (If nothing else, Alyx's robots are well-versed in the art of distraction.)
"Do I want to ask?"

"--oh, this?" says Alyx, gesturing toward Skitch. "Every once in a while he gets the urge to try something new, and he won't stop pestering people until he gets the chance. He's a tenacious little bastard."

"All right then. At least you'll have well-clothed kids when he's done."
But even the best distraction doesn't cover up the fact that something's wrong in Claudia Land; normally, this would be cause for a good laugh.

Alyx notices. Her frown returns. "Is everything okay, Claudia?"

Claudia laughs, in that hollow way people do when it's laugh or cry. "ahahaha no. Not at all. The other shoe dropped, but when it's Warehouse stuff it's never just the other shoe, it's a whole damn closet."
She suspects the Imelda Marcos reference would be lost on Alyx, so as much as she thinks it suits, she doesn't use it.

Alyx says nothing. She just gestures to the chair next to hers.

If Claudia wants to talk about it, she will in her own time. If she doesn't... well, Alyx is willing to share what's left of her platter of french fries.

Claudia sits down with a heavy sigh, and does take one fry, at least. (Alyx is eating for three, so she doesn't plan on taking too many; she can always get a snack later.)
"My boss's ex-partner resurfaced a while back and tried to kill him," she says, after a while. "We've been tracking him down since, and finally got a bead we could use the other day. Turns out he's been grabbing some of our stuff and planning to sell it on the black market."

That's bad, but not bad enough to justify Claudia's expression. Alyx nods as if to say 'go on.'

"And... well, first of all, turns out he was my brother's thesis advisor. On the teleportation thing. Gave him the compass that got him stuck in limbo for twelve years, and I never thought that'd be the best possible outcome." She can see now that MacPherson was probably planning to sweep in, take the compass for his own purposes, and possibly kill all witnesses to the contrary.
"Second, all the evidence says I've been slipping stuff to him, but if I was I've been having some epic blackouts. I haven't talked to him since I was ten."

Alyx blanches.

"You were being mind-controlled?"

That's something she has a bit of experience with.

"I asked Ray if he has anything that can make sure, but... Mythbusters call it plausible. I sure as hell wouldn't do anything to hurt my home on purpose."
Claudia sighs again. "I actually left. I can't - if I'm a liability, I can't be there right now. Didn't even mean to come here, but now I'm stuck."
Which she knew was a risk of making use of the interdimensional space that occasionally traps people, but she doesn't have to like it.

Alyx gently rests a hand on Claudia's shoulder.

"I don't blame you."

"Thanks."
She does need that reassurance right now, that someone at least believes she wouldn't hurt anyone deliberately.

The little hovering robot looks at Claudia for a moment, then buzzes over to give her a reassuring pat on the other shoulder with his own tiny hand.

Skitch gets... as much of a smile as Claudia can muster, at the moment. It's still not much, but it's a lot better than she was doing yesterday.
"Gonna kick his ass if he comes in here. Nobody screws with my family like that, especially not twice."

"What's he look like?" asks Alyx. "So I know who to shoot."

James MacPherson is in for a world of hurt if he ever finds himself in Milliways. Multiple worlds, actually.
"Tall, skinny, darkish hair, British accent. Completely bugnuts." (She may be slightly biased on that last point.)

Alyx nods and rests her hand meaningfully on the butt of her gun. "Got it."

"Thanks. What about... whoever screwed with you?"
She knows she'd have to get in line behind Gordon, probably, and she's not sure what all she could do without a Tesla. But she might be able to techie-wizard something up.

"He's a tall, skinny white guy in a business suit with a briefcase who looks like he's been dead for a week but hasn't stopped moving yet," says Alyx. "Or so I'm told. I don't remember ever meeting him in person."

"How... charming of him."
Claudia can at least say she's met the asshole in question, in her case, even if it was thirteen years ago. (That she's last aware of, anyway.)

"Apparently, he's the one who saved me from Black Mesa when I was two. So he could use me as a fucking sleeper agent whenever he pleased."

Bitter? Alyx? Surely you jest!

"Oh, epic fail." She says, gunning for Understatement of the Year.
"It's - I had no idea at the time, of course, but looking at MacPherson's pattern with other stuff... he was probably going to let Joshua figure out how the compass worked and then take off with it." Claudia sighs. "Never thought losing my brother for twelve years would actually be the best possible outcome, but..."

"We'll get everything sorted out, don't worry," says Alyx. "I won't let him use you again."

Ray picks up the note on his next trip to the Bar.

Claudia-

I have a number of possible options. Mostly machinery from home. I can bring you some the next time I come in from New York- any chance you could elucidate a couple of your possible symptoms so I can narrow down what to bring?

Ray

When she resurfaces for lunch, Claudia gets the reply, and wastes no time in writing one back.

Long story short, we've been dealing with an asshole former employee who tried to kill my boss a while back. Turns out he's been corralling some of our stuff to sell on the black market.

And it turns out... well, all the evidence suggests that I've been slipping stuff out of the Warehouse to him. But if I am, I'm having some epic blackouts, because I would definitely remember talking to my brother's old physics professor that much. (That's another, even longer story.) I didn't even mean to come here this time, just in case the dude knows where the door in the Warehouse is, but since I'm here I might as well find out what I can.

Thanks in advance, so so so much.

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