Once again, we have a repeated card: #51 Misfortune Cookie. This was Ash’s first card all the way back in Act 1, which led to her needing to make a choice between rotting in jail or taking on more responsibility in her aunt’s organization. I think this scene will show why that choice was poised to be a misfortune, indeed.

But first, let’s look at the actual card for Ash’s first scene of Act 2:

#42 Oops

“Mistakes happen.”

A person inside a hazmat suit dropping a vial of something volatile; terror on his face, and several other scientists running around in panic in the background.

Just looking at the art, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact Ash is currently in possession of the detonator to a (presumably) malfunctioning bomb. In the picture, the person in the front is dropping something volatile, causing an explosion and widespread panic. Something to keep in mind.

Whether through cockiness, clumsiness, or simple bad luck, mistakes happen. Embrace them!

Let your hero grab the wrong bag during the heist. Have a lab tech accidentally tear their clean suit. Show the parachute malfunctioning.

Mistakes can lead to discovery. Is your hero convinced they screwed up, only to find they stumbled onto something positive? Perhaps the tiny failure reveals a much bigger problem.

Here is what I think: Ash doesn’t have a plan. The fact that Misfortune Cookie came back leads to me believe that her initial attitude of “This life is not for me” still very much dominates her emotional state. Maybe the mistake she’s making is to call the police herself—the thing Bill should have done in Act 1. Or maybe she sees having control over the bomb as a way to blackmail her aunt to get away from here. So long as she holds the evidence, she can keep the Boss at arm’s reach just long enough to get away and start over. Either way, it’s too late now; the train is moving, the bomb is armed. And, as per my outline, Jay shows up to take back control from her.

Try This

List three aspects of your hero’s routine, system, or scheme. For each one, devise a way for it to fail.

1. She’s a con artist, meaning she acts and speaks in a way that instills confidence in her marks without giving away her true motivations. Someone seeing right through her, like an old friend, would leave her exposed and vulnerable in a dangerous situation.
2. She’s extremely cautious. I think we’ve seen her being reserved, maybe even a bit withdrawn, especially when Bill showed up. Being trapped on the train with Jay, who is cornering her, might cause her to lash out and react irrationally, with little to no time to think this through first.
3. Finally, I think she’s generally mistrusting of others. She’s been on her own for a long time now, no thanks to friends or family. So Jay’s whole “Hug the Crocodile” attitude in previous scenes might have actually tricked her, for a moment, to let down her guard, as he reminded her of a better time before her life fell apart. And now, Jay is pissed, and their personal and professional relationship is about to come to a showdown (see what I did there).

What could cause your hero—or their trusted ally—to suddenly drop the ball?

In her mind, she’s so close to getting away from it all. The train’s heading away from her home, she has control over the bomb, and all she has to do is be patient. She doesn’t know that Bill is on the train, so him suddenly showing up could cause her to make a mistake. After all, getting away from it all does, or at least could, include getting away from him. Just because she still has feelings for him doesn’t mean those feelings are good or welcome. Especially if he wants her to hand over the detonator—her means of control.

Was it really a mistake—or was it sabotage? Consider whether this “oops” was actually part of a rival’s plan.

We don’t actually know why Ash hid from Jay at the end of Jay’s last scene. What if someone got to her while Jay was out setting up the bomb? Maybe her aunt called her for some reason, or another interested party. I’ve long suspected that Ash might have an ulterior motive, so maybe something to that effect is coming to light now. Someone or something convinced her to stay on the train, but even that was a trap.

Final Thoughts

Poor Ash, really. From Misfortune Cooke to Oops, she just can’t catch a breath. One thing I have noticed is that in her last two scenes, she was really just reacting to what the others wanted from her. Ash was a bit passive as a character. Though she was forced to make some choices, she never really got to those points by her own actions. I think that’s fine for a game of Fiasco, though. Act 1 is about setting the characters up, and having one character just be a victim of circumstances, which are pushing her to the edge is a great jumping off point for the second part, when shit hits the fan. Still, for Act 2, I want to try and make her be more proactive, have her get into her own trouble, instead of just getting dragged into everybody else’s nonsense and needing to react to it.