The Regards
the sign-off
Signs every catastrophe “with regards.” The sign-off that is the knife.
Stuck up on this wall by nobody, so don't ask
The
Dryly Bleakers
Delivering Outcomes Intensely… with regards.
The Care-Faction · est. in the fog, some years back, or so it's said
A fair & honest entertainment, cross our 'earts
Find the Lady
'Ere she is, guv — the Queen o' 'Earts, the one bit o' colour on this 'ole miserable street. 'Ave a good look. Then we turn 'em down, give 'em a shuffle, an' you find 'er. Yer eye's very important to us.
Outcomes delivered: 0 · Ladies found: 0
Evenin', guv. Step in out the damp. The Indifferencer — you've 'eard of 'em, big firm, very clean stationery — they don't care. Says so on their letter'ead, all official. We ain't them. We care somethin' fierce. We care at close range. We care wiv both 'ands. Watch our 'ands.
Where the parent firm delivers all outcomes regardless of intent, we deliver 'em intensely — an' we sign every last one. Ask anyone we've served. There's a few of 'em stood right be'ind you now, speakin' very 'ighly of us.
Yours, in the fullest sympathy,
with regards,
The Dryly Bleakers
Persons of concern, the lot of 'em
The Court of Grifters
The Sleight
the dealer
The monte dealer. The hand you should have watched.
The Condolence
the futures desk
Sends sympathy before the loss. Grief, sold as a future.
The Concern
the bedside manner
Performs bottomless concern while your pockets quietly empty.
The Fog
visibility: regrettable
You never got a clear look, and that was the point.
The Testimonial
the one who won
Radiant, quotable, and on the payroll. All flavor text is testimony; the testimony was planted.
You won't notice these, an' that's a promise
The Tells
The Tipped Hat
Courtesy, departing.
The Folded Condolence
Sympathy, pre-written.
The Gaslamp
Illumination, selective.
There's a fourth tell, guv. It's face down, where it belongs — the face is the promise; the back's the product.