The Shadow In The Warp - Dark Heresy [IC]

[LCP]

T&T

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Larkin took a seat as she was told, although she still seemed frightened of her two questioners. When asked if she would like tea, she mutely shook her head. When Tauron began to ask her questions, she answered in a tiny, terrified voice.

"How long have you worked for Octavian Rhodes?"

"Only two years, sir,"

"When was the last time you saw Mr Rhodes? Or any other member of his family?"

"Last time I saw the master was just before he left for his holiday, sir. Didn't know where, but it was after that that the..." - she swallowed - "...the authorities came an' sealed everything up."

"Did you have full run of the house? You cleaned and did laundry, you say. Were you responsible for the entire house? Was there anywhere you were not permitted to go?"

Larkin scrunched her eyes closed, trying to think.

"I - I - we weren't to go to the top floor, sir. Mr Aubrey saw to those rooms himself." She paused. "That was where the master used to keep his wife, before the... the authorities took her away."

"Did Mr Rhodes ever entertain strange guests - was there anybody odd or unusual that stood out in your mind?"

"I don't know that I could say, sir," said the serving girl. "He always had so many friends... parliament men, and syndicate men, and ship captains and highborn ladies. They all seemed very strange to me, with such expensive clothes and all. But we weren't s'posed to stare."

"Did you ever notice Mr Rhodes say or do anything that disturbed you?"

"He never spoke to us much, sir," said Larkin, looking at her feet. "But he was always good to us. Always ready with a smile and a joke." She sounded more terrified than ever. "I wouldn't say a word against him, sir."

"Whom among the household staff was Mr Rhodes closest to?"

"Oh, Mr Aubrey, sir, by far. He's been here forever. Everything the master wanted, Mr Aubrey was the one who'd tell us."

OOC:

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Pausing here to allow Destro to chip in with questions. For the other two maids, if you want to roll Charm tests (or Intimidate, if you want to change tack) in advance, go ahead.

[Destro_Yersul]

T&T

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"If I may ask, Miss Larkin," Tychon interjected. He had been, until now, content to sit still wearing his best nonchalant expression and trying desperately not to put his feet up on something expensive. "What're you so scared of? Ain't nothin' to worry about with me an' Father Drake, here."

OOC:

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That's a pretty good list, Thragka. I think I'd add a couple things, though.

• "Did Mr. Rhodes have parties at the house, ever?" - if Yes, then Tychon wants to know where they kept the guest lists, if any were taken.
• "What can you tell us about the house?" - Big places like this, in Tychon's opinion, have a million sneaky hidey holes, and he wants to know if the servants found any of them.
• "Do you know anything about the circumstances surrounding Mrs. Rhodes' illness?"
• "Do you recall anything especially out-of-the ordinary happening in the house?"
• "What, if anything, did Mr. Rhodes change at the house when he inherited his position?"

I'll also add a charm test of my own, for one of the other maids. (1d100)[46] - Tychon's FEL score is 41, and he's got Charm trained. Tauron also has it trained. Assuming we can assist each other on these, that is a pass, with a bonus degree of success for the assist.

[LCP]

All the Ts

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"What're you so scared of? Ain't nothin' to worry about with me an' Father Drake, here."

Larkin looked as if she doubted that very much, but said nothing.

"Did Mr. Rhodes have parties at the house, ever?"

"Oh yes sir, very often. Always for his political friends, and his business friends, and his society friends." Larkin paused and gave a slightly stupid frown. "He had a lot of friends, the master. Mr Aubrey would have the lists, if they kept such things. I - I don't know."

"What can you tell us about the house?"

"It's very old, sir. Mr Aubrey told me there's parts of the house that're older than the Sector, but I don't know if that's true."

"Do you know anything about the circumstances surrounding Mrs. Rhodes' illness?"

"No sir. We weren't supposed to go up there."

"Do you recall anything especially out-of-the ordinary happening in the house?"

"No, sir. I mean, it was all out of the ordinary, sir. It'd be difficult for me to say just one thing." Larkin hesitated. "We were supposed to keep out of the way."

"What, if anything, did Mr. Rhodes change at the house when he inherited his position?"

"I - I told you, sir, I've only been here two years. The master's been here for as long as anyone round here can remember." She shook her head. "I remember my mother showed me a picture of the master shaking my grandad's hand, when he enlisted for the Guard."

Looking from Tauron to Tychon with quick, frightened eyes, she sidled out of her seat like a crab.

"If that's all, sir - sirs - I've got, um, chores to attend to, and things." She backed towards the door. "I'm sure Mr Aubrey'll be much more useful to you, he knows ever so much."

She turned and fled with such alacrity that the door banged behind her. Within a couple of minutes of her leaving, the next maid appeared. She was a taller woman, with dark hair and tanned skin that seemed to imply a past life somewhere not buried under kilometres of hive stack. She didn't seem as timorous as Larkin, either. She calmly took a seat when she was offered one, and introduced herself as Salena Blevins. There was something hard and resentful about her voice.

"How long have you worked for Octavian Rhodes?"

"One and a half years," she said, keeping her reply short and simple.

"When was the last time you saw Mr Rhodes? Or any other member of his family?"

"When he went off-world in the summer."

Did you have full run of the house?

"No, we weren't permitted to go to the top floor."

"Did Mr Rhodes ever entertain strange guests - was there anybody odd or unusual that stood out in your mind?"

Blevins shrugged.

"Everyone here is strange. Some of his friends were stranger than others... off-worlders, mostly. I think there was a rogue trader her once."

"Did you ever notice Mr Rhodes say or do anything that disturbed you?"

Blevins' impassive mask cracked; Tychon thought he saw the edge of a contemptuous smirk.

"You mean apart from lock his wife in the attic and go through a procession of mistresses?" She frowned. "I didn't like the way he treated his children, either."

"Whom among the household staff was Mr Rhodes closest to?"

"Aubrey, the butler. The man was devoted to him." Blevins shook her head. "Still is, I shouldn't wonder."

"Did Mr. Rhodes have parties at the house, ever?"

"Often enough. A lot of Commonwealth Party gatherings. Lord Rhodes was one of their big private backers, from what I've heard. Fast friends with the Lord Mayor."

"What can you tell us about the house?"

"I hate it," she said, with some force. "It's old and rotten. They should have knocked it down centuries ago and built something new."

"Do you know anything about the circumstances surrounding Mrs. Rhodes' illness?"

"She wasn't ill," she said, "she was mad. But that was before my time."

"Do you recall anything especially out-of-the ordinary happening in the house?"

Blevins shook her head. "You'll have to be more specific than that."

"What, if anything, did Mr. Rhodes change at the house when he inherited his position?"

Blevins gave a quiet laugh at 'mister' Rhodes.

"His lordship's been here much longer than I have," she said. "Not that he looks it. I doubt even old Aubrey was born when Octavian Rhodes became Lord Rhodes."

[Thragka]

T2: T Harder

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"Everyone here is strange. Some of his friends were stranger than others... off-worlders, mostly. I think there was a rogue trader her once."

"Please go on," said Tauron. "Do you recall any details about these offworlders? The Rogue Trader, in particular."

"You mean apart from lock his wife in the attic and go through a procession of mistresses?" She frowned. "I didn't like the way he treated his children, either."

Tauron adopted a disapproving look. "I must admit, Lord Rhodes' family life does not seem to be of the exemplary standard a man of his position should uphold. And there are certain ... philosophically unsound details regarding his children's education. I'd appreciate if you could clarify what you mean."

"His lordship's been here much longer than I have," she said. "Not that he looks it. I doubt even old Aubrey was born when Octavian Rhodes became Lord Rhodes."

Tauron raised an eyebrow and glanced across at Tychon. "I suppose that is not entirely surprising ... " he trailed off, before shrugging. Juvenat treatments were perhaps something he should have assumed that Rhodes had had, but it made little difference.

The cleric cleared his throat as he shuffled the notes he'd been taking. "Mr Aubrey is ... quite an odd gentleman," he added suggestively. "Do you have any idea exactly ow long he has been in Lord Rhodes' employ? The exact nature of their relationship is ... a little elusive."

[LCP]

The T Team

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"Please go on," said Tauron. "Do you recall any details about these offworlders? The Rogue Trader, in particular."

"He was a short man," said Blevins. "Van der... Hale? Van der Hakk?" She shook her head. "I don't remember much else."

Tauron adopted a disapproving look. "I must admit, Lord Rhodes' family life does not seem to be of the exemplary standard a man of his position should uphold. And there are certain ... philosophically unsound details regarding his children's education. I'd appreciate if you could clarify what you mean."

"Accelerated growth treatments," said Blevins, frankly. "The done thing among certain noble houses. Make your children grow up faster, get an heir secured sooner rather than later. Hormone injections, dietary supplements; intensive education." Blevins clearly didn't approve. She paused, as if considering what to say. "You'd think Lauressa Rhodes was a grown woman, but she was only nine when she married. That's about... seventeen, Terran standard."

The cleric cleared his throat as he shuffled the notes he'd been taking. "Mr Aubrey is ... quite an odd gentleman," he added suggestively. "Do you have any idea exactly how long he has been in Lord Rhodes' employ? The exact nature of their relationship is ... a little elusive."

"Longer than any of us," said Blevins. "As far as I can tell, his father ran the household before him, and raised him for the job. For all I know it's Aubreys all the way back."

[Destro_Yersul]

T Force

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"You mean apart from lock his wife in the attic and go through a procession of mistresses?"

"Part from that, yeah." Tychon scratched his stubble. This one was a lot more willing to talk than Larkin was. "How many children did old Rhodes have, anyhow? Ones he kept here, I mean."

[LCP]

T&T

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Blevins suddenly seemed a little defensive.

"None here," she said. "They've all moved on. But you'd see some of them coming back. Lauressa, mostly. She's married to some Ministry Spire bigwig now."

[Thanatos 51-50]

[Team Console Cowboy Tech-Priest]

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Red felt that, after so much time fighting alongside Jericus, he had something of a handle on reading the tech-priest's face, and now, he looked positively frustrated with the ministrations he worked upon the cogitator core.
"Didn't think so," the soldier said with a sigh, stepping around the room
Red ran his hands along the walls, canting the angle of each of the portraits in turn, looking for any any unusual discolouration or dust build-up.

[LCP]

Team Techpriest

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Sweeping the room, Red checked each portrait and lamp fitting in turn. No lamps turned out to be secret levers; no portraits turned out to conceal hidden safes. If they'd had cheap mystery picts down in the sump, Red would have been disappointed.

When he had made a full circuit of the room, Red stopped, ordering what he had seen in his mind. There was something odd about this room - odder, that was, than the sinister paintings and omnipresent shadows. It took him another minute or so before he saw it. The portraits were evenly placed... except for one space on the east wall, where there was a gap. And if you looked up at the ceiling above that gap... if you looked up with a lamp-pack, because all the lights in the room were deliberately angled down... you could just make out the fine, semicircular seam of what looked like a hidden hatchway, concealed in the ceiling.

[Rizhail]

Team Cyberpunk:

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Nova stayed near Jericus and the terminal as Red began his search, letting the guardsman do his thing while she tried to think of anything else the trio could do to look for leads. When he stopped, she cocked a brow and tried to follow where Red was looking. And when he found the crack in the ceiling, she grinned.

"Nice find, Red. Here's hoping Tauron and Tychon are having at least this much luck," she said as she wandered over to the open space on the wall. "So, if that's some sort of secret entrance or attic, then there must be a way up there. Something like a switch to open it, or a ladder, or something."

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A search check to see if there's any sort of switch or anything else related to the odd groove Red found in the ceiling. Also taking a quick look around the room for anything that would allow someone access to the ceiling (ladder, etc)

Search: (1d100)[65] vs. 38 (28 base Per, +10 heightened senses (sight))

[Thragka]

T for Two

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"None here," she said. "They've all moved on. But you'd see some of them coming back. Lauressa, mostly. She's married to some Ministry Spire bigwig now."

"So we understand," said Tauron. "At least she managed to do well for herself, despite her father's ... lapse of character. Such a shame ... " he trailed off.

He made some notes in silence for the next several seconds before glancing back up at Blevins. "Thank you, Ms Blevins, you have been most helpful. We will not forget your assistance. That will be all, for now - unless there is anything else you feel you ought to tell us?"

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I think we're probably done with Blevins, so I'll roll charm for the final maid. Fel 41 with assist. (1d100)[92] err think I'll FP that

[LCP]

T time

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Blevins seemed glad to be dismissed. As surely as she had followed Larkin, the third maid - Kendrick - appeared shortly after she had left, surely guided by the invisible hand of Aubrey.

Kendrick was a tall, thin woman, with an angular face and a touch of grey to her hair. She spoke with a more educated accent than Larkin or Blevins, but to Tauron all these Cantides sounded more or less the same.

She took her seat and regarded Tychon and Tauron with a wary eye. She didn't seem to be as frightened as Larkin had been, but neither was she forthcoming. She answered their questions from behind a wall of reserve, seeming not to engage at all beyond the specific question being asked.

"How long have you worked for Octavian Rhodes?"

"Three years, two months."

"When was the last time you saw Mr Rhodes? Or any other member of his family?"

"Before he left on his excursion in the summer."

"Did you have full run of the house?"

"The top floor was forbidden to us. The rest of the house, yes."

"Did Mr Rhodes ever entertain strange guests - was there anybody odd or unusual that stood out in your mind?"

"I really couldn't say."

"Did you ever notice Mr Rhodes say or do anything that disturbed you?"

She paused.

"No," she said, at last. "No, I did not."

"Whom among the household staff was Mr Rhodes closest to?"

"I wouldn't care to judge." Another pause. "Mr Aubrey had the most authority, so the master would speak to him most often."

"Did Mr. Rhodes have parties at the house, ever?"

"Quite frequently, yes."

"What can you tell us about the house?"

"I'm... not sure what you're asking," Kendrick said. "My agency sent me here. It is a good house. The master pays us well and does not ask too much."

"Do you know anything about the circumstances surrounding Mrs. Rhodes' illness?"

"No. That was not my business."

"Do you recall anything especially out-of-the ordinary happening in the house?"

"I couldn't say."

"What, if anything, did Mr. Rhodes change at the house when he inherited his position?"

"Lord Rhodes inherited this house long before I arrived, sir."

Kendrick looked from Tauron to Tychon. "Is that all? May I go?"

---

1

Not-T___ons

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Nova could see no sign of a ladder, nor any catch to release the hatch - if a hatch it was. The ceiling was a little too high to reach, even standing on tip-toe. It was difficult to see how such a hatch could be accessed.

[Thragka]

Wb² m^-4

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"I'm... not sure what you're asking," Kendrick said. "My agency sent me here. It is a good house. The master pays us well and does not ask too much."

"Which agency is that?" asked Tauron, not sounding very interested. He was resigned to the fact that Kendrick was not going to be much help. Perhaps none of Rhodes' staff would be, but at least Blevins had been a little more willing to talk.

[LCP]

Tauron & Tychon

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"Batiatus', sir. The head office is on the Venatine Way, in Saint Asceline's Spire."

[Destro_Yersul]

T&T

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"Did Rhodes employ a lot of people through that agency, or just you?"

[Rizhail]

Folks Whose Names Don't Have 'T's In Them:

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"Well, damn. Nothing is ever that easy, is it. Jericus, Red, do either of you have any idea where we can find a ladder? Or have any other ideas on how to proceed with this?"

Barring any ideas from the two gentlemen, Nova started the hunt for a ladder (or a particularly tall foot-stool).

[LCP]

Ts

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"I think he hired from multiple agencies," said Kendrick. "I didn't know either of the other women here before I started work... but then I don't know most of those who work for my agency, either."

---

1

Non-Ts

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Without too much hassle, Red located the ladder he had been using yesterday - although it was a hassle to lug it up three tall flights of stairs. When, slightly out of breath, they had got it to the top, Nova rested it against the wall and climbed up to inspect the seam.

The break in the plaster was so fine that even close-up it would have been easy to miss. Nova could see no sign of a catch or switch in the ceiling around it.

[Rizhail]

Nova and the Lot:

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Deciding that the direct route was the best route, Nova braced herself against the top of the ladder and pushed up against the semi-circular area in the ceiling, hoping it would budge under pressure.

[LCP]

Nova and the Attic Gang

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The section of ceiling didn't seem to give in the slightest.

[Rizhail]

Nova and the Crew:

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Now annoyed at how vexing this had been, Nova descended the ladder and planted her hands on her hips. "Well, unless one of you has a better idea, I'm going to get the lascutter and force this thing open to see what heretical clues are inside. Or find out that I've cut a large hole in an ancient and extremely valuable home's roof in a vain attempt to search for leads. One or the other."

[Destro_Yersul]

T&T

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"Ain't that always the case. Alright, less Father Drake here has anything more to ask, I think you can go."

Once the maidservant had showed herself out, Tychon gave in to the urge to kick back in his chair and put his feet up on the closest thing he could find for the purpose. "Well, that was informative," he said to Tauron. "Reckon we'll get much out of the rest of them, after we track them down?"

[Thanatos 51-50]

The Attic Crew

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"Try wedging a blade in there and levering it open, pulling it down? Watch your head. Maybe this is meant to be an entrance, not an exit."

[Rizhail]

Attic Antics:

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"We'll try that first, then."

Nova drew one of her daggers and tried to wedge the blade into the crack to apply a bit of leverage to the odd spot in the ceiling.

"If this doesn't work, and we can't find a prybar or something, then I'm getting the lascutter."

[LCP]

Nova & co.

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The crack in the ceiling was so slim that it was difficult for Nova to work her dagger in much further than its monomolecular edge. Working it back and forth, she felt no give, though some of the plaster cracked and crumbled away under the movement of the blade. Underneath she thought she saw the hard sheen of metal.

It felt like her dagger would snap before the hatch - if it was a hatch - would budge. Perhaps it was time to fetch the lascutter.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Novaco: Your Sector's leader in infiltration and murder since M41

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Upon seeing the Assasin's dagger strain in vain against the hatch, Red silently absconded from the room, fetched the lascutter from its rest, and began returning with it slung over his shoulder.
For some reason, he felt like humming on of the 345th's battle hymns, so he did so.
Loudly.

[LCP]

Lascutters: is there anything they can't do?

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The lascutter shrieked and whined as it bit into the ceiling, sending plaster dust sheeting down in great billowing curtains onto Red and Nova so that they looked as if they had been fighting in a flour mill. Under the plaster was hard steel: sparks flew, but the beam cut through it all the same. Hidden wires sparked and melted; concealed hydraulics blew out with a series of loud bangs.

Without warning (unless you counted all the noises of wanton destruction the lascutter was making), the semicircular section of the ceiling fell open. It was a hinged hatch, solid metal and mechanisms and almost a foot thick; its swinging arc almost took Nova's head off as it fell. An automatic ladder rattled out behind it, unfolding with gravity to touch the now-dust-caked floor of the conference room.

Bright sunlight was blazing in through the hole it had left, making Red squint and shield his eyes. He could hear the rushing spire wind again, taste the same thin, cold air. The ladder clearly led outside. Deactivating the lascutter, he stepped onto the ladder and poked his head out of the hatch.

All around him, the chimneys and tiles of the mansion's complicated jumble of roofs rose like a forest, forming four high walls to shield him from the worst of the wind. Leonine gargoyles, eaten away by acid rain, looked down on the area in which the hatch came up. It was a concealed landing pad, tucked away inside the cover of the rooftops. There was space for at least eight shuttles here; two of the spaces were taken, small craft hidden under all-weather tarpaulins. From the bird droppings that were crusted on those covers, they looked like they had been left here for quite some time.

[Rizhail]

Team Lascutter:

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"Well, that certainly worked out better than I'd thought," Nova said with a smile, happy the trio had found yet another clue. "So, thus far we know the following: Rhodes had the remnants of incriminating files stored up here that were thoroughly deleted, save for the parts Jericus was able to hunt down. In the same room, he had a secret hatch to a concealed landing pad. That means he had a simple way in for anyone he didn't want the help to notice. That would explain why we haven't really found any solid clues in the garage or lower rooms; he didn't have any need to use them for covert meetings or the like when he had this room and the landing pad to use."

((running on the assumption that Red describes what he sees to everyone else))

An idea forming in her head, Nova turned back to Jericus. "Jer, do you want to check out those two fliers? We might be able to get something useful out of them, like a flight log or something."

[LCP]

Team Lascutter

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Ascending the ladder with a certain suppressed eagerness, Jericus set to removing the tarpaulins from the abandoned flyers. When the sheets lay in crumpled heaps on the floor, the others climbed up to get a better look, while Jericus crawled under the landing gear and crouched under the turbines to search for forge-marks and serial codes.

The first, according to Jericus, was a Scintillan-made Hermes-pattern Chiropteran. A nimble atmospheric craft, it had space only for its pilot and co-pilot, but its nose bristled with all manner of curious sensors. Jericus counted them off on his fingers as if they were birthday presents - infrared lenses, radar antennae, grav-isolators, chemical intakes to analyse the ratios of atmospheric gases. To Red's eyes, however, it looked awfully flimsy.

The second had the outline of their familiar workhorse, the Arvus Lighter. It was in good repair, but bore no livery: it looked like it was meant to pick people up or set them down discreetly, without giving away to whom it belonged. Jericus estimated it had seemed a fair bit of use.

The hatches to both aircraft were locked.

OOC: Autopiloting Jer as Etcetera warned us he'd have trouble posting.

[Thanatos 51-50]

[In for a Landing]

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Red ran gloved fingertips over the bulky contours of the Arvus Lighter, and it was like meeting with an old friend. An old friend who was too stupid to carry a gun, but an old friend nonetheless.
"Nova, please tell me you can open this gorgeous bird up without hurtig her too bad. I want to see if we can't poke around her cogitator, get some recent flight plans."

[Destro_Yersul]

T&T

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The list that they had to go through was a long one, and Tychon had never learned to drive groundcars, or anything else for that matter. Fortunately, driving was never the only option in a hive, even if public transit wasn't something he was looking forward to seeing again. The gunslinger fully intended to drag Tauron along for help talking to all the staff, starting with the ones most likely to have seen things, but first there was the matter of Aubrey.

Summoning the butler with the bell-cord in the office, Tychon waited. He made sure to remove his feet from the furniture before the butler arrived, though.

OOC:

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Okay, while we wait for Thragka, Tychon's going to ask the old butler what Rhodes changed when he took over, in case Aubrey knows, and what, if anything, AUbrey can tell them about the Madness of Mrs. Rhodes.

if you need a roll for that, charm I'm assuming, it's [roll1d100[/roll] vs 41 plus 10 for the assist from Tauron.