Deathknell Chronicles IC, Chapter 1: Eyes Open

[Worlok]

Team Warehouse: Faruq

"Thanks, man. So, Greggy 'n' me gotta roll, I guess." And roll they did, Faruq only pausing near Erica: "'n', ya know, I been thinkin', his English is dodgy as it is, but if ya could tell him to translate fo' me while I'm in there, I'd be much obliged." And after she would do so (or not), he would march to the warehouse, Greg up front, he in the rear, popping some Presence for a decent first impression as he went.

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Charisma+Performance for Awe: (5d10)[10][10][8][4][2](34) Shame I ain't got no specialty.

Naturally, something bad happened, and they were greeted by the muzzles of nasty guns. But nevermind, he was Faruq, and even if they'd fire, Greg would catch the majority of the bullets. No, this was a time to play it cool: "Privyet, comradskis," he began, mockingly intoning what little "Russian" he actually knew, marching Greg inside without any perceivable care in the world, "I'd suggest ya hold fire. Greggy here sure wou'n't like it if ya di'n't, 'n' I, myself, am straight-up friggin' wired to a bomb." Having made their way into the middle of the room, just far enough from the crates to not provoke any cute ideas on the mens' part, he turned around to adress them properly, circling Greg in the process - with the switch clearly visibly the whole time, as he held it up. The guy up there that was looking at him might be useful later, but for the time being, he would have to make do with the threat he, Faruq, represented on his own. "I let go a' dis wee wanker here, all a' yer jigs go up in smoke. Got that?"

He enjoyed the spotlight, to be frank - Raising the switch a little higher so as to underscore his point, and then taking a moment to gauge the reactions of those present, he proceeded:

"So, what I'm here to tell ya is the followin': The gig is off. You're found out, that thing in two days? Ain't gonna happen. So you best listen up, 'n' let me tell ya you got exactly one way o' survivin', 'n' that's gettin' everyone here in this warehouse right here, right now. Yer boss, those two guys out front, everyone. Any questions?"

[daelrog]

Team Warehouse

One of the Russians above Faruq calls out, and the two guards from the front come in. Soon, all of them are within sight of Faruq, though a few of them are looking over their shoulders constantly to see if someone else is coming. One of them on the ground floor, apparently the head thug of the bunch speaks in broken English. "Who are you? Some kind of comedian? You no cop. Cops have badges, sirens, not bombs."

If Amy glances back she can see Iris slip into the warehouse quietly, moving off to the side.

The Coffee Man

Rick notices the girl's shoulders slump, and she grows relaxed, to the point that her knees wobble and she looks like she could take a nap. She shakes her head lazily. "Nah. I don't really know him. I think I know who you're talking about, maybe seen the guy once or twice but that's it. Dating some Hispanic girl. Heard she dropped out. So what? He has some gambling debts or something?" She's looking more for gossip than information Rick can see.

Damsel in Distress

Detective Harry O'Fallen laughs. The monster also laughs. "I asked for a sacrifice, and you ask for my help. Close, but not what I'm looking for." He eyes Danielle hungrily, like a starved dog looking at a piece of steak. "You don't get it yet, do you? Desmund started off as a good ol' boy. Talked to me. Big sad story about all the things he wanted to do, all the promise that he had, all taken away by the blood suckers. Let him go. Only ate a finger. Turned out I should have bit off that good looking head o' his."

He pointed his finger away from Danielle. "Go. If ye can't make a sacrifice, ye don't get to enter the golden gates o' knowledge."

[dancrilis]

Danielle

"Preemptive justice prior to a crime would result in a society tearing itself apart in defense of potentially imagined future slights", she stated flatly at his words regarding how he should have killed Desmund - although perhaps he was right, perhaps he was right in all vampires.

She had wasted his time, wasted her time, failed to get anything meaningful from him, and explained an overview of a plan that he could now mess up when he felt like ... but hey both arms and her weak illusion of humanity maintained, it somehow didn't feel like a win.

But no point in burning a wobbly poorly kept bridge, "I'll stay away from the university, hospital, the Main Street Market. Barring emergency - which I suspect you won't accept as a reason" she shrugged, same deal as Gregor - she would try to stay away at least.

"Goodbye Mr. O'Fallen, sorry for wasting your time", she turned to leave and stopped, "if I change my mind or have something you might be interested in that I am willing to part with, how do I find you without you thinking I am coming to cause you trouble?", the last thing she needed was to decide to trade and for him to kill her out of hand cause she was in his area.

[Worlok]

Faruq

As if not believing that he had been asked that, Faruq let a laugh slip, before countering the question with a question of his own: "Who I am? Who I am? Did you just seriously ask me that?" Laughing some more as he took a few steps forward and made eye contact with this apparent head-thug, the young Arab realised that this was the point to make them bow: "I'm the guy who's gonna get your asses outta this alive, if you cooperate. I'm with some peeps that are pissed off at some other peeps you pissed off, 'n' the enemy of ya enemy - I mean, ya know the drill. 'n' dis bomb right here, it's a sortay life assurance fer tha lotta you. In that I don't really care whether you bite it, but my dudes got a vested interest in getting your dudes outta this. Alive, and wi' their conscious intact if you can." This was the core of the issue: He could not let them get the impression that he was weaker than them - by playing their own survival instincts, he could get this whole thing done much more easily. "Thing is, I'm not a cop. I'm a guy with a bomb on his ass, 'n' a chip on his shoulder, 'n' one more such piece-a-**** question outta your mouth, you done for. Got it?" That one would hopefully sit. "Now, what yer gonna be doin' is the followin' - you gonna line up in teams ay two. Every team gets one a' those crates, moves 'em outside. There's a buncha peeps there, mostly damn fine chickies. They'll tell ya whatta do next. Mind though - one team after the other. I see more than two peeps movin' outta that door right there, I reckon my trick finger might go slippin'." And to illustrate the point, he looked at his very own dead man's switch, shrugging as he did so and glancing about in a manner that seemed almost amused, if understandably in the most terrifying way. "You actually lucky that it di'n't do that yet. So you best get to it!"

[Dark Seeker]

Rick

Rick suppresses a groan. The girl was little help. Though anything was better than nothing.

"Thanks for your help. Keep the change. And no, nothing like that. I'm a friend of the family."

He leaves without waiting for a response, deciding to return to Danielle and ensure Harry's not killed her.

[Thundercracker]

Erica moved closer to the door, to better listen in on the conversation.

[daelrog]

Danielle and Rick

"Oh... oh! Okay, I see." The girl sounds embarrassed as Rick leaves, having thought worse of him, and believing his story. There'd be talk around the university of Desmund's family looking for him the next morning for sure.

Danielle heard Harry's perfect whistling, a sad tune that sounded like a requiem, as he walked away, going into the university grounds.

Rick found Danielle by the car. It was getting late, and the sun would be up in another hour.


Warehouse

The thugs understood enough, a few Russian words spoken from a couple of them, letting the less fluent members know what was going on. Faruq wasn't a cop, was working for someone not happy with them, and he didn't want any more questions. It seemed to be working. Nervous looks around, and no one saying anything at first.

However, not everyone was willing to file out obediently. One of the men above starting shouting loud in Russian, pointing his rifle at Little Greg and Faruq. It didn't take a genius to guess that the man was suggesting to just shoot him.

[dancrilis]

Danielle and Rick

So no answer on contacting him other then the sound of a requiem - was that the answer, come back and I will kill you, or was it pity someone died ... and guess what it was you or it could be Jackal is after you so your dead soon or a few dozen other meanings that raced through her head.

She appreciated that the message was subtle, to bad she had no idea of what the message was underneath the subtlety.

Returning to car she waited for Rick, "sorry from dragging you here - no luck on the Desmund front, other then that we can rule out the university, the hospital and the main street market - and we should avoid them ourselves also. Harry has effective domain there", she had wanted more from the place but the sun was a worry, "any luck on your front?".

[Worlok]

Faruq

Well, eff that, bro. You're gonna- "DROP THAT GUN!" Faruq barked, all command and menace for a moment, before continuing to adress the crowd: "And now get to it, gentlemen," being all calm and charming-like on that second one. Only then did it occur to him that he had finally utilised Dominate - he actually had not had occasion to really see that one in action, but all that talk of Erica's had gotten him thinking, and at least the part where he would not get shot appealed to him. Funny how natural that could feel, remembering how very appalling the notion had seemed what curiously felt like a whole week ago.

But then I'd see Fortitude in action. Get that: You take a full load, keep on standing, and then Dominate him all "Cut it out"-style and relaxed... No, I should think of the plan. But I'll definitely have to do that -sometime-. And we know he would, don't we, now?

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(7d10)[10][3][3][10][10][7][2](45) for a nice Command. Intimidation, right?

[Thundercracker]

Erica waited by the front door, growing more tense as the shouting increased. She willed blood into her limbs, just in case it came down to a firefight.

Don't go in at the first shot, wait for little greg to fire...

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dropping three blood into dexterity and one into stamina.

[Dark Seeker]

Rick and Danielle

Rick nods at Danielle as he approaches. He's become somewhat fond of the kid, not that he'd ever tell her that.

"Good to see you're still alive. Harry is not one to be trifled with. I have a...history with him." He does not elaborate.

"As for Desmond, I didn't find out much. Heard that he's dating some Hispanic girl who dropped out. Probably one of his ghouls, another life he's ruined. If I could access the college records I might be able to find out her identity, but that's likely beyond my power. So it looks like we've hit a dead end." he sighs, defeated.

[dancrilis]

Danielle and Rick

Thinking about it "I would say a corpse ... first failed attempt at a childe" romantic in a sicko bittersweet serial killer way we can be together forever, no wait your dead ... can't possible be my fault. I shall blame society, considering, she really needed to stop with the random stories and focus on the known facts.

"Hmm ... we might have something to go on. If she was the first victim ... or if she dropped of the radar to serve him as a ghoul then her family will likely be looking for her ... college student likely means not estranged", how else would someone afford it.

"I know some missing people groups, if I can get a list of all those missing in the last say two months and last sighting - and if they were found again - we might be able to ... " she was drawing a blank "I don't know setup some pattern of behavior-location thing and maybe narrow the search".

Her shoulders slumped "sorry sounded better in my head - and on TV, I'm not really sure if behavioral analysis to determine which of the victims are likely his or a triangulation based on that would even be possible, to throw up something useful", she was likely grasping at straws here.

She sighed "sorry to be asking for favours, could I get a like back to around my place" she would give a rough address but not exact, a block over where she could be dropped off - she thought the man was alright but the less people that knew where she lived exactly the better, "actually would that leave you enough time to get back to wherever you need to go?", she could get a taxi she supposed.

[daelrog]

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All right, my being busy is almost over. Hopefully this night will be concluded by the weekend.

Warehouse

The gun clatters on the ramparts. Most of the men, including the supposedly leader start to move as instructed, the other two, both who had been protecting the front start shouting, fear evident in their voices. Even a dullard can see that not everything is natural here.

Erica can hear the faint sound of a phone ringing where Al is, but she seems not to be responding.

The sounds of boots on metal is heard as one of the two men above starts climbing down the ladder like a good soldier, the other still fixed in place, not understanding why he dropped the gun. A bead of sweat builds on Little Greg's face, his eyes struck with horror at not being able to control his body.

Things could still erupt any second, but the tide is going the way of the kindred.

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So, there's a couple thugs still not being influenced right now. They're scared and on edge, but not attacking yet. Might be a good time for the others to deal with them however they choose.

[Thundercracker]

Erica

Erica sighed internally.

Bad idea from the start...

She flipped the safety on and shoved the gun in the waistband of her jeans, at the small of her back, then stepped around to the front of the building and opened the front door, knocking as she did so.

"Excuse me," she said politely.

As soon as one of them looked at her, she attempted to dominate him.

"Do as the Arab says," she said, "help the others take the drugs out back, then wait by the back door."

Quickly, Erica turned to the other.

"Hey," she said, to get his attention back if he started looking at the other, "you should go help the others take the drugs out back too, then wait by the back door."

She then waited by the front door, ready to duck back outside if bullets started flying.

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mesmerize: (8d10)[4][10][5][10][7][2][8][5](51) + whatever for enchanting voice.
mesmerize: (8d10)[4][4][8][1][6][8][2][6](39) + whatever for enchanting voice.

[Dark Seeker]

Rick and Danielle

"That makes sense. But wait a minute... Remember what Joey said? Mercedes Mon... Monterae, yeah, something like that. She mentioned that was Desmond's childe. This girl might be one and the same. Maybe I can dig up an address for her. If we can find her, she can lead us to Desmond, willing or unwillingly. Yeah, let me make some calls to my friend on the force, see if he can dig anything up for me. But do check out the missing person's information, just in case."

Rick looks up at the sky. "Is pretty late though. Sure, I can take you home. Or the ghoul can, rather. I gave you my number, right? Call me if you need to. It's a cellular phone, so I should be able to pick up right away."

Rick walks Danielle back to the waiting car, allowing her to direct the ghoul to wherever she needs to go. After that, he'll head back to the chantry, making plans to call his cop friend Trevor either tonight or tomorrow.

[daelrog]

Warehouse

Erica dominates the first successfully. The second, and last thug not under the kindred's sway has his gun ready to fire, but pauses for a moment. If Erica had been an armed thug herself, she would have been shot, but a nice looking, young woman in a suit makes the man pause just enough for her eyes to meet his as well, and for her words to sink in.With all the thugs either dominated, or under presence, they eventually shuffle out, though it takes a few more minutes to get the last guard up in the ramparts to come down. They go outside where Al is waiting for them.

"Good." It's not much of a compliment given all they've accomplished, but then again, the Sheriff doesn't seem like the type to give compliments often. "What comes next?"

Iris soon comes out from the warehouse as well.

Rick and Danielle

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Anything else either of you want before we call it a night?

[Strawberries]

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Where are the crates with the drugs? Outside as well, I presume?

Amy waits till everyone has got out of the warehouse, then exits as well, but stays near the back door. Now? Now we make Yuri regret that he's ever born, she thinks grimly to herself. I want to see the friggin' bastard behind BARS. She doesn't say anything yet, though. At the moment, better that people with the right Disciplines do the talking.

[daelrog]

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No, the crates are still inside. The orders were for the thugs to march out, not to carry the goods with them. Since no one else is around, the drugs are just as safe inside the warehouse as they are outside at this point.

[Strawberries]

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Really? I thought Faruq had told them to bring the drugs out with them. Okay, in that case, she's DEFINITELY not dropping Obfuscate, then. Good thing I didn't have her speak.

[daelrog]

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Ah, never mind. Good catch. The drugs are now outside. That's what happens when the scene takes a long time real life, forget the small things.

[Dark Seeker]

Rick

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If Rick has time left in the evening, he'll try to find an address or phone number for Mercedes in the white pages. I imagine this will take the rest of the evening, so he'll save calling his cop contact until tomorrow, if necessary.

[Worlok]

Faruq

"What happens next?" Riding on the sheer elation of having successfully utilised Dominate and survived a stand-off with the Russian mob, it wasn't hard for Faruq to seem calm and jovial, and he figured that would do him good in his next endeavor: "What happens next depends on three things, bein' firs'ly, whether there's a phone in the vicinity, secondly, whether I can get - 'n' trust - yer word that noone's gonna touch my new stashay cocaine while I'm a-phonin', 'n' thirdly, whatever the lotta you got planned for our Russian friends 'round here." As far as he was concerned, he had gone in, succeeded, claimed some loot in the process, and now held several bartering chips of tremendous worth. But he would not have been Faruq if he hadn't had at least a bit of diligence: "As for what's happenin' right now, though, comrades-" and here, he adressed the mobster crowd again, having not taken his finger off of the dead man's switch: "You gonna go along wi' all the leadsay my colleagues, or else I'll guarantee this Eastern Bloc party ay ours is gonna be the bomb. Remember, everyone, I'm watchin' ya." Best not do drop the act, though. "Speakin' of, once this is done, I would appreciate someone defusin' this."

[JonRG]

Andrew

"Well, we can just lay out their options. Yuri's gonna have them all killed for this. They can try and run, but given the competence they've shown, that'll never work. Or they can get a little help from Uncle Sam in exchange for their testimony. I'll need the phone after Faruq and somebody who can translate into Russian for the ones that don't speak English." Andrew looked to Erica. "Think one of the guys you've persuaded can translate?" He looked to the nervous crowd of mobsters. "Look into that. I suppose I'll start this off with whoever can understand." He shouldered the rifle and stepped to the fore. "Privyet, fellas. My comrade can be a little... insane, but I'd rather not hurt you... unless I have to. Now, the warehouse and the drugs are a lost cause, but you can still get out of this alive. Yuri will probably have you all killed, but with some evidence and testimony in the hands of the proper authorities, you won't have to worry about him ever again. I truly hope you say yes. Otherwise, my work here's done, and that leaves you with my Arab comrade who won't be so friendly." Andrew grinned.

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Using Awe with a dash of EV, or Andy's Appearance-based variant.

Charisma+Performance: (7d10)[8][9][1][9][6][9][8](50)+1 WP

[daelrog]

The men are drawn to Andy's words, even those that don't understand him. A loud banging sound as one of them drops a heavy wrench he was hiding close to his person. To say they were looking at Andy like he was a leader amongst men would not be accurately. No, they appeared as gawking puppets.

"Al..." Iris's voice cut through the moment, though none of the Russians seemed to notice.

"It's a good plan, but none of these men will live long enough to testify. The city's already tried to deal with Yuri through legal means. The witnesses die. The court is bribed. The world moves on. Best you could is use them to turn over some of the middle men, maybe." Al looked across the men they had collected, not impressed by the thugs to make any offer to assist them. She then looked at the fledglings, scanning their auras. "Do with the drugs, and the kine as you wish, though preserve the masquerade."

Iris spoke to Erica mainly, but anyone could here. "Legal system here doesn't work like it claims, else half the kindred of the city would've been caught and arrested by now."

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Darn you, Nyarai. One of the last men dominated by Erica only had one success. He was lucid again and was going to attack one of the monsters with a wrench (rolled randomly).

I'm not familiar with illegal drugs, I'm not afraid to admit. Let's say there's 1.5 million worth of it, taking into account it being the early 90s. Don't know how much that is, and it's not important.

Feel free to use the thugs as you will. Only thing Al and Iris will object to is letting them simply go after being dominated and having presence used against them quite heavily. I will say now going to legal route won't work. Corrupt World of Darkness and all. Yuri's end (if it comes) will be at the hands of the characters.

[Thundercracker]

Erica

"Send them through the warehouse one at a time," Erica said softly, "a SWAT van rolled up but they saw it coming, and ran away... I'll make sure they stay safe."

The second line was more for the Russians' benefit. They could still break free and start shooting.

She looked at her watch again, then stepped into the distillery.

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the plan is to forgetful mind them one at a time, then dominate them to tell me what happened to test, then send them walking out the opposite door and walk until dawn. I'm going to say they saw a SWAT van roll up, and they ran. Any thoughts? Daelrog, do you want me to roll everything in ooc? Have we settled on the effects for enchanting voice?

[daelrog]

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Final ruling on Enchanting Voice: +2 dice to the roll. Also note that enchanting voice is not appropriate for every situation. Seduction, definitely. Coercion, probably. Interrogation, so long as they're playing the talks nice but doesn't match the actions approach. Yelling at someone out of anger, no. In this case enchanting voice is fine.

Yeah, there's seven guys total. You'll have to roll twice for each, best do it in the OOC. We'll take a look at what the results are, though if Erica botches or fails a couple of them, she may not know it herself. You may want to wait just a little bit as well in case any of the players object or have anything to add.

[JonRG]

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Yeah, I object rather strenuously. I worked so frickin' hard to win these dudes over without bloodshed. I'd rather not just have them released back into the wild with no memory of us.

TC, I get that you're tired of this scene, but I'd rather not throw a bunch of guys with useful information knocking around in their heads to the wolves so soon.

(Also, I edited some comments into my OOC post. I'm a bit grumpy at the moment, as it were. Sorry. I'll get some sleep and look at this again tomorrow.)

[Strawberries]

WHAT? No friggin' WAY. Amy thinks to herself, just a second before stepping out and effectively blocking Erica's way into the distillery. Obfuscate be damned.

"Now you both wait just ONE friggin' minute" oh, yeah, it feels liberating to swear at both Al Rowe, Iris and Erica at the same time. She hadn't realised how angry she was. "Al-friggin'-Capone was nailed for TAX EVASION. I've seen that damn movie. We've got seven witness and a crate full of evidences here, and you're telling me it's not enough to nail Yuri?"

Like hell it's not. Al had some other reason to the side, of that Amy is quite sure. And Erica is complying for some reason she doesn't know about. "And what, we're just letting those guys walk scot free? After all the damn trouble we went through?"

[Thundercracker]

Erica

Erica's expression hardened for a split-second before she went into debate mode.

"First, this isn't a movie," she said.

"Second, I intend to not have ever been here tonight, which means none of these guys can remember it," she said, "not everyone can change their face as easily as others, and because unlike some people, I don't like mob bosses thinking I took their stuff."

"Third, you seem to have forgotten that certain people have need of cash, and they find it difficult to earn legitimately, which means they have need of Yuri, or people like him. These same people could destroy him tonight if they chose, but have not done so, which leads me to believe that even if we were to succeed, and Yuri was out of the picture, he would be replaced, and nothing will have changed," she said.

"Fourth, and most importantly, even if we manage to convince these guys its in their best interests to snitch, we still can't let them go without me, because now they're walking masquerade breaches," she said, with a glance to Al, "That means its up to me to be able to make sure they hold up under questioning, as they go over and over tonight 'down at the station' or wherever. And if they don't hold up, it's my fault, and I have to take the responsibility, which means what you're really asking is for me to risk my life for this plan."

Erica sighed.

"Look, I hate all the crime just as much as you do, but until we no longer need people like him, and them," she said, gesturing to the thugs, "it's just going to be one big, long, circle, and we're gonna go 'round and 'round until we end up going down the drain," she said, "I promise to help you take Yuri down, when the time is right. I'm just not convinced that time is now."

She looked at her watch again.

"Not yet, anyway," she added.

[dancrilis]

Danielle and Rick

"Mercy, yea", she thought about it "don't know if she was ever said to be a childe but probably alright ... I doubt she is the girlfriend" man kills girlfriend while trying to give her eternal life and then goes nuts seemed more likely then man succeeded and then went nuts, she shrugged what did she know really.

Cell phone fancy, "cheers I will let you know if I note anything", she gave the driver a street address near to where she wanted to go but with enough space that finding her might be a bit of trouble.

During the trip, she thought about the night "Rick ... " she had caught Joey before she could escape, had brought them to the anarchs, then to the university, all of which might be useful, meanwhile Rick had actually convinced Joey to play along, had got the anarchs help and had turned up something potentially useful at the university "you mentioned at the start of the night that you more or less wanted to impress your clan" noting the ghoul "I hope that they are impressed by everything you did from getting the girl to handling the plans ... I am at the least for what it is worth", she really wanted him to take credit for everything, the less competent any vampires thought she was the likely better for her "happy I could maybe help a bit" she didn't want them thinking she was a liability though.

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Not sure I should roll for getting her message across to Rick, without letting the ghoul pick up on her passing up what she feels is her credit.

Danielle is more or less done for tonight baring any more conversation with Rick and a final thoughts going to sleep piece.