True Story©... The Treasure Hunt Pt. IV
[Pt. II can be reached here]
[Pt. III can be reached here]
Kenneth: “Bro, I know you from somewhere?”
Joseph: “I’on think so, but you look real familiar, like I seen you before.”
Kenneth: “Maybe we used to work together or somethin’?”
Joseph: “Nah, I always worked in my pops family business.”
Kenneth: “I just know I have seen you somewhere or another, I just can’t put my finger on it.”
Joseph: “Yeah, this is wild, bro.”
Kenneth: “Wait, here comes somebody else.”
Joseph: “Well damn, this dude looks familiar too.”
Kenneth: “Weird.”
Joseph (to the newcomer): “What’s good, bruh?”
Chucky: “What’s up? I saw you before, up on MLK at the–…”
Joseph: “... THE SCAVENGER HUNT! That’s it!”
Kenneth: “That’s it! He was leaving when you got to the–… uhh… the car and–…”
Joseph: “I was leaving when you got there, got it!”
Kenneth: “So we’ve now established we’re here for the same reason, it seems.”
Chucky: “Yep”
Joseph: “Whaddya say we work this together?”
Kenneth: “Sounds cool, then we can sort out how to compete when it comes down to just us?”
Joseph: “Smart.”
Chucky: “Aight… So I am sure we all got the same inbox, that we were looking for one of some trees carved with instructions to the underground railroad.”
Joseph: “Mmhmm…”
Chucky: “… and we now it’s supposed to be some kinda keys to open some kinda locks.”
Kenneth: “Right”
Joseph: “So how many of them trees was it supposed to be?”
Chucky: “I’on know, but I know it was supposed to be six keys though.”
Kenneth: “I say we try to get all six of em and corner the rest of whatever this game is for ourselves.”
Joseph (chuckling): “Damn, that’s cold. So do we do this together or do we split up?”
Chucky: “Well we all apparently did some similar Google work to get even here. Lets compare notes and split up. What say ye fellas?”
Kenneth: “Bet that… Let’s exchange numbers and get after it then.”
Joseph: **nods**
… and one day, people, I will teach a course at Supervillainy University, on how to make someone think that some shit you had ben manipulating the whole time was their own idea. The whole above conversation took place outside of what I knew while it was happening, but DAMN I am glad it did. I imagine this is how Bugs Bunny felt when Elmer Fudd was firing upon Daffy Duck.
Needless to say, with my continued thumb on the scale and the headstart I gave them – plus their own apparent ability to find information that is not exactly hiding – their next trick is to try the fuckery card to weasel their collective way up in the game. And to be frank, I was getting tired of having to be the rigger in that situation.
[Phlip note: HAA!!! I said “rigger,” read it again]
It should be said that I had only seen a picture of one of these trees and if I remember correctly, one of them WAS on the current site of an AME church that I pass every other Saturday morning on my way to the barber shop. Needless to say, finding enough of the trees to place six keys on was a daunting task when also considering I needed to do this without arousing the attention or suspicion of Wife Person™. With all that said, this will still be a “good fuggin' luck” mission. I just hope their little coalescence up there will serve to get THEM to the keys before I release the remaining contestants to the task, lest I snare fewer than the full three of my targets than I previously desired to.
I waited impatiently for the outcome of this, quietly hoping that nothing as stupid as someone stealing a car they were supposed to take a picture of happens again. Three valid keys and three “fake” ones are what the group was out here in the field chasing. Three people would get to the final round before the prize and three get to go the hell home.
To pass the time while waiting to see how I might be able to easily (for me) play this to completion sooner rather than later, I fired up the old interwebs machine to see what – or more specifically “where” – I could set up the final showdown.
After much casing of South Greensboro, but still not enough to fully wait out the search, I came to a solution. The longer they took to get out of their current situation, the worse it was for my chances of making sure the right people made it through but the better for my planning and supplies procurement. More on that later — like way later.
It took a week and I was sweating BULLETS that I had made it just a touch too hard but it worked out.
12:47 on a Tuesday afternoon, just as I came in from a walk, I received three messages, all at the same time. Instead of just the picture I had required, they decided to get cute with a short message…
“We’re onto you now.”
In the picture, each one – Kenneth, Joseph and Chucky all in the same image – were holding two keys. I would like to imagine that each one of them found something and stuck to their little plan. I don’t particularly care HOW they reached the answer because I am not a math teacher and showing your work is not required.
What I do have to do, however, is slightly rejigger my pre-written message for the final and cut it down to one stage instead of two…
“Previously, we discussed Greensboro’s history with industry… One of the three named was late-ish in arrival, one has largely moved along to more profitable bases of operation, but one has and will continue to thrive from the Gate City unmoved.
One, however, has been a Greensboro mainstay for over 120 years now. They have moved from place to place as the city (and their operations) have expanded.
With your six keys, you will quietly access the ORIGINAL location of the company described above. In it, you will find a freestanding box wherein only three of those keys will work. Only when all three keys are turned within 51 seconds of one another, does the door to the final prize open. Good luck.”
Since they’re so DAMNED smart, let’s let them first parse out the biggest Greensboro companies, then trace back to their origins and THEN find physical locations.
I have time to finish my setup while they sort this out.
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