(IC) San Francisco by Night: A Requiem in Fog

[Lentrax]

Oh, mortals. They are so very fun to twist about. But something in the back of her mind, something deeper tells her that this girl could have the potential to be more than a meal to be eaten at her leisure. Perhaps a simple test. Something to see how far Gabrielle is willing to go.

I have some work to do, but meet me at the Cafe Rachel in an hour. And do dress nicely, my dear. This place is a bit more upscale than last nights entertainment. Nothing formal.

Time to see how far would Gabrielle go. And to see how much she would be willing to lose.

Spoiler

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Estella will take a small laptop with her. While she awaits Gabrielle she will start going over the flash drive. Estella will put her focus on finding if there are any social connections sshe may be aware of to try and connect the missing Kine together.

[Bennosuke]

Karl finishes his feeding, and leaves the woman on the ground, asleep and very pale. There is a quick head rush as he rises; not like when a human stands up too quickly. This is a fast burning sensation like schnaps, starting in his chest, and rising in many tight hot cords through his body. Karl's face feels flushed for a moment, a sensation he barely remembers from his mortal days, and he almost loses his balance for a moment in the rush.

Then Karl rights himself, and he rushes off down the block, back to the Sun apartment. The font wall had two barred windows, the left was lit by a yellow light, but they were too high to get a clear view, even from across the street. Lazily crossing the street, Karl stopped in front of the entrance and pantomimed attention to his cellphone while he listened from below, but all he could hear was a the lazy buzz of some modern music he did not understand. Even after a good fifteen minutes, and multiple pedestrians giving him the eye, Karl he could hear nothing of importance. Karl checked the block for a good alley or roof from which he could further his investigation, but about fifteen minutes of searching brought up nothing.

Frustrated, but not defeated, Karl returned to his car, and resolved not to give up. He would wait for Graham and his friends if he had time. Fourty five minutes, then an hour and a half passed, and Karl became frustrated. Leaving his car, Karl stomped down the block only to find that Graham's car was gone. The brat had left while Karl had been feeding!

Spoiler: OOC

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Tried to burn up a little more time than the roll allowed to move things closer to Midnight. Karl has about two hours and change to get home before the meeting if there is anything else he wants to do.

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Estella made sure to be at least ten minutes late. Late enough to make Gabrielle pout a little bit (oh how she could not wait for that), but not so long to make her truly angry.

Rachel Cafe was a small French cafe in Russian Hill, all white tile, soft lighting, and cute wooden furniture. The Cafe was busy when Estella arrived, with servants in white smocks and vest quietly rushing to and fro. Gabrielle was waiting for Estella a the door, nervously thumbing the crepe of her black silk top, which was thrust into a dark leather corset. A short lace skirt complimented her thin pale legs, but she was clearly not dressed for the location.

Gabrielle smiled shyly at Estella's arrival, looking both embarrassed and relieved. Before they could even speak, the two were rushed by the Matradee to a table at the back of the restaurant. Nervously, Gabrielle blurts, "Are you mad at me?"

[Daishain]

Resisting the urge to head back to Graham's home and do... something to him, Karl instead looks back up to the apartment. What lies within should tell him most of what he needed to know, and being able to declare this case closed could hardly come soon enough.

Karl pauses at his car long enough to retrieve a few tools, lockpicks as well as a camera and a few plastic bags. He then walks across the street as if he belonged, and begins picking the lock on the outer door. If a quiet entry can be managed, he will look about within, and attempt to determine what drew the boy here.

Spoiler: OOC

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Let me know if you need any other rolls
Dex+Larceny(4d10)[9][7][1][4](21)
Wits+Investigation(6d10)[4][9][7][7][8][8](43)
Good, didn't flub it this time.

He primarily intends only to poke around and take photographs, but if something particularly interesting pops up, he may take items or otherwise intercede. Obviously stopping and reassessing before reaching signs of life.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Though not exactly in dire need of sustenance, Anna traveled to a park. If a meal should present itself, then who was she to deny it. She sat on a bench and phoned her cousin. It'd been a while since they chatted...

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no need to rp this out if we want to keep things moving

[Lentrax]

Mad? At you? No, of course not. Why on Earth would you think something like that?

Before Gabrielle can say a word, Estella flags down a waiter, and orders for the two of them, the French words rolling off her tongue like honey. After placing the order for a simple meal and a bottle of wine, Estella turns back to the young girl sitting with her, switching back to English.

Gabrielle. We did not get much chance to talk last night. Why don't you tell me about yourself?

Spoiler

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Before arriving, Estella spent a Vitae for the Blush of Life.

[Bennosuke]

Karl makes sure no one is watching before biting into the sheet metal door with his lock pick kit. The lock is little more than a latch, not even a true bolt, and gives after no more than a few seconds of fiddling. He pulls the door open cautiously, smiling to himself when it makes almost no noise.

Entering a small outdoor courtyard, Karl ascends a flight of narrow and dark wood stairs to come onto the Second floor where the Sun's flat is. A second go around with the lock picking kit lets Karl into the apartment living room. The space is carpeted with a grey cheap material, and the ceiling is almost comically low. At the foot of the entrance is a rack overflowing with basketball sneakers and a few nicer high top shoes. The heavy base of the radio pumps more loudly now, and from Karl's vantage point he can see Ms. Sun sprawled on the couch, her eyes glassy and a small pipe dangling from a nearly limp hand. She mumbles something at the sound of the open door, but does not even turn to face Karl, her eyes glued to the ceiling.

Karl sneaks down the hall, thankful for the carpeted floors, and after a guess or two, opens the door guarding Loretta's sons' rooms. The room is tight, mostly filled with a bunk bed and a small desk. The walls are literally covered with a series of posters; mostly pictures of other negro rap artists and wanna be gansters.

But there is also a number of scattered posters on the wall which stand out. These are black posters with nothing more than a white familiar symbol; a bleeding cross with a skull in the middle. While not dead on, it looks strikingly similar to one of the many symbols of the Lancea et Sanctum!

A quick search of the room exposes some marijuana, a couple of switch blades, and a stash of cheap alcohol.

Spoiler: OOC

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Tried to keep things succinct since it looks like the other players are getting ready to meet up. Just let me know if there is anything else Karl wants to do before leaving. Let's shoot to have this prelude scene over in one or two posts from your end

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Anna's cousin is now a Freshman at UC Berkley, a FOBy boy named Phillis who in High School had fit nearly every negative stereotype about Asian men. When he picked up he seemed very surprised to hear from Anna. "Where have you been? Mom and Dad have been worried sick about you!", he had said in a nasaly voice, "We have been trying to reach you for almost two months. Mom's Multiple Myeloma is back. She's been in the hospital for the last week!"

Phillis' mother, Katherine, had been diagnosed with a type of marrow cancer known as Multiple Myeloma, over fifteen years ago, but was supposed to be in remission. It was a type of cancer that ate at the bones, causing fractures, and invaded the marrow so that there were no immune cells to fight off infection. Phillis' voice was both frantic and accusing.

Spoiler: OOC

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Keeping things running just a moment, because Karl and Estella have a little more to do. Please try to keep things short. Could even shoot for a roll or two like Subterfuge or Empathy. Lets shoot to have the conversation over with two or so posts on your end

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Gabrielle blushes at the attention. She proceeds to tell Estella all about her recent travails; how she was raised by a single mother who didn't understand her, how she only recently discovered who her father was and he was a man with little interest in getting to know a daughter he could have done without, and about her "creepy" step father who gave her too much attention and probably wanted to screw her or something.

She seemed almost hungry to share these stories, seeming to get particularly upset when discussing her father.

However, Gabrielle became very serious and almost deadly sincere at the end of this conversation. She took hold of Estella's hand from across the table and said, "And the worst part is, is that I feel like such a screw up, you know? Like, my Mom must be so disappointed in me after everything she's sacrificed. She doesn't even know I'm Gay. I couldn't... like I could never do that to her." Estella got the distinct impression that the young girl was starting to fight back the urge to cry.

Spoiler: OOC

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As mentioned to the other two players, lets try to conclude this scene in about two posts on your end. A roll for empathy would do well, and if Estella wants to try to get Gabrielle to do something, an appropriate roll for that (persuasion or intimidation or whatever).

[Thundercracker]

"What the-Phone works both ways you know, maybe-" she replied, then closed her eyes and calmed herself.

While not related by blood, her uncle's wife had always treated her like part of the family, and Anna was a bit shocked at the news of remission. Not to mention what her cousin must be going through.

"I'm sorry," she said much softer, "I know you're going through a lot, believe me I know."
She thought back to how she felt when she found out her own parents were killed.
"What's the prognosis?" she asked.

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composure + empathy? (4d10)[3][5][3][1](12)
Edit: that's pretty poop. Is there a way to salvage that roll with willpower?

[Daishain]

Karl suppresses a disdainful snort, those fools are involved somehow? No matter, time to go.

Actually, on second thought... a bluff could prove useful, as well as entertaining. A few moments of work, and a message was left where the room's occupant would find it. it simply reads "I know, call to know the price of silence" The number written down is to a burner phone Karl picked up for such purposes. Then he simply leaves.

[Lentrax]

You aren't such a screw up as you think. You are just young yet. I am sure that, given time, things will become clear for what to do, no?

[Bennosuke]

Anna is left with a long pause on the line before Katie eventually responds. "I don't know", she says flatly, "the doctors are still doing more tests. But they are being all quiet and avoiding the room again... I... I think it's bad." There is another long pause, and Anna thinks she can hear a quick sob or "You should come to the hospital. I'm sure Mom would really appreciate it". Visiting the hospital was not a bad proposition; The Ordo Dracul maintained many research facilities at UCSF. In fact, if memory served correctly, Miho had an animal lab in the basement somewhere. "Anyways," Katie says, "I'm sorry for snapping at you. It's just been rough, you know. I guess I miss you too Anna. We don't have much family anymore. We need to stick together."

************************************************** ************************************************** ******

Karl finishes his note, and leaves it on the desk, in front of the computer. He makes his way out of the bedroom back into the hall. The nappy haired woman, most likely Loretta, was snoring loudly on the couch as he removed himself from the apartment, and rushed back down the stairs, out the front door, and to his car. Engine revving, Karl was on his way back to his apartment.

Spoiler: OOC

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If there is anything in particular Karl wants to accomplish at his apartment before the others arrive, please let me know. Also, why don't you give us a post describing the apartment space where everyone will meet. Use this to flesh out Karl's personality a little. I don't want to describe a home that you don't feel would fit Karl's personality/character.

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Gabrielle rolls her eyes so hard that they almost get stuck in the corner, but there seems to be no disrespect in the gesture. She is simply a naive teenager, so sure she knows everything about how the world works. "We'll see", she says before meekly bringing her water to her mouth.

The food arrives, and Gabrielle tears into the plates like she had not eaten all week. "This is really good", she says with a gigantic fork full of pheasant in her cheek. "So, tell me about yourself".

Spoiler: OOC

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Give me a post of response (you can summarize if you prefer). I figure how honest Estella is going to be completely sets up how their relationship will play out. We can assume that at the end of Estella's response, Estella will look to split to meet with the others.

[Lentrax]

Estella looks longingly at the girl eating pheasant while she pours them each some wine, remembering what it felt like to be able to take pleasure from simple food. She feels the Beast within stir, wanting to lash out and taste the food soon to be within this girl's blood. But Estella puts it down, knowing what will happen if she feeds from the same doll too many times.

I am afraid there isn't much to tell. I was born in France, and moved to America with my mama when she remarried. I have some odd hours, as you have already found out. But as of late, I seem to have found a new job that will necessitate my needing to remain active at night. I know it will strain our new relationship, but alas, such things are a necessary evil. So please don't be angry with me if I do not answer you during the day. I promise that as soon as I awaken I will message you.

Estella looks down at her watch.

Speaking of work, I am sorry Gabrielle, but I must be leaving soon. I have work yet to do tonight. I know it does not seem like time enough, but soon enough we will be able to spend eternity together.

[Daishain]

Karl drives back to his office, a few rooms occupying the third floor of a building that leases to such businesses. Karl had gone to a fair bit of trouble finding one that had proper sound proofing between floors. An excellent lock in a reinforced door, a few cameras (not that those could do much with kindred save confirm such were present in an incident, and a few other tricks made the place about as secure for his purposes as could be managed with a property he did not outright own.

It was a fairly simple affair, the outer door leads to one decently sized meeting room, with two private offices and a small bathroom on the left.

Wary of crowding two other kindred into his private office, Karl prepares for the meeting in the larger area. Pulling out a large whiteboard, he starts building a web of connections to the delinquent Mobius, people to look into. He also connects the tablet he is using for this case to the projector, it was an old device, but it still worked fine, at least since Gabriel had managed to find an adapter that let it connect to modern computing devices. He'll spend the rest of the remaining time before others arrive studying the flash drive material further.

Spoiler: OOC

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I don't think we discussed meeting at Karl's home
Wits+Investigation (6d10)[2][5][2][5][5][8](27), tenagain(6d10)[10][4][5][5][6][8](38)

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Yeah," Anna said, running a hand through her hair, "I miss you too."

She paused.

"What are you doing tomorrow night? I might be able to make it down there, maybe I can let you know, and if you're free we can meet up?"

[Bennosuke]

Gabrielle eats up her new companion's lies almost as hungrily as the food set out before her. The two chat more, and Estella is forced to promise to text during her work that night. The young girl barely even bats an eye at Estella's melodromatic comment about eternity!

After the meal is payed for (of course on Estella's card), the two part ways, but not before Gabrielle falls into a long and equally hungry snog. Estella leaves her in front of the restaurant, rushing off to her car to get to their meeting.

Spoiler: OOC

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Just going to assume Estella's lie about working all night somehow gets by without needing to roll to keep things moving Your next post should be introducing yourself into the meeting scene

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Karl spends little time preparing the meeting room, instead opting to quickly review the files on Julian's thumb drive. The folders are poorly organized and despite giving himself ample time he is only able to make a little headway.

Spoiler: OOC

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Results will be PMed. The other players' next posts will be as they enter the meeting room.

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Katie makes the clicking noise with her tongue that Anna recognizes as her thinking noise, "I don't know, nothing important I guess. If you are going to come to The Hospital, I'll be there." She explains that the commute from the East Bay can be fairly bad in the evening, and asks Anna to decide whether or not she will be there.

Spoiler: OOC

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Just post in the OOC thread or in a spoiler box in Anna agrees to this.

Afterwords, the two say their goodbyes. Katie has some Gen-Chem studying to do and Anna offers a relatively believable excuse. After hanging up, Anna realizes it is about time to get over to Karl's office for the meeting.

Spoiler: OOC

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Feel free to address the above, but in the next post please introduce yourself into the meeting scene.

[Lentrax]

Of course I will. she says in response to Gabrielle's insistence.

And you can call me if you need help.

Estella departs to Karl's office. She finds it easily enough, and when she does arrive (fashionably late, no more than ten minutes), she knocks upon the door, pleasantly aware of playing out the trope of a femme fatale arriving at a detective's office.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"I'll text you if I can make it," Anna replied, not wanting to commit, "if not tomorrow, then soon."

She said her goodbyes, then headed over to Karl's. For a moment she debated whether she should bring her sword, but ended up leaving it in her car. She did pack her pistol though. Who knew what else might show up at Karl's office unannounced.

She knocked upon arrival.

Assuming she is let in:

After greeting her host, Anna stepped into the office meeting room and glanced around, nodding at the whiteboard already set up. The young Kindred set her purse and laptop bag on the table and stepped up to the board, looking to see if there was anything she'd noticed and could add.
"Tell me you had as much trouble sorting through that mess of a thumbdrive as I did," she said.

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How do we want to exchange this info OOC, do we want to set up a google doc or just have an OOC post somewhere that we can update? Or would we rather just go with it and trust our illustrious GM to point out if we're missing something obvious?

[Daishain]

Karl lets Anna in without much fanfare, in response to her query, he'll state, "It was a mess, but I did find a few things, let us wait for the other, I'd rather avoid too much repetition."

As Estella arrives, Karl opens the door and says, "Please be on time. This is a serious matter."

Karl pulls up relevant documents for the projector to display as he talks, "Now then, I suggest we begin by comparing notes. Mobius was once Kyle Marks. He has kine family in Los Angeles, I do not expect them to know anything of use, but that possibility may be worth checking."

"Found a few other points of contact, all kindred, all in this city. Victor of the Ordo Dracul, his name seems familiar, but I have not quite put my finger on it. From the Carthians, I have a mid rank individual known as Nova, and a nobody called Screech."

"I have a location for his haven in SF, some bank account info, and a car listed, a BMW E30."

"There is also some data on the other potential victims. A long list of names, nearly twenty in all, disappearing at a regular rate over the past five years. The pace of disappearances seems to be going up, though that might have more to do with more recent cases being more likely to have been noticed by whoever made this. Most are numbered among Invictus or the Carthians. As noted by Julian, the majority of these have been neonates."

Karl hesitates before continuing, "I shouldn't have to warn you, but this last is particularly dangerous to utter where others might hear, contract or no contract. Whoever collated this data appears to suspect that Prince Gorman has been diablerizing the disappeared, and has statistical data which would support that claim. He must be considered a suspect, but we should think long and hard about any moves that are made anywhere near him."

"What have the two of you found?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna sat silently as Karl admonished Estella and paid attention as he went through what he'd learned.

Wow, he found all that? Still, at least I have something to add.

"Mobius' sire is a Mekhet named Miho," Anna said, "also a member of the Ordo. Three months ago, Miho suffered a punishment from the Prince for Mobius' actions since he was still considered a fledgling. Apparently he was poaching in Invictus territory."

[Lentrax]

Oh, don't be such a bore.

As Karl and Anna report thier findings, Estella speaks up.

I don't have anything to add. Between you you have addressed everything I was able to find.

[Daishain]

Karl considers and states, "Very well. We can sit here and tear through the existing data a bit further, or we can start looking into a few of these leads and then reconvene. I believe the latter would be more productive for now."

"My suggestion would be to keep me away from talking to our potential informants. I am, as Estella pointed out, a bore, and often grate on others. If the two of you can start talking with some of these contacts, I can go snoop around Mobius' haven. Thoughts?"

[Thundercracker]

"So we have Victor and Miho from the Ordo, and Screech and Nova from the Carthians," Anna said.

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has Anna heard of the other three?

"I'm okay with that," Anna said.

She turned to Estella.
"Do you know any of them? I can probably get in touch with Miho," she asked.

[Lentrax]

By reputation only. I could perhaps reach out and see if I can arrange an appointment.

[Thundercracker]

Anna

"I'll try for Miho and Victor then," Anna said.

"What do we want to try and learn from these four?" she asked.

[Daishain]

"Your choice, but it may be prudent for you two to work together, not least because of the possibility that one of these people were involved in Mobius' disappearance. If you end up being assaulted, it makes it more likely at least one of you will make it back with information."

"There are a couple of things I want to know. When was mobius last seen, in whose company. If there was anything out of the ordinary in the time leading up to his disappearance, any incidents involving him, any changes in his behavior, that kind of thing."

"It would probably also be prudent to ask Nova and Screech about the Carthian names on our list, see if they know anything about them. If they do, we are especially interested in anything these fledglings had in common aside from being relatively young."

"While I am thinking about it however, I have a few things for you." Karl steps off and rummages through his office for a time, then heads over to Gabriel's office and does the same. When he returns, he has a number of small devices. One is a simple digital audio recorder, and then there are three small rectangular boxes with a simple switch and LED indicator light.

Setting them on the table and indicating the recorder, he says, "I would like for you to record your conversations. You'd be surprised how often important details are missed the first time you hear something. The boxes are GPS tracking units. They're mostly used by the kine to obsess over their children's movements or try and catch cheating spouses. Gabriel and I use them to tail suspects without being close enough to be seen. If you think someone is acting suspiciously, try and slip one of these on them. Make sure the device is on first, or it does no good. Getting it on someone's actual person is risky, they're liable to notice it sooner rather than later. Try for a lesser used purse or attache pocket, under an interior seat of their vehicle, taped inside of a bumper, that kind of thing"

"Given the potentially dangerous nature of this investigation, they are also for you. Keep one well hidden on your person, and there is a decent chance of me being able to track your movements if something goes wrong."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna took the devices and looked them over to make sure she knew how they worked.

"Together works too," Anna replied, "though we should come up with a cover story as to why we're looking for him. Maybe he owes us money or information or some other boon."

[Lentrax]

Tch. It does not even need to be that elaborate. Estella says.

His sire was punished because the boy was foolish enough to poach in Invictus territory. Who is to say he hasn't done it again, and his sire has tasked us with bringing him back to him so he can be punished himself? That would easily cover a young Ordo Dracul member and a slightly more aged Invictus member working together.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna's mouth dropped open slightly.

"As soon as we're done here, I'm going to set up a meeting with Miho, Mobius' sire," she replied, "he's the only one I actually have prior direct contact with and he likely knows at least a little bit about his own childe. That story obviously isn't going to work on him."

not to mention its way more complicated than "he owes us money".

[Lentrax]

Then don't start with the sire. It is that simple. And when the sire comes to us angry that we are tracking his childe, he may be foolish enough to let something slip.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Maybe. But it's more likely he'll be angry and insulted I didn't come to him first, and instead made up a story and spread rumors about him. Don't you think that will make him less likely to be forthcoming?," Anna replied, "unless there is a good reason in here to think he's behind all this?"

She raised an eyebrow and held up one of the thumb drives.

[Daishain]

"No reason that I am aware of to suspect him. But I might suggest avoiding antagonizing a kindred that powerful. Remember that you cannot reveal the real reason as explanation"