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Dane will pass on the gasoline bath for now. He doesn't want to go around smelling like fueling station all day.

"Get set!" the announcer calls, "GO!" as the light moves from red to yellow, then to green. At Megana's spur, Midnight starts galloping like she's as fast as a car. Even at those speeds, Midnight falls to seventh place, with Thunder right behind her, gaining ground. Then it seems as though Midnight has a second burst of energy and slowly creeps past into a tie for first place. Thunder is also picking up speed, keeping nose to nose with Midnight.

"Midnight! Midnight! Midnight!" come the cheers from the crowd all around, including Meg. As they run past, everyone around Dane becomes deafeningly loud. Dane senses something's not right, but can't place what it is.

"Meg!" Dane shouts over the crowd, "Does something seem off to you. Something doesn't feel right about the race." OOC: I'm assuming by "Dane senses something's not right" you mean about the race. If it's more general than the race, then leave off the "...about the race" at the end of the sentence.

"Meg!" Dane shouts over the crowd, "Does something seem off to you. Something doesn't feel right about the race."

She shakes her head, "No! It's a close one!" she seems oblivious to the same gut feeling that Dane has, like a buzz of familiarity when the horses went by, but not in this situation. He finds it hard to understand but it's a definite hunch.

Dane returns to watching the race for now, but as soon as it's over he wants to make his way over to the horses.

Dane returns to watching the race for now, but as soon as it's over he wants to make his way over to the horses. Midnight and Thunder are neck and neck, several horse lengths in front of the rest, but Thunder is slowly pulling ahead.

The announcer chimes in, "And now Thunder is taking over lead. Midnight will have to be faster!"

"I haven't seen Midnight lose in years," Meg states, "She must be getting old. But it's not over yet!" She smiles, giving Dane a friendly nudge, noticing his troubled face.

The race is about to end, so Dane grabs Meg and heads to where the horses go to rest following a race. Megana and the other racers are there, giving their horses a good rubdown to keep them from collapsing. The rider of Thunder is congratulating Megana. She seems upset.

OOC: Go ahead and post in Megana's thread for now.

Miss Hoffman laughs as Dr. Lewis visibly stifles a laugh at Dane's nervous compliments. "Hey, let's go check out what's new at the festival."

"Yeah, great idea. We probably need to make a couple stops first."

Once outside, Dane boldly takes Meg’s hand — now that his are finally clean — and with her hand in one and the tablet in the other, he leads her first to collect their winnings from the horse race, then to the library to return the tablet to the safe.

When they finally have a bit of privacy, he hesitates before speaking, glancing around as if to make sure no one’s listening. "I should probably explain a couple things," he says quietly. "Remember when I said something felt off when Thunder ran past? Well… when we went to see the horses after the race, I bumped into Thunder, and somehow I just knew he had cybernetic legs. I could almost see—or feel—what was wrong. It was like… a memory or something. I don’t really understand it."

He pauses, fidgeting with the corner of the tablet before continuing. "And the weird part is, it wasn’t like guessing. It was like my brain already knew. I could picture where things were misaligned, which impulse relays were probably out of sync… like I’d already seen the schematics." He stops himself, realizing he’s started to ramble.

"Also, the tablet was listening to our conversation at the stables. I’d turned it off, but when I powered it back up, it already knew what was going on. I just asked it a couple of questions, and it showed me the exact calibration data I needed to fix Thunder’s gear. It’s… honestly, I’ve never heard of a system that intuitive. Either it’s running on some insane adaptive AI architecture, or—" He catches himself, forcing a nervous half-smile. "Anyway. It was weird. And maybe just a little scary."

Miss Hoffman laughs as Dr. Lewis visibly stifles a laugh at Dane's nervous compliments. "Hey, let's go check out what's new at the festival."

"Yeah, great idea. We probably need to make a couple stops first."

Once outside, Dane boldly takes Meg’s hand — now that his are finally clean — and with her hand in one and the tablet in the other, he leads her first to collect their winnings from the horse race, then to the library to return the tablet to the safe.

Today has been a good day. Saving a horse's life, incarcerating one of the criminals, if he is one. Winning money. Dane receives ten credits back and the twenty credits from his winnings, bringing his financial total to 169 credits.

When they finally have a bit of privacy, he hesitates before speaking, glancing around as if to make sure no one’s listening. "I should probably explain a couple things," he says quietly. "Remember when I said something felt off when Thunder ran past? Well… when we went to see the horses after the race, I bumped into Thunder, and somehow I just knew he had cybernetic legs. I could almost see—or feel—what was wrong. It was like… a memory or something. I don’t really understand it."

He pauses, fidgeting with the corner of the tablet before continuing. "And the weird part is, it wasn’t like guessing. It was like my brain already knew. I could picture where things were misaligned, which impulse relays were probably out of sync… like I’d already seen the schematics." He stops himself, realizing he’s started to ramble.

Megan frowns, looking concerned.

"Also, the tablet was listening to our conversation at the stables. I’d turned it off, but when I powered it back up, it already knew what was going on. I just asked it a couple of questions, and it showed me the exact calibration data I needed to fix Thunder’s gear. It’s… honestly, I’ve never heard of a system that intuitive. Either it’s running on some insane adaptive AI architecture, or—" He catches himself, forcing a nervous half-smile. "Anyway. It was weird. And maybe just a little scary."

"Dane?" She sounds nervous or even afraid, "You can't tell anyone about how you knew. People have been banished or killed for less. Shit... look what happened to me just for... well, you know." She looks at the tablet, "And something that powerful, well... it might put a target on our backs. People will want to steal it. Wealth, knowledge and positions of power drive people to do incredibly greedy things. Changing people's lives with intuitive abilities or insight is dangerous too. People don't like change. And with Lord Stein, preaching his insane gospel, it'd be even worse." Her expression shows that, for a brief moment, she relived the community fabricated isolation that she was forced into.

After securing the tablet in the library and checking on Megan's library helper, she finds that a few books had sold and takes the money to the safe. Her mood seems to have lightened up. "So, there's a cooking competition. Frank does his stage three run in a few hours. Megana is steeple racing soon. Or we could rent a buggy and tear around over near Hammer Lake."

"Yeah... that's why I waited to tell you until we were alone. I figured I could trust you — since you trusted me." He looks at her with hopeful, slightly worried eyes. "I definitely wouldn’t tell anyone else... well, maybe my dad. I haven’t decided yet. I mean, he’s a cop, but I think I can trust him. He obviously has his own secrets, too."

Dane pauses, gaze drifting for a moment as he thinks. "Does everyone in this town have secrets, I wonder?"

After securing the tablet in the library and checking on Megan's library helper, she finds that a few books had sold and takes the money to the safe. Her mood seems to have lightened up. "So, there's a cooking competition. Frank does his stage three run in a few hours. Megana is steeple racing soon. Or we could rent a buggy and tear around over near Hammer Lake.

Dane thinks a buggy ride sounds like a lot of fun, but the practical side of him wins out. "Buggy sounds fun, but I think maybe we’ve had enough adventure for one day. Wanna check out the cooking competition? Maybe they’ll let us judge?" He flashes her a hopeful grin — the kind that says he’s half-joking but entirely serious about the food.

"Yeah... that's why I waited to tell you until we were alone. I figured I could trust you — since you trusted me." He looks at her with hopeful, slightly worried eyes. "I definitely wouldn’t tell anyone else... well, maybe my dad. I haven’t decided yet. I mean, he’s a cop, but I think I can trust him. He obviously has his own secrets, too." Dane pauses, gaze drifting for a moment as he thinks. "Does everyone in this town have secrets, I wonder?"

After securing the tablet in the library and checking on Megan's library helper, she finds that a few books had sold and takes the money to the safe. Her mood seems to have lightened up. "So, there's a cooking competition. Frank does his stage three run in a few hours. Megana is steeple racing soon. Or we could rent a buggy and tear around over near Hammer Lake."

Dane thinks a buggy ride sounds like a lot of fun, but the practical side of him wins out. "Buggy sounds fun, but I think maybe we’ve had enough adventure for one day. Wanna check out the cooking competition? Maybe they’ll let us judge?" He flashes her a hopeful grin — the kind that says he’s half-joking but entirely serious about the food.

"Maybe once it starts. It's always the same. The contestants are given five random ingredients that they must use in their dish, but get to spend twenty credits at the market for up to fifteen minutes to pick out what they'll make the food with. Once they get that, then it's incredibly fun to watch." She thinks for a moment, "Come with me!" She takes Dane's hand and heads towards the middle of mainstreet, where the stage is.

Atop the stage, a group of four ranchers perform what sounds like honky tonk music. Once they arrive on the dance floor, Meg spins around to face Dane, takes his other hand and sheepishly smiles, "Dance with me."

Dane gets a momentary mouse-cornered-by-a-cat look on his face. "I... uh... I've never danced before." His brain starts trying to analyze the situation like a system he’s never debugged — too many variables, unpredictable feedback loops — and his pulse spikes accordingly.

Still, the thought of watching Meg dance pushes the fear back a notch. Part of him hopes they’ll play a slow song so he can be close to her again, though that same thought knots his stomach. Those two sides of him — curiosity and caution — clash like mismatched gears.

"Will you teach me?" he asks at last, the question landing somewhere between hopeful and hesitant.