SpoilerThe roof, however, will *not* be close enough to sense shadows inside, as Reaper quickly discovers.
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SpoilerThe roof, however, will *not* be close enough to sense shadows inside, as Reaper quickly discovers.
The Reaper
The Reaper petals Pulse, <I need to get closer. Try a side wall, adjacent alley, whatever you've got to stay out of the bouncer's sight. I can sense shadows fifteen, maybe twenty feet out, hard to tell distances with just shadows. I'll let you know when I get a hit, and I'll jump in. Reaper out.>
Spoiler
If at any time during Pulse's movements, I get in range, I petal him and jump into the building. I'm looking for anyone dressed oddly or acting suspiciously, as opposed to dancing, hanging out, etc. Also for any adjoining rooms in which the meeting might be being held. I keep low and keep my eyes closed, so even if seen, I just look like an oddly persistent shadow.
Pulse checks for roof entrances, if there are any, he can probably jimmy the lock, but of course he will check for security. If security looks high, he will just make sure the roof exit is blocked, leave his glider up there, and work his way down into an alley.
Pulse immediately spots several roof entrances...there are several skylights looking down on the main club area. Other than that, there appear to be a few ventilation ducts that a dedicated ((Medium)) person could get through, though where they go, God only knows. There appears to be no door - roof access is probably granted by the fire escape ladders you saw on the side of the building. Looking a little closer and poking around, though, you find a trapdoor behind the stand of pipes. It is padlocked.SpoilerThis is a superhero story...of COURSE there are roof entrances!!
SpoilerSpot check was 27 and Search check was 24. Geez, man. :-)
Also, important - how are you communicating with 1337? By my calculation, he can only talk to Reaper vie headset, and Reaper hasn't unmelded yet, so you guys haven't actually gotten that blueprint info yet. Intelligence check for Pulse says that the Tech Guy might have useful info/insight here (even if I'm wrong and you have already heard about the blueprints, you feel like you should tell him about what you've seen so far).
Natasha Verraine
The headache faded slightly as she rode to the hospital... and she was more than happy to zone out for most of the ride. The doctors told her that she was in decent shape, and offered her some painkillers, but she declined. Her mother was already going to have a fit over the hospital bills. Ambulence rides weren't cheap... and the school only offered health care if you used the doctors on their list of approved medical care centers. She snuck some advil from her purse instead.
Jon stayed with her for most of the time. Nice guy... but she got the idea he wouldn't have been so eager to help had she been anything but a pretty young woman. By the time the officer came to see her, she'd already run over what she planned to say in her head several times.
Hello officer. She said, imitating as best she could, a shy young girl who wasn't used to speaking to the police, I'm sorry... I caused trouble. I knew... that man was a mutant. I saw him on the street. He was walking along, talking to himself... and making... little bursts of fire, and things as he went. I... um... I'd never seen a mutant up close before. Just saw the ones on TV who put out that fire... and.... I thought he was one of the good ones.
She paused for a second and closed her eyes... taking Jon's hand to add to the effect of a poor, hurt girl who'd just made a mistake.
I followed him for a little bit, into a sushi place. He was eating with some woman... I don't know who she was. I was afraid to talk to him... so I just listened a bit... ate... left. I heard his name... but not much else. Then, when I left... fire-guy showed up for... food, I guess? He's one of the nice mutants, so I went to talk to him instead. Then, that guy... Jack. He came out of the sushi place, and started talking to us. He was... acting all nice... at first. I told him I'd just been following him because I'd never met a mutant-guy before... but... He didn't believe me, I guess. He threatened me. And then...
She paused again, squeezing Jon's hand and shivering a bit at the sheer memory of her terrible, terrible ordeal. (heh)
I... I heard him... in my head. He was talking about something... but... in my head, I heard his voice. It said "Don't... um... don't f*** with me bitch. If you saw anything, I'll kill you.". I... I don't know.. what he thought I saw... but... He got... really mad. I probably should have... run, I guess... but I thought with all the people around... he wouldn't attack someone out in the open like that. I wanted to stay near fire-guy, in case Jack got violent. Then... T-then... I heard him laugh... in my head... and then...
She stopped again... her tone building up in a beautifully choreographed play of trauma and tragedy that ended with her looking as if she might cry. She gave it a moment, as Jon and the officer tried to console her... before she finally spoke again.
T-then... the thing... hit me. I... um... I don't remember much... after that. Do you think he might... try to find me?
SpoilerTo quote Jon Lovitz... Acting! I shall spin a tale of woe and terror... at the hands of the wicked, wicked mutant, Jack... who's first and last name she will give to the police. (She got it via telepathy in the sushi place)
As for the (massive) lie. I'll take 10 on a bluff if I can... which would give me a 26. If this counts as a lie big enough that I can't take ten... the roll is...
Bluff: [roll0]. Though I'll take ten if I'm allowed instead, no matter how good or bad the bluff roll.
The police officer has been taking notes throughout, adding to what is presumably John's version. When you finish, he continues writing for a moment, annotating what he's written earlier, then turns to you. All right, ma'am, we'll look into this. Find out what this Jack Pretto has to say about the incident. Do you...wish to press any charges against him? I'm not saying it's a good or bad idea, just filling out the forms here. Lowering his voice slightly, he adds Though it you want my opinion, the first big mutant case in gonna tie courts in knots, especially trying to figure out how to collect evidence on something like this - even if you're right, you probably don't want to be involved in that circus.
Any case, if there's nothing else, Miss Verraine, I'll be heading back to the station to file my report. He and John both stand to go.
SpoilerYou're also free to leave the hospital...long as you go by way of the checkout counter. The officer is being rather formal, a "just tell me what happened" attitude, and through his formal and serious demeanor, it is difficult to tell how much of your story he believes. He does at least seem to have promised to check into Jack.
It's somewhere in the mid-evening dinner time range.
And just fyi, both the police and hospital forms asked for identification of various forms, including valid driver's license. Since you were mostly unconscious, someone thoughtfully put your purse in the ambulance with you, so you have it.
((Also, why is it that everyone in the world seems compelled to shorten "John" to "Jon"?))
Pulse
SpoilerPulse will continue, as he has been, relaying everything he gets from 1337 to Reaper via petalphone. Given his high intelligence, and encyclopaedic (nearly eidetic) memory, he should be able to transmit this with a high level of confidence.
A padlock on the outside of a trapdoor that goes to the roof suggests that there is nil expectation of anyone exiting from said trapdoor... hence it is unlikely I will run into anyone if I enter this way.
He gestures at the padlock briefly.
SpoilerDisable Device: [roll0]
Natasha Verraine
I don't know... I guess I... really can't. Tasha will say with a sad tone, So... mutants who can do that can just... get away with it? Or that spider one that attacked some people? He just gets away with it? Or the one that blew up that one building downtown? I... I got attacked and... and nothing happens?
She'll sigh, and slump a bit. Slipping into the officer's mind to see what he knew, if anything. With any luck, he was involved in the downtown bombing. May as well make the best of a bad situation, after all.
SpoilerAttempting telepathy on the cop. Serves him right for telling a poor, victimized girl like me, who can't roll to save her life, it seems (and people onder why I take 10 so much), that it's probably a bad idea to report her attack. DC to save is 25, I believe.
It IS nice to know I can probably act with impunity. My power is hard to prove.
If he fails... the "questions" she'll ask will be sent to you via a PM HT. :smallbiggrin:
Judy
He's taking a picture of me? What the hell? Her first impulse is to lose herself in the crowd; she knew how to keep from being followed, now that she knew someone was following her. She had a jacket she could reverse or take off, she had sunglasses in her pockets...
Except running wouldn't tell her anything, and they'd still have a picture of her. Why? Her mind goes back to the weird collision with the blind man, who she could have sworn had seen her. Okay, let's assume he can see me, or smell that I'm different. Everyone else seems to. I'm starting to think I have pheromones only other mutants can smell, or something. She seriously thinks about that for a second before dismissing it, and almost heads over to her computer to look up before remembering Kid Zeus hadn't recognized her at all. Neither had Jack, for that matter, and she'd been a terrible liar at Alex's place. Probably because she'd felt guilty about keeping that from him.
Well, they knew what she was, then; she could just walk up to him and ask what he thought he was doing without risking anything. Crazy superhuman stuff aside, taking pictures of women on the streets was kind of creepy. She almost does it, too.
But... every time she'd done this, the conversation had ended up spiraling way out of control. The two costumed heroes, Nerros, Alex, Even Jack... talking to people on their own terms just wasn't working for her. The little sparks of resentment and frustration, accumulated over the past two days of lying and being dragged into spotlight after conversational spotlight, finally flare up a bit.
Okay, then. She'd do things differently this time.
She has crossed the street, removed her jacket and tied it around her waist, and eyeing Camera Guy to see where he might be keeping his wallet before it sinks in how stupid this was. S***, I do not do this anymore! But he took a picture. What was he planning to do with that? Something involving her, and without her permission. That was a good enough reason. She put her sunglasses on, started jogging. Those, plus the clothing change, should keep her from being spotted; casual recognition usually depended on one or the other.
The fact that he had just now been looking at a picture of her might make it chancier, she realizes as she hits another crosswalk ahead of him and starts back in his direction.
Too late for that, really.
She swerves a bit to avoid hitting him on the sidewalk, just a mid-city jogger passing by. Except she misjudges, jostling him a bit with a passing "Sorry."
Not an actual misjudgment, of course. She slipped the wallet into her pocket deftly, before he could really turn around and while he was still shielding that side of her from everyone else's view.
SpoilerI'm not sure if Judy's attempt to blend into the crowd counts as a Disguise check (the obvious one) or a Hide check (which is used to blend into crowds), but either way, she'll take 10 on that one, for a result of 27 (Hide) or 18 (Disguise).
She'll also take 10 on Sleight of Hand, giving her a 23, and I'm spending an action point to add to that, since getting caught picking a pocket would be really bad:
Small virtual dots
Spin about and come to rest
Striving for the sky.
[roll0]
Pulse/Reaper
When 1337 hears about the trapdoor, he looks it up in the blueprints before informing you that it doesn't appear to be marked (which isn't unusual), but does seem like it's more likely to lead into the back storage areas than the main club area. Diffidently, he also offers that it seems more likely to him that the meeting would be back there, as opposed to somewhere off of the main club area where some drunk RIT frat boy might stumble in.
Your first effort to manipulate the lock's components is unsuccessful, but after another try or two it reluctantly pops open, revealing a dark crawl space about four feet deep.
Tasha
The officer shakes his head. Criminals don't get away, ma'am. It's just gonna take the courts a bit of time to figure out how to deal with this, just like with the rest of the world. Eventually a mutant's gonna kill someone in some way we never even dreamed of, and then we'll have to figure out how to try the case. Maybe they'll decide it's all right to have a mind reader on staff down at the station, but I think not. I ain't saying that criminals are going to get off easy, just that it'll take time to adjust. You've got a bump on your head, and I know it hurts, but it might be a bigger headache trying to go to court over it. No need to take my opinion, though, ma'am.
SpoilerAwaiting telepathy questions. May I assume you gave your identifying information?
Judith
Sorry, yours is gonna take a bit of work - I love it when my players are smart!..but I have to flesh out some more stuff to answer your post. I'll post OOC later when I edit in your answer here.
Pulse
Pulse pops open the trapdoor and slowly levitates himself down into it magnetically. He is keeping from touching the sides so that if it is an airshaft he will not warp the sides of it while crawling through it, thus giving himself away. He will not activate a light, but will use his magnetic senses to maneuver and feel his way along.
Professor Dark
Everyone thought of it as crossing a line; like moral geography. But the lines of longitude and latitude don't exist on the surface of the earth and no star provides a truly constant bearing. Viewed by a greater mind than possessed by any man before him, Dark saw the moral structure of humanity as pure conditioning: circumstance without purpose.
Any mind that would accept one form of conditioning would accept another. Because the natural state of human happiness was in bending before an absolute will.
"Ingestion would be easier. Injection will be time consuming. Can that be done? With a sample by tomorrow night?"
((Sorry for slow posting - the website has kept me out pretty much solid for the last week - and still isn't letting me change font colours))
Alex
Alex walks in, chuckling to himself. "Always nice to see that mindless conformity when building isn't dead. I do not believe I have met these gentlemen here, though you look familiar..." He hangs his coat and hat wherever Ben indicates he can, but leaves his sunglasses on. After all, it is poker night. I could have sworn...that guy, I think he works for Mythos and Barns. Always thought it was a funny name, but their skill is no joke."Alex." He offers his hand if either of them looks like they would shake, but quickly retracts if neither bites.
Judith
The man barely notices, busily changing some obscure setting on his camera. The wallet contains little: a driver’s license, three credit cards, about $15 in small cash, and a receipt from a mid-priced restaurant chain in town. Everything that has his name on it agrees that he is Harry Crawford, and lives at such-and-such address in an upper-middle class area in the northeastern part of town. The most interesting thing is his insurance card, which claims that Mr. Crawford is in fact an M.D. of…some variety. Hard to tell with all the gobbledygook on the card, which might as well be a lot of gibberish to you (it’s various acronyms and abbreviations and phone numbers for various types of services).
Pulse/Reaper
((So…you’re flying flat on your stomach, in a Superman sort of way?))
The crawl space is about four feet deep, a musty, cobwebby gap between the ceiling and the rafters. It leads off in all directions except behind you (the direction of the main dance floor). There’s all sorts of ducts, pipes and wires crisscrossing through here, but not enough to restrict travel. 1337 comes over the radio and says that you’re headed into the back area of the building, and while he can tell you what rooms connects to which and where the hallways are, it’s a tossup what they’re currently actually being used for.
((Where to, chief?))
Dark
The chem. student shakes his head. Not without making it a lot weaker and slower-acting. Getting to the brain via the stomach is one of the slowest and most lossy transport mechanisms out there. If you wanna avoid syringes…hmm, I might be able to dehydrate it, make it into a powder. Then you’d just have to get ‘em to snort it, so it’d hit the mucous membranes in the back of the nose. I dunno, hold their mouth shut until they have to breathe through their nose or something? Your problem, I guess – I think I can do that, though? Do you have a plan for the traceability? Maybe everyone will think it’s Balchem, right, ‘cause they already know Balchem’s a chemical company? If you could find me some inert agent to add to it that is manufactured by Balchem…say, some bonding agent used in larger mixtures. That might make it look like a Balchem product, you think? You said you had a plan for throwing suspicion elsewhere – what is it? He’s excited now, clearly more than he’s used to, and beginning to babble slightly.
Alex
They both shake your hand cordially – the guy you recognized is Jack (whose name was on the tip of your tongue, man), and the other one is Brendan, who offers no last name or occupation (not unusual), but looks bit like Andy Bernard from the office; the sort of businessman in his late twenties who’s still a good ol’ frat boy at heart. After he shakes your hand, he takes a healthy swallow of his beer, which lends further weight to your impression. Ben chimes in, Help yourself to anything. You came into a rather odd tangent, actually; we were just debating, who would be the more successful entrepreneur in a free market – Death, or Taxes?
((Ah, the conversations that never would happen without alcohol! They all appear pretty sober at the moment, though, just relaxed. The "anything" Ben mentions are a few types of beer, and some generic chip 'n' dip type snacks.))
Oblivion
His expression remains thoughtful, but otherwise unresponsive until he mentioned the Suit dealers info.
At that, a wolfish grin slowly but surely took over his face. With the mention of the cops, his eyes positively twinkled like a clear night sky.
Pausing a beat he finally said "What can I say? Your the man. You definitely deserve every cent I just dropped on ya my friend."
Casually bringing out his cell phone and preparing to type up some notes, he said "Let me get that info down, and I'll be on my way and out of your...well, way. Wouldn't want to scare off the evening crowd now would I?"
Knocking back his drink, he bit off a chunk of the empty glass and with a faint smile and faraway look chewed it thoughtfully, leaning on the bartop. Spitting all the shards back into the glass like so much crushed ice, even picking a rather stubborn shard out manually, he leaned over the bar and said in a stage whisper "I've always wanted to do that."
With that, after exchanging a few last words and hearty farewells, he departed into the oncoming dusk, sweeping out of the bar like one meant for the night to come.
SpoilerGettin' creative with the power flauntin'. Oh, yea.
I'll PM you some details on the dealer I was considering a little later, but I thought it would be fun to have him tied to MK's PC somehow (with his permission of course). What were the "materials" anyway? Drugs or guns? I'm guessing drugs. Leaky pipes would take a long time to really do any damage to quality weapondry. I'd also prefer the former explanation, as it would make the tie in far more plausable. Of course, I am always open to negotiation.
One more thing. Was the petal message nurse Jen sent general, or specific to Nos only? Just trying to figure out where I'm planning on heading next...
Pulse
Pulse glides through the crawlspace, toward the back of the building, listening for people talking and or sensing for some kind of electromagnetic chaos that might be for bug blocking...
Natasha Verraine
SpoilerFirst off... MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Ahem.... sorry about that. Anywho... she'd have given them all her correct info. After all... she's not on trial here. Second of all, from now on the questions she plucks from him will be from that list I gave you from the top down... ok? Four a round...
So... So what do you think I should do? Just... just let it go? She'll say, her voice sounding disheartened, Do you... do you think... I'm lying?
Oblivion
Making effort to not be seen as he left the bar, leaving by the back exit and stealthily moving a few blocks away before drawing out the petal and projecting his thoughts.
[PetalMessage]:Jen, I'm on my way. Let the front know you'll be expecting me.
Nosferatu, I'm ready for your guess whenever you're ready to make it. Well, sort of. It is a limited time offer.
Being certain to take a circuitus route as he returned to the hospital, he tumbled effortlessly through the falling shadows, this movements an ode to the city, flapping leather, scraping concrete and clanking steel blending into an nearly seamless chorus.
I never dreamed I'd see the city from this angle. Ugly as this city can be, it does have it's own special charm.
Almost peaceful even.
Only a matter of time before someone ruins that.
Pausing, he crouched upon the edge of an office buildings roof like a gargoyle swathed in shadows and guttering flames as the last of the suns light was swallowed by the horizon.
The most opportune time to strike as well. We're all still disorganized, attempting to get our bearings, even days after the event. Not as distressed as we were on day one, but still not ready to deal with a true catastrophy.
I wonder if anyone else realizes this?
For now, it's all reactionary, dealing with the issues as they come up. Fires, empowered insects, cheating bottom-feeders. Just a matter of time before the other badguy boot of doom drops...and I'm hoping that's later rather than sooner.
In the meantime though, time to do some damage control.
Tipping his weight forward, he lept from his perch, enjoying the sensation of freefall, catching himself at the last second on a lampost and traversing the remainder of the block in that fashion.
Sweeping into the hospital lobby, his lower jaw once again concealed by his self imposed mask, he said "I am here to see the Neo-Sapien known as Nurse Jen. Please inform her of my arrival."
Oblivion
Though a bit non-plussed at the term Neo-Sapien, which she does not recognize, the desk nurse indeed buzzes for Jen, who appears almost before the button sounds. Chipper as ever, she looks you over (very) quickly before asking It’s…Oblivion, right? Well, glad to see you here. I assume you heard what I told Nosferatu and are here to help? Just go ahead and follow me; I’ll fill you in on the way. She leads the way back to the wing they’re using for ‘those affected by the explosion’, or ‘the affected’, as the polite term seems to be around the hospital. We’ve been able to do very little except react; super speed doesn’t work on paperwork and bureaucracies, unfortunately, so they’re still trying to work out more permanent options. I mean more permanent care facilities, of course: there’s only so much you can do for a patient who exudes corrosive acid from every pore if you don’t have a bed that he can’t melt through. So far, Mr. Forthwind’s generous donation has been covering costs quite adequately, but we’ve been burning through it at a rate that can’t last much more than a few weeks. So, the problem cases. Like I said, we’ve little time to do anything more than react, and while they publicize the free testing, the doctors still can’t analyze what power someone is likely to have just from DNA or blood samples. We can test powers in mundane ways quite well – testing reflexes, quantifying strength, etc. But some patients don’t have powers that are easy to classify, and some certainly have more powers than they’re aware of. The real problems are the poltergeists – patients with unclassified powers that cause incidents, and may not even be aware of what they’re doing. After a few staff got injured investigating those, they’ve left them to me, but super speed can’t solve everything.
But listen to me babble – surely you had some idea before you came what your skills were and what you might be able to help with. Aside from your…ehm, unusual appearance, how had you planned on helping out?
Pulse/Reaper
Going through the crawl space, you detect no immediate conversation or electronic blocking, but then, with the meeting an hour away, that’s not particularly surprising to you. Your electromagnetic senses don’t work as well in this duct-and-wire-filled space, but your hearing remains excellent, and you do eventually detect people moving around below.
SpoilerBased on the blueprint, this back area seems mainly to be a series of what were originally storage rooms. They all open onto a main hallway which leads to a loading dock, though the hallway itself makes several turns, and some of the rooms open directly into each other, so while there is a centralized layout, there’s more than one way to get most places in this back area. The other end of the hallway ends in a smaller storage room that’s right behind the main bar area (aka the least likely place for some drunk kid to “accidentally” be able to get into the booze storage room). Again, no telling how good the blueprints are 15 years later; 1337 seemed surprised that he couldn't find better ones. The people you hear moving around are in the main hallway; after a little waiting and listening, you determine that they’re mostly walking up and down the main hall, occasionally stepping into side rooms.
You rolled really well on your Listen check, and you’re somewhat aware IC that there is enough stuff in your way that you’ll need to get closer to hear anything useful once actual conversation starts. Also, the crawl space is not completely consistent and does not go above every room. Also, Pulse’s high Int allows him to “overlay” what he knows of the blueprints and figure out about which room he’s over pretty accurately, but Reaper might have a little more (like the rest of us) translating what he heard about the layout of rooms into an internal map.
Tasha
The officer turns back toward you, and speaks in a softer tone. Ma’am, it’s not my business to believe you or not, just take down your story and write the report. What you’ve told me makes sense and is corroborated by witnesses. And, off the record, yeah, I think you should drop it. Those cuts and bruises will heal up in a day or two, but if the media gets dragged into your life they could ruin it for a long time, and I've seen what that does to people; it's nasty.
SpoilerYou haven't told him whether or not you wanted to press charges yet, correct? PM sent.
Natasha Verraine
SpoilerNo, I haven't said yet if I'm pressing charges... intentionally. It should keep him around long enough for me to sift through his brain a bit.
You really think so...? She'll say, defeated, It feels like... like SOMEBODY has to say something... or he can just keep getting away with it. But... you're right. My mother is going to be mad enough about the hospital bill... and the ambulence... And oh god! If she finds out I was trying to meet a mutant, she's going to kill me!
The Reaper
The Reaper has been silent for the past few minutes. Now, however, he petals Pulse, <Any ideas on which room the meeting will be in? I've been trying to think of a way to tell, but I don't have any ideas. I'll try using my sadow sense to figure out which rooms are lit and which aren't, but I'm not sure how much that'll help. I can probably count the shadows in a lit room, but I couldn't tell a chair from a person. Wait! If the meeting room's already lit, then I can check for the shadows of a table and chairs. They aren't going to have a meeting standing. It's a long shot, but it can't hurt to try.> He extends his shadow sense as far as he can, searching rooms for anything that might be a table or chairs.
Spoiler
It hinges on the meeting room already being lit, but that's a distinct possibility, and with a bit of concentration, the Reaper should be able to find the shadows of the meeting room furniture, or at least shadows the approximate size of a table and chairs.
Pulse
Pulse makes his best guess as to which room will probably be used for the meeting.
Let's try this one.
Kid Zeus
"I think a mix is our best bet. You take the air, I'll stake out the ground. You're a lot less noticeable when you fly than I am. I'm like a flying lightbulb filament, there's no way I could sneak up on anyone that way. So let's have a best guess at a target...maybe the other jewelry store a few blocks over that hasn't been hit yet. I'll camp out on the roof across the street and you do some fly-by's once it gets dark. That way if you see anything going on at another location you can petal me." Kid Zeus pitched to Nosferatu. It was the best plan he could think of. He was still pretty new at this and really didn't have a better option at this point.
Tasha
Officer Williams comes up to the bed and pats you lightly on the shoulder (John has left by this point, btw). It’s all right, ma’am – we don’t call parents unless you’re under 18, so if she finds out why you ran into that guy…well, it won’t be our fault. Now, I do need to know whether you plan to press charges, because I need to get back to the station; it looks like things are pretty settled down here.
SpoilerSense Motive-ish information: Yeah, he’s deliberately not responding to your first question, since he feels like you’ve asked variants on the same thing a few times now, and that he’s already answered the best he can. So he’s just moving on, thank you ma’am and if you’re all done we’ll be in touch, etc. Also, just in case you leave the hospital in your next post, be aware that Oblivion just arrived, and there’s an okay chance you might run into each other. If you want to, you can just say it happens, and if you don’t want it to…I’ll probably roll a small percentage die to see if it happens (if only because the possibilities of the Tasha-Draven-Jack triangle are just too funny at this point).
Pulse/Reaper
SpoilerPulse: You roll…a 1 on your first Int check. Ooooops. :P You made the DC on your fifth try…I’m afraid the d20 wasn’t kind to you.
Reaper: Creativity is usually rewarded, and given that you did quite well on the ad hoc rolls I assigned to the task, I think that’ll work fine. To clarify in case of future (ab)use, you’re pretty much getting an idea of how many shadows there are, which would fit you, and piecing that knowledge together pretty competently.
Pulse decides first to check the room closest to the main dance floor, thinking that starting at one end and working towards another will be the most thorough way. Four rooms and five minutes later, they’ve found nothing, when finally Pulse has a bit of an insight. If they’re at all worried about security at these meetings, especially knowing that there are mutates these days, they’ll probably choose a room with few entrance points, no matter the size. Since almost all the rooms the crawl space goes over have a ceiling grate, that probably rules them out. Consulting your memory of the blueprint, looking around, and remembering where you’ve been, that leaves three rooms in this back area. One is just to the side of the storage room behind the bar, and across the hall from it. One is one of the larger rooms, in between two rooms you’ve already passed and determined that they hold nothing but lots of what are likely crates or storage containers. The third is a few doors down from the entrance at the loading dock. All have three entrances; one to the hallway and two more to rooms on either side. (Any of this info that you can’t remember, 1337 fills you in on, since it’s kinda a lot) You can’t get close enough to any of them for Reaper to sense the shadows, since the crawl space doesn’t go over them.
((Yeah, the back area's quickly becoming like a rabbit warren. I envision it somewhat like the back area that Brad Pitt and tech guy sneak into in Ocean's Eleven.))
Kid Zeus/Nos
SpoilerThat plan sounds pretty fine to me. Sketch it out in a smidge more detail for me in the OoC thread, including where you two will be, and your patrol pattern, if any. You’ll need to reference the post I made earlier with the details on the establishments (though I think it was little more than their names, I’d like to make sure we’re on the same page). Once evisiron is on board, we’ll get rolling.
Judy
It is not until she's at home that Judy investigates the wallet, feeling a little shaky. Picking pockets had never really been her thing, but more importantly, she'd done something blatantly illegal in a public place.
She really couldn't keep doing that. She knew she planned to return the wallet, of course; the whole point had been to get the guy's address (and an excuse to drop by at the same time). That wouldn't have been very convincing if she'd been caught. She had a record... she'd have been taken in... they probably would have found out about what had happened to her, too. Judy had no idea what the policy regarding mutant criminals were, but she was pretty sure they wouldn't be anywhere near as lenient as they'd been with the madman who gave himself up and TV. The whole business with the Reaper had been a publicity stunt; she was surprised nobody had tried to sue the mayor over taking on the role of judge, jury, and pardoner. Popular as he was, not everybody liked him in office.
And this is why it was never my thing, she thinks as she glances over the cash. High risk, low rewards.
Well, at least she had something to do tonight. It was convenient to have more time to keep her place clean and do the chores, but it wasn't much fun. In fact, she learns when she checks her messages, she had two things to do tonight. She sends a quick reply—Sure—back to Nerros.
She waits until about five, close enough to evening that he'd probably be home, and sets out for the address given. Once again, she's walking; she has more time than she knows what to do with, and not nearly enough money. It is a relief to be out of the house, even though staying at home with herself wasn't giving her the almost nauseating sensations it had at first. It was starting to feel surprisingly normal, in fact, which bothered her whenever she realized it was happening.
Better to be in three places, looking out from six eyes at three different parts of the world. Still made her feel dizzy if she thought about it too much, but other than that... normal.
It's closer to six by the time Judy finds the address listed on the driver's license, and knocks on Harry Crawford's door.
Natasha Verraine
That'll do, officer. Tasha thought to herself.
He didn't seem to know much of what she needed... but he knew someone who did. That was good enough for her. Withdrawing from the officer's mind, she resisted the urge to smile. It was getting much easier to sift through people's thoughts to find the gems of info she wanted to know. Perhaps this man was just a bit more... organized in though that most, but it suited her the same either way.
Thank you. She said in feigned relief. My mom would never understand. I... I know I messed up. It was a mistake I'm not going to do again. Ever. I guess... I won't press... anything. It would be really hard to prove, and... I don't want to get dragged into all that.
She paused a second, as if she was thinking. Probably best if he kept thinking of her as scatterbrained and foolish. She couldn't count the number of times she'd gotten away with something by playing the part of the poor, scatterbrained girl who didn't know any better. What worked on her professors seemed to work for the police as well.
Oh! I should probably get back to my dorms... I've got a test coming up I need to study for! My professor held class the day after the mutant bombing... he's not going to care if I got hurt. He'll fail me!
Tasha got out of her little bed, hastily grabbing her things as she prepared to head out. She thanked the officer one last time as she headed out... Now at least... she knew who she had to find to get the info she needed.
SpoilerI'm entirely fine with running into Oblivion. It HAS been a while since I've seen my boy. Not that I can really explain things at the moment without looking REALLY suspicious. Still... I like having excuses to use my +16 in bluff! :smallbiggrin:
Pulse
After informing Reaper of his thoughts via petalphone, he glides out of the crawlspace, back on to the roof. He will relock the padlock on the entrance and reboard his glider... taking to the air straight up, to avoid anyone in the building spotting him. Then he will drift toward the back of the building, seeing if he can figure out where the three rooms are, if there is back alley access to any of them (or at least vents leading back there, because a room with no vents makes no sense).
Oblivion
Falling immediately into step with Jen and nodding understandingly as she related the woes of being an Empowered hospital worker, he stiffened a bit as she asked the seemingly innocuous question of how he planned on helping.
That question again. It would seem that possessing NS abilities that aren't incredibly obvious produces the side effect of making everyone extremely curious about what exactly they are.
But I don't think she's trying to pry, just to get a handle on how best to utilize a new resource.
As she said, money and super-speed can only go so far.
Not that that helps me in the least with my present conundrum of privacy vs. incredible opportunity.
His thought process accelerated as he considered various possible responses and their potential outcomes, finally deciding upon one.
Looking over at the comely nurse he said "I find it interesting that you mentioned bureaucracies...
As I'm sure you recall, I am one of those who opposes registration. Without becoming overly verbose, I simply believe that it is the Governments job to do what they can to protect my right to privacy. The fact that I have been involved in a tragic chemical accident should only increase their vigilance in regard to that imperative.
It is my belief that you understand this. It is my sincere hope that we have an understanding."
Observing carefully the incredibly fast woman’s movements and reactions to what he was saying, he continued in an even and casual tone, "That being said, I believe that I may be the single most qualified Neo-Sapien, or, if you prefer, 'effected', to assist you in dealing with your particular situation.
I offer a painless, noninvasive solution to not only assisting your more difficult and dangerous patients, but also helping them discover and understand their full potential.
All I ask is that you give me your word as a health care professional and a woman of character that you will do everything in your power to protect my privacy to the best of your abilities."
"Do we have an agreement?" he said, stopping and extending his gloved hand to her while looking Jen squarely in the eyes as he did so.
Focused as he was on determining the degree of honest with which Jen was dealing with him, the police officer that emerged from the room down the hall and walked, with only a single suspicious glance in his direction, out into the lobby went barely noticed.
In the back of his mind though, the sound of the voice that emerged from the room in the officers wake, for some reason caught his ear.
SpoilerBA is asking for a little more time to post her next action, so I'm taking my time hashing things out with Jen.
Although I don't see any reason why she wouldn't deal straight with Oblivion, he's is something of a cynical bastard. Not to mention that, in a city full of people capable of virtually anything, the old saying "you just can't be too careful" applies in spades.
Sense Motive roll, if it helps: [roll0]
Natasha Verraine
God... this place is just full of mutants... Mutates? Whatever. Tasha thought to herself as she gathered her things.
Over the din of the hospital at it's busiest, she could have sworn she heard a voice she recognized. Not giving it much heed, she grabbed her purse and headed out into the hall, hoping they didn't give her much hassle in getting out of here.
She stepped out into the hall... and nearly right into Draven. Mere feet from him, she stood for a second, eyes wide. He was with some nurse that looked familiar from the mutant get-together. Draven was in full form, shadows and assorted black things concealing his face, but she knew better. Reacting to it... however...
Buh... um.... She stuttered for a second.
CRAP! Why is he here? Does he know I got hurt? She thought, mind racing, No, that's dumb. He'd have come without the get-up.
She focused for a second... trying to find Draven's familiar mind amidst the horde of voices and thoughts filling the hospital. THERE! Familiar blackness. For a boy who spoke as much as he liked to, he had a deceptively quiet mind.
Draven! I can't explain now, but you don't know me! She sent the thoughts into his head... her "voice" filling his mind panickedly. I could get in a lot of trouble!
Er... h-hi. She muttered, hoping her shock was mistaken for the usual reaction to his rather unsettling appearance. Who are... you?
Alex
(Every time I go to post, the forum or my internet decides to hiccup. *sigh*)
Alex smirks some at the choices and only takes a second or two to think. "Death, of course. If we are arguing a truly free market, then Taxes could not survive as they impeach on our freedom to keep what money we earn. If not, then Death still get ahead because people dodge Taxes and always pay less than they should, but nothing can keep the Reaper from collecting his due.
"That is, unless one of you guys has a key to the Fountain of Youth that you want to share with me." The smirk on his face grows wider. A little back and forth like this would do wonders to clear his mind from the whole villain thing he had been doing the last couple days. Just another clichéd corporate evil type...that's me. This time, though, it will be done right. I swear it.
Helping himself to some of the chips, he ***** his head to one side. "I know you said this is a friendly game, Ben, but what stakes are we playing tonight?"