Arsenio shakes his head.
"Yeah. It'd take me an hour to burn through that door. Not that we should go hard as Plan A in a city, but it's nice to have a backup. This is why we do recon."
"We have a few other potential contacts we could talk to. Thumper mentioned a mage, I think. Maybe he could help."
The neighborhood is not so nice that there arent st least a couple of street folk nearby. Jace talks to a few, and gets some basic information. It mostly reinforces what you assumed from seeing the place. Visitors are expected to use the lower entrance; underground is for residents only, and appointments are required to land a vehicle up top, unless you live onsite.
The Borg doorman, (of which there are actually 3 or 4 on a rotating schedule) is armed with a host of small arms, but the building's contract with the city only allows them to use heavy weapons inside the lobby, or in very specific circumstances, such as a citywide attack, or to repel a similarly armed attempt to breach the building. The only time that happened was about 4 years back when a group of mercs attacked the building. You get a long winded, convoluted conspiracy theory about who they were and why they were attacking (something to do with a Splugorth prophesy child that would allow the Coalition to reveal their mastery of dark magic, and in an alliance with the gargoyles of Europe, to take over all the city states and the Federation of Magic to create a United Empire of Magic). What he mentions that would actually be useful to know if true is that defensive barriers, as well as heavy weapons platforms are able to lift out of the area surrounding the base of the building. Whether these are real or part of his delusions is not entirely clear.
Jace shares what he finds out, which isn't much more than we already knew. "So, boss, we do the walk and talk? Anything else will require half the Legion."
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"Any word from Thumper's mage?" Wraith starts.
"Okay, if they only have most of heavy stuff down low, we should be fine IF we can just not go through there.
Idea the First: We watch for a day, everyone all over, to cover all three entrances, and see who delivers what. I mean, a thing this mega-chic must get, like, bread an' meat an' overpriced whores delivered to it in huge trucks, yeah? We see who delivers what, when, and where, and we infiltrate THEM.
Most like, we just hijack one of -those- trucks, and get in a delivery to pop inside an' hunt down Mr. SoonDead.
Just off the top of my head."
Arsenio nods his head.
"It's workable. Good simple plan, not too many moving parts. Keep brainstorming, I like your line of thinking. In the mean time, I need to get down to the station."
"That might work, *if* the delivery people don't have to present ID cards, *or* there's no photos on those cards. Let's start watching."
If Arsenio leaves, I think that leaves one each of us to watch an entrance (leaving Androva to do what she wants). Ace picks *that* one. ;)
"I am not sure I would call him a friend, but maybe we can go talk to him. Care to join me Miss Wraith, I am not really a people person. Assuming that is OK with the Boss"
"If it pleases you, I suggest we make a stop by the local guild house first."
He walks with her for a bit mostly absent, "To be honest I am delaying, hoping an idea comes to me. The man lives in a nested compound"
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"Wait, there's a guild house? When did this start? They have guilds now? Does everyone have a guild? Do you belong to the guild, or would you just pretend to be interested in becoming a member to get data?" She walks quietly with Thumper for a bit.
"What do you mean by nested compound? Is it the same tight-hooped drek as this place?" she asks, feeling comfortable, letting some of her native patois slip.
Androva takes up watch on an entrance that bears attention.
Jace will take up watch near the visitors entrance where he can watch the comings and goings of everyone to the building.
"I am not a member of the guild, I am sort of on the outs with the magic types, but they do love guilds. I was planning on going to see if I could get an invite, Mostly by asking. You have a way with words I thought you could help"
He walks for a bit. As for the nested compound, if the guy in that building lives in a locked apartment, and hides in a safe-room in that apartment. The lock-box in that room is where the guy we want to see is, except it is more bureaucracy then walls between us."
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Anya walks along peaceably with Thumper, at one point entwining her arms in his. "Y'know,"[b] she says calmly, [b]"Me an' Vicky could probably fly in that high entrance on top of the building without being noticed. If you guys had a way of getting up there, I could probably blow up enough guards to give y'all enough time to come in. Would that help?"
Atlas, Jace, and Androva set up in nearby spots where they can watch the building, and see its comings and goings.
Thumper and Anya are able to walk with Arsenio to the address the Inspector provided, as it in the same direction, and in fact very close to the Guild-house, which is generally referred to as The Monolith.
Jace continues to pace the visitors entrance, watching the comings and goings, occupying himself with trying to memorize the guards movements and then sussing out each person's reason for being there, looking for an angle in case they need to go in. Every once in a while, he checks his chrono, pretending to be waiting on something..
Boomer sits at a nearby coffee house across the street, sipping a mocho-choco-latte (ya ya!), watching the comings and goings at his entrance :
The square that contains the Monolith on one side is something of a busy market square. A one block square area in the middle is free of any buildings, and includes a small park, a bandstand (not presently in use), a sunken amphitheater for small events, and a multipurpose area, presently occupied by half a dozen different varieties of food carts. The largest building is on the south side of the square; the 20 story tall city hall building. Around the block are a variety of stores, including the Monolith, one block away from the clearing on the side opposing city hall, and the Guild Store, its publicly accessible affiliate, located directly across from the large stone, between it and the park. A place called "Ye Alchemy Shoppe" occupies another storefront on the square, though the sign is barely visible above a 3 meter tall holographic privacy barrier presently erected around it.
The barrier looks opaque grey, and nothing inside is visible. Words in American and Techno-prompt scroll around the barrier, reading, "Police Line - Do not cross." Noting the address, you each quickly realize that the Apothecary is the address that Arsenio had been requested to attend, because of course it is...
A man stands out front of the Monolith, staring towards the Alchemy shop with an unblinking stare. He is probably close to seven feet tall, but skeletally thin. He is wearing a pre-rifts style black suit and tie, with a bone white shirt. He has no hair, or even eyebrows, and is skin is oddly sunken and sallow, besides being unnaturally pale.
Arsenio looks askance at the man, but does not attempt to engage him. If he's part of the police force, he'll try to stop him form entering. If not, he's a concern for later.
Aresenio then tries to cross the police line, and if he's allowed/able to, calls out.
"Inspector Micheaux?"
'Thumper' guides Wrath over to follow Arsenio, and pulls out his com to the team. "Something odd is going on where the boss' meet was set. We might need backup. I'll keep the line open"
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Anya lets herself be guided by Thumper, frowning at the rate of nothing going smoothly in this odd place.
She doesn't know much about the normal police procedures, but lets her Detection and Security package sweep over the 'poilce line' tape wondering why it's there.
= 10
"Is that not the guy?" she asks Thumper.
"Sorry Sir, the shop is closed to the public. I suggest that you try another establishment for your needs, or come back tomorrow. The store will likely be back to normal operation by then."
As Arsenio is about to speak, and mention that he was called here by the Inspector, the officer gets a distracted look on his face, and lifts a hand to his head as though listening to his earpiece. After hearing whatever is being said, he looks back up at Arsenio.
"Sorry Captain Doloso; I've been instructed to send you on through."
He stands aside in order to allow Arsenio to step through the barrier. When he does, there is no sensation or anything to indicate he has passed it; it is not a force field, but merely a projection. Stepping through it is about as eventful as walking between a movie projector and the screen. He looks back towards the street, and is surprised to see that he can see everything on the other side. It all has a vaguely reddish-pink hue to it, but other than that, he can see everything just as clearly as if the screen was not there.
Turning back to the shop, he steps inside and stops, taking a second to let his eyes adjust to the relative dim light of the interior. Inside, what he sees is clearly a crime scene. A pool of blood indicates where a body must have lay, though it has since been removed. Two technicians appear to be setting up a device pointed at two bodies that given your background, you immediately take to be immolation victims. However, a second glance actually shows them to be not ash, but desiccated instead, but so thoroughly dried as to look a thousand years old, and balanced like so much dust. You've seen people like that before - people burned by radiation weapons, or a particularly powerful Burster, looking like dried versions of themselves, only to crumble away to a pile of ultra-fine dust at the slightest touch. The techs must either be trying to preserve the bodies in some fashion, or merely taking detailed measurements before that happens, and all the evidence is lost.
Back behind the shop register, in what you would normally assume to be the proprietors post, there sits a serpentine looking humanoid statue. It appears to be a lizard-man, or some sort of humanoid Draconic, dressed in what appear to be very fine robes, and sitting on the floor in a classic lotus position. The detail is exquisite, and though each individual scale on his body was lovingly carved and textured. An unstopped flask of some sort is grasped in one hand, and dispute the statue's stone grip, the flask appears to be glass. Since it could not be fitted into his hand after he was carved, it must have either been blown directly in place, or placed there by magic.
Finally, you see the detail that would have made the inspector call you to the scene. Of to the side, in an area filled with small aromatic plants in small planters, something like an herb garden, a slender figure floats in mid-air. The figures proportions are those of a young Male, probably in his mid teens, but dressed in a brightly coloured skin-tight jumpsuit. While you can vaguely make out the young man's features, they are pale and shadowy; transparent even and the most obvious features visible are those of his skull. It is as though his flesh has been shifted into the ghostly realm, and only his bones remain solidly in this one.
Inspector Micheaux walks up to Arseno and his companion and asks, ”Have you ever seen anything like this before?”
Jace sees the man with the Dragon Hide armor and almost bolts over to summarily remove the man's hand, but he fights the urge to go and recklessly get into another fight. Taking a breath and flexing his fingers around his sword, he comms the others. "Team, I got eyes on 'Hides' and his cronies. They're headed in the tower."
You leave DeX's place, the D-Lux, without any further issues or incidents. Concerned about Hyperkinetic's location, Arsenio steers you back by the hotel so you can check for messages, or to see if he is back in. Unfortunately, there is no sign of him. There is however a message from Inspector Micheaux, tagged as urgent.
When you bring it up, it is a video call in which she just says, "Captain Deloso; I've run into something very strange that I would you to look at - it may have something to do with the attack on the gate yesterday. I'm not sure, but I think one of your men may have been involved. You'll understand when you get here. The address is in the message details. Get here as quick as you can."
The young man wears an odd full-body jumpsuit, complete with hood that completely covers the head. He is holding a young woman...
When you look down at her you can see through her flesh, as if it is partially ghosted out. Only her bones appear solid, and they are quite visible through her body. She feels solid, but does not appear to be breathing.
"S*$@, I think I know that kid. But we need to get back to Jace. A short time to us is a loooong time to him.
"Sort of." Arsenio responds to Micheaux. "One of our new recruits was carrying someone like that when they were transported through a Rift. They weren't floating though."
While he mulls that over, he also gives the dead bodies a glance.
It apparently takes a moment to click as his face is hard to see and only semi-visible, but after a second you realize that the floating figure is Hyperkinetic. This would explain why you have not seen him since last night. First the girl he brought with him was altered like this, and now Hyperkinetic. The girl is still back at Castle Refuge, under observation, neither dead nor alive. Several mystics and a bio-medical techno-mage had looked her over, and none could find a scientific nor traditionally magic explanation for what had happened to her. The working theory was that the Vampire Lord that Rifted in with her had used her as some sort of metaphysical battery, draining her of something in order to fuel some working of his own magic.
Looking at the desicated pair of bodies your Read the Flames gives you... nothing. However this was done, there was definately no fire of any sort involved.
The walk over here took about 20 minutes or so, at a run you could probably make back in 5. If you hailed a cab, you could probably get back in 2, plus however long it took to find the cab.
"Delay.. I'll see what I can do." Clicking off his comms, Jace quickly looks around him. Knowing security, if he set something off, they would go into lock down and prevent everyone from leaving and entering the building, keeping 'Hides' out here in plain view. Though the world traveled at a much slower pace than he did, the two Juicers in front of him would be able to react to his movements if he didn't time it right. Planning out a route in his head, Jace sets his plan into a literal blur of motion. Racing towards the front door, he leaps through the security gate, grabs someone's cigarette, stamps it out, yelling, "No Smoking!" and then bolts back out the front door and just for fun, flicks the ear of one of the guards. He then bolts into the crowd of people and attempts to disappear. All of this occurs in less than 10 seconds...
Jace plays out the scenario in his head, like a recording of the future before a muscle even twitches, his mind working overtime on the results and possible consequences of what he had planned. Sighing, he sees the group approaching the doors and realizes that normal time is still moving forward. Cursing his predicament, Jace does what he does best and stops thinking and starts moving, running right into their path. "Hi! Remember me?" He waves his newly regrown hand at 'Hides'. "Now I wouldn't do anything, I don't know, crazy right now, considering, but then again, maybe I would. Thing is, we gotta have a chat and now's a good a time as any."
Hides sees you looking at him while you speak, so he seems to understand who you are addressing at least. He looks you up and down at a glance, a little dismissively perhaps.
"I'm sorry, who are you?"
Arsenio marks off "rogue Burster" as the cause of death, before doing a double take.
"Wait. Is that the kid?" he takes a closer look, confirming it's Hyper. "I didn't recognize him at first, but he's been missing since yesterday."
He pauses for a moment, connecting two things together.
"Oh, s*#@."
Is it that thing that chased Hyper out of the Rift? The "vampire"?