Having borrowed a company car, Sang-mi arrived at her apartment. After finding the place as she left it, she feels as though she's walked back in time.
She walked about the place, examining it, looking out the curtains where she suspects the KCP chronies were posted to watch for her, she grows a pang of resentment.
In the living room she finds an old photo from her childhood, the one possession she had left from that life long ago. In it her father, mother, and she all stand. Her mother was pregnant with a younger sister she would never meet, her father stood proud and dressed in his formals, then there was her... scuffed knees, bandage around her fist from a fight, and a big grin. Pulling the photo from the frame, she pockets it and tosses the frame onto a nearby seat.
After, she goes to a drawer she kept odds and ends in and fished around finding a sharpie marker. Returning to the living room she gathers up a white pillow from the couch and scrawls on to it 'I'm coming for you' in Cantonese, she would have written it in Korean, but had long since forgotten how to spell in the language. Leaving the pillow featured prominently toward the entry she turns to leave.
As she exits she pulls her hoodie tight, still embarrassed by her condition, and gives the apartment one last glance before turning to leave and return to the CSB
There's no sign of past intruders, not even a scuff mark or a disturbed rug.
Your apartment is fairly nice. Your agent at the time set it up. You haven't talked to him in ages, but he technically doesn't represent you anymore since you moved to Chicago. Part of you wishes you had a cat or something to come running up, having missed you. But then you think it probably would have died of starvation by now.
You remember you still have the business card and matchbook you took off the KCP agents who attacked you, might be a lead if you were so inclined to pursue that route.
As you're about to open your car door, you hear footsteps suddenly very close and someone reaches for your shoulder.
"Sang-mi." A man's voice. You don't recognize it.
Sang-mi smacked the hand away and turns defensively toward the voice.
"Who are you.." She said in a hushed tone, tilting the damaged part of her face away from the man. Her body postured like she wouldn't hesitate to lunge at the man if necessary.
The street outside your apartment is fairly busy, with regular pedestrian traffic and a busy street.
The man flinches back. "Whoa! Hey. Sorry. I'm Aaron. You're... Jun Xifeng right? Chu Sang-mi now? I heard you lived around here but I never thought I'd run into you--holy s#+# what happened to your face, is that for a movie? That looks awesome. Sorry, uh, would you sign this?"
He holds up a poster, one of your older Hong Kong flicks that was kind of your big break. Aaron grins sheepishly.
"Sorry again, that was stupid, I'm lucky you didn't kick me in the head! Actually that would have been kind of awesome."
Sang-mi squints at the man, trying to get a read on him, and also to calm herself down.
She looks down with surprise at the poster and admires it, perhaps a second too long. "Oh... Sorry." she says slightly embarrassed as she jumbled around her pockets and finds the sharpie from earlier.
Signing it she looks up at him, "Like Wushu movies? How did you find out I live here now?"
After she hands the poster back and pats Aaron on the arm.
"This? This is what happens when you get kicked in the head. Stay safe Aaron." she says pointing to her face, then smiling and turning to get into the car.
"Oh man, there's a lot of kung fu fans around here. Once somebody spotted you it made ripples. Biggest thing since John Cusack--did you know he lived here? And that he's a level six blackbelt in kickboxing? Anyway, we thought you were here for a film. Did a bunch of digging to try and get details on this new mystery film, only to find out you'd left Hollywood. And well, you know, from there... anyway, thanks a bunch! Holy crap."
He gawks openly after you say that last line, speechless as you drive away.
~~~
As you make your way out of the main city, and into the industrial area, you reflect on how much you've changed in what was actually a very short time. Or did you? Maybe this is who was underneath all along--the little girl who wanted to fight--and the movies were just a pretend fight, only halfway satisfying. Maybe this is the real you, finally breaking free and finding your purpose.
You drive up the ramp as the garage door automatically opens and pull into the dark garage. The door shuts behind you.
As you walk to find Elliot and begin some Espionage training, you notice again how much busier the HQ is. People in sharp suits and dresses occasionally walk past with clipboards, binders, and folders. Some look like the typical accountant types, but others hold themselves with military confidence. You pass the 'control room', and for once it's open and full of people monitoring screens and listening to headsets. You spot Elliot talking to a woman with glasses who's taking notes, at one of the stations.
He looks over as you approach. "Agent Chu," he says one more thing to the woman, quieter, before walking to meet you.
"I take it you're looking to do some more training. How you feeling?" He looks worried, and tired. But he always looks tired.
"Dat's Sang-mi or Sang, Elliot. Only the annoying voice calls me Agent Chu." She chuckles then looks around
"Busy yeah? I'm fine...Angry as hell and still hurt, but mostly pride. Had a good day."She smiles. "A young man recognized me from my acting days, first time I ever had someone ask me to sign a poster." Stepping to his side to start walking away she continues.
"How about you Elliot? How is your daughter? How are your injuries doing?" She seems strangely engaged, as though the earlier events infused her with some much needed vigor.
"Dante? Our handler?" Elliot shrugs and walks out of the command center with you to the hall where it's quieter.
"Hurt pride? You walked out into a hail of gunfire to save all our asses. But if that's not enough, I did do some research on those cartel that attacked the safehouse. That was a death squad of every high-ranking enforcer the cartel had at the time, all their best. Not petty thugs. They really wanted Frank dead. I'd say we did alright. And you especially."
Elliot's gaze is drawn to the bandage over your eye, but he walks alongside you towards the barracks to pick up some equipment before you two head out on training. "Glad to hear about your fan. I'll have to watch one of your movies sometime, now that things aren't so busy."
He walks in silence a moment after you bring up his daughter, then stops and turns to you in the hall. "Well, I've been... considering whether or not to bring it up with you. And here you are, doing it for me," he seems hesitant. "Honestly the only person I really trusted before was Mark, but as far as I'm concerned you died for us."
Elliot hesitates once more, then sighs, realizing he's just dragging this out. "My daughter is 16, and she's dating this...drug dealing, rocker type, tattoos and all that. Normally I'd feel like I'd have to, what, forbid it, or something? Not that that'd do a damn thing. But ever since--her mom died, I've felt like I can't be too strict on her. I guess because then she doesn't have anyone...softer to run to for comfort," he takes a deep breath. "I know this isn't professional, but I don't know who else to ask--certainly not Mark. Would you be willing to...talk to her? I, I mean we're going that way for your training anyway. Sorry, I know this isn't professional. I won't be hurt if you say no. It's alright," he watches you nervously for your reaction.
"Daun-teh...." She says to herself with a certain level of skorn.
Walking along side Elliot Sang-mi listens thoughtfully, glancing over once in a while and once catching him glance at her bandage. "I should have walked on his other side, note for later." She thinks to herself but doesn't let her body language change.
Becoming suddenly embarrassed as Elliot mentions the movies, she tries to play it off with a shrug, "Eh, dey aren't very good, too young and unrefined."
Stopping as he asks the question about his daughter, Sang-mi gives him a puzzled look. The expression changes then to a sterner look and she hits him in the arm, not in the "knuckle head way" but in the "I'm gonna leave a bruise" way.
"How can you do dis? Too strict!? Where is her stability then? where are her boundaries? When you take that away you allow your child to stray into dis. What she needed was stability!" Sang-mi gets flustered, clearly she fought to work those words out and would have had more if she had a better mastery of the language.
She sighs exasperated and continues, "Elliot, You honor me with your request of help. I don't know dat I am a good person to turn to, I was never an American child, I have only known hardship and Wushu.... Unless you are asking me to crush dis boy with my fist?" She touches his arm and gives a sympathetic smile, clearly trying to be funny and lighten the mood.
Her demeanor takes on a slightly more serious tone, "I would do anything for you or Mark, you are my brothers." Her hand gripping his sleeve.
Elliot flinches reflexively when you hit him, then relaxes.
He looks at you with vague surprise after your outburst, but listens. After you finish he walks into the barracks quietly, grabbing a dufflebag from his locker and slinging it on his shoulder, then looks at you again.
"I'll think about it. Maybe you're right. I feel like I'm one misstep away from losing her. Maybe I've been too cautious because of that," he takes a breath, chuckling lightly. "Anyway thanks. Ready to do some training?"
It's about 1pm. Elliot drives you in a company car into downtown Chicago, it takes about twenty minutes. It's windy and overcast, but pleasant enough. He doesn't initiate any conversation, and if you ask about the training he says he'll fill you in once you arrive.
He pulls into the parking structure of a hotel simply called The Glass. It's a very luxurious looking skyscraper among other skyscrapers, and even the parking structure is up-scale. He pulls up to the valet stand and gets out, handing the keys off to a blonde-haired 20-something guy who seems to take his job very seriously.
You step into the fancy mirror-covered elevator with Elliot. He turns to you, steps to the left a bit, then gestures upward, drawing your attention to a security camera. "Unlike the movies, these kinds of systems rarely have audio. But keep in mind them reading your lips."
He presses the L button.
The lobby is full of people coming and going in expensive clothes, but also staff. Elliot adjusts his dufflebag and leads you to the hotel bar, saying as he walks, "Alright, here's your task. I'm going to go get a room, and then I'm going to pay someone to go try and buy you a drink. And I'm going to slip a copy of our room key into one of their pockets. All you have to do is get that room key and meet me up there."
Before you can turn to ask any questions, he's not beside you anymore. That...shouldn't have been possible. The crowds are sparse and there's no cover anywhere near to hide behind, but he's just gone.
You're right in front of the fancy hotel bar. This SONG is playing very loudly inside.
Inside is all glass, lights, and black marble. The floor even sparkles in the light. Currently there's only a couple people inside, talking at a table nearby. The bar itself is empty. You get a weird sense of Déjà vu, almost expecting Sandy to be behind the bar, but it's a rather plain-looking but sharply groomed 30-something man. He nods.
After a bit of time in silence Sang-mi glances over at Elliot. "Deh fact you care will be important to her, you just have to let her know." She turns her head to look back out the window after.
Sang-mi is clearly out of her element here, a bit uncomfortable, and looking around semi-suspiciously at the well dressed people. After Elliot tells her the situation she lifts a finger to ask a question and is spooked when he just vanishes. "F@!*." She says to herself and walks over to sit at a table away from the bar and looking out toward the lobby.
A few minutes later an older business man walks in and goes to the bar, looking around the place briefly, notices you looking at him, nods, and orders a drink. But he doesn't go over to you.
Sang-mi sits at the table and watches the gentleman trying to get a read on his body language before making her move.
"He did say they would come to me, didn't he?" she thinks to herself.
The man definitely looked right at you, and has glanced over once more. You're not getting an 'interested' vibe, either. Then again, your reasoning is sound--unless Elliot meant for you to be at the bar...?
You realize, even at this distance, when he looked over the first time his gaze went straight to your bandaged eye, and his second glance was out of curiosity that was quickly shut down as he felt guilty for looking. Now he's sulking a little bit. No indication that he recognized you from a description or has any intention of coming over. Probably not your target.
The TV above the bar is on a news channel, and it's a little hard to make out over the loud music. The title of the story going on right now does catch your eye: DEA raids Cartel.
Dozens of individuals linked to the Mexican drug Cartels arrested across Chicago for a plethora of charges such as drug smuggling and money laundering. Over $150 million dollars were seized, over 8,000 pounds of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana, hundreds of guns, including gold-plated assault rifles, and even illegal exotic pets like panthers and tigers. New Attourney General Janet Reno said that these raids were in response to growing Cartel boldness, and that they were successful in part because of inter-agency cooperation.
Coming up, the Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve is closed to visitors. Roadblocks are at each of the Preserve's entrances. Find out why, after this.
After another few minutes, a younger man, maybe 25, comes in. He's wearing a jean jacket, but seems confident enough walking into a fancy bar. Dark hair, clean shaven, boyish chin. He looks around, spots you, goes to the bar, buys two drinks and walks straight over to you. Not very subtle.
"Hey," he slides over one of the bottles of Smirnoff Ice, watching you with interest, expectantly.
Sang-mi looks to the young man a little surprised by his forwardness.
"Hi..." She says blinking and looking at the drink.
"What's dis?" she reaches forward and picks up the bottle and smells it, then looks back at the young man with a look like 'What next?'
He raises his eyebrows, giving Sang-mi a look like 'Yeah, what is next?'
Sang-mi gets annoyed that the man is just sitting there making fake googly eyes at her instead of talking. For the briefest moment she considers punching him out and taking the keys, but realizes this is a poor idea. 'Still, it would make me feel better'
She just smiles at the man and takes a swig, flinching a moment at the flavor, then chuckling.
"Wow, never had before. So what brings you to my neck of dah woods cowboy?" she smiles again and glances around the room then back to him.
He takes a drink, leans back and crosses his arms.
"Okay, what? What the crap is this?" He laughs, uncertain. "Your friend paid me a hundred bucks to go buy some woman a drink. All I could guess is that you two were swingers? I really have no idea. Am I done here? Can I just leave?"
You hear an echo of the nightmare you had: "You lost, chica?" and mocking laughter.
The man at the bar seems to have relaxed and stopped sulking. The two women at the table across the bar are chatting about Seinfield. You catch a few words from the TV like quarantine and federal.
Sang-mi is visibly frustrated at this point. "Oh..." She takes a big drink from the bottle. "Dat was probably my friend. You see I'm an aspiring actress, I had a very bad accident and haven't been feeling confident. He tries to make me feel better all the time, he probably payed you hoping a handsome man talking to me at random would me feel more confident."
She sits back in her seat and raises a brow, taking another swig. "Check your pockets, give me the room key he slipped in there." She glances toward the bar, slightly disgusted.
"Unless of course you want to gripe more about getting paid merely to talk to somebody." She says dismissively.
He raises an eyebrow, almost doesn't check this pockets, but then curiosity gets the better of him.
"Huh," he says, holding the keycard up, then slowly slides it over to you. [s]"So...am I...coming up with you?"[/b]
She reached across and grabbed the key card. Taking one last swig she stands and smiles. "We're past dhat point now, but maybe next time."
she said the bottle back toward him and pats him on the shoulder. "Thanks for the drink, don't spend all dat money in one place."
She turned and heads for the elevators to head up to the room
You take the elevator up to the 17th floor and go to the room. Inside, there's an open duffel bag of electronic equipment on the bed and Elliot is out on the balcony smoking. The room is very nice, even by celebrity standards.
If you join him on the balcony:
He waits until you shut the sliding glass door, then gestures back at the room, "Most people don't bother bugging the balconies. It's not a guarantee, of course, some are more thorough than others."
Elliot turns to face you fully and leans on the glass and steel railing. It's a loooong way down, and a little windy. "And those doors are very well insulated," he takes a long drag on the cigarette. "So, we're going to practice two things, but first, I want that room swept for bugs. We can only talk about it out here. Once we go inside, we'll only have gestures to communicate with. If you accidentally let something important slip out loud, I fail you."
"After that, we're going to do some role-play in the hallway. But first," he gestures back to the room in a 'after you' way.
Elliot goes to the duffel bag and hands you something that looks like a wand a bouncer would use to scan someone for metal objects. He flicks a switch on the bottom and it lights up.
He gives you vague, silent directions, and helps you along the way.
Advantage
Advantage
Advantage
Once in the room Sang-mi complies, a smidge tipsy from the drink. The effort reminds her of long afternoons cleaning the dojo back in Hong Kong.
It's a slow process.
Elliot starts you off at the closet, then the bathroom, then starting at one corner of the room and working slowly along the walls, then checking the interior and ceiling fixture. Frequently he stops you and gestures for you to go back and sweep an area more thoroughly. Eventually the little wand lights up all the way on its indicator and you start poking around trying to find the bug. You have to pry open the bottom of a table lamp to find the little electronic device stuck inside. And then you continue searching the room. It takes the better part of six hours of mind-numbing work before you have a little pile of five 'bugs' on the bed by the duffel bag.
He gives you a questioning thumbs up with a tilt of the head, like think you got them all?
You, perhaps hesitantly, nod.
"Normally, you'd never be absolutely certain, but in this case yes you did get them all. Nice work. Don't worry, it gets quicker."
The "hallway roleplay" Elliot mentioned is a little less mind-numbing.
You start at the elevator, and Elliot starts coming out of the hotel room. Then you walk past each other, you smile, he smiles back, and you try to palm the key off him as you pass. The next time he's busy looking at a magazine as he walks. The time after that he puts the key in a different pocket just as he's leaving the hotel room and you barely spot it. Next he whistles and checks you out. Then he's pretending to angrily talk into a big brick cell phone.
Your first attempts are straightforward, just trying to grab the key in time, and he catches you, and you reset.
After a couple hours he signals you to stop.
"That's enough for one day. We're going to repeat this exact routine, day after day. Bar, guy with a key, meet me up here, sweep the room, I tell you how you did, then the hallway game. Repeat, repeat, repeat. And you're going to get better."
He holds out the infamous room keycard. "In the meantime, the room's yours if you want it. Room service courtesy of Uncle Sam."
The repetition might be a bit annoying, or comforting. Every time it's a new face in the bar, some clueless guy (and occasional woman) not sure what they're doing but happy to make a hundred bucks. Every time Elliot has hidden the bugs in new spots, and patiently helps you find them. Every day he comes up with some new slight variation or challenge to add to the hallway game.
Some of your time is devoted to physical therapy and recovery, doctors checkups and the like, but you do get some free time to relax--unlike the bootcamp-esque training you went through when you first joined.
This goes on for about a month, and you're starting to really improve. You're doing almost as well finding bugs on your own as you were with Elliot's help, and you can swipe that hotel keycard pretty smoothly. Some days you save time by just pickpocketing the clueless guy as he walks in the bar.
~~~
Eventually, Elliot says you've graduated, and checks out of the hotel.
It's Halloween night, and you're riding shotgun in a company car with Elliot. He hasn't told you where you're going, but you know it has to do with your next course of training.
"At Interpol, most recruits had basic investigative experience. They knew how to do a stakeout, how to follow people, on foot or in a car, they knew how to listen in on phonecalls. But their hand-to-hand training was very basic. It was good enough to control a drunk into the back of a squad car, but not much more. Hand-to-hand fighting takes much longer to train, a lifetime even--I don't need to tell you that."
He's driving you north, past downtown and into the less dense part of Chicago where the buildings are never more than four or five floors.
"What I'm getting at is that in a very short time you're already a very good field agent. You came in as probably the best hand-to-hand fighter in the CSB, there's nothing I could teach you there. Your first mission was...brutal. I'm proud of you. You've come a long way. And so..." He hesitates, and you realize he was probably just buttering you up for what he's about to say next.
"I have to step it up, really challenge you. Which is why...you're probably not going to like this next training course, but it's necessary."
He parks in a neighborhood of unremarkable brick apartment complexes and storefronts, and points across the street.
"That's Mark's apartment building. You're going to be tracking and recording everything he does." He waits for your reaction.
Sang-mi stares a moment at Gruse, then her expression changes to a delighted smile.
"Ha ha! Elliot, you had me worried. After our talk, I expected you were really going to have me beat up dat Rocker punk we talked about last month." She smiles and slaps his knee, a look of excitement crossing her face.
"Follow Mark, now dats fun!" A slight fiendish expression crossing her lips.
Suddenly becoming a little aware she turns to look at Elliot. "Oh, and if you do want me to beat up dat boy you just gotta ask." She says, maybe only half joking.
Elliot smiles, relieved. "You'll have to meet her someday, I'd like that."
He nods and thinks. "Now...following a regular person is one thing, but following someone trained is something else. And it's not just the difference in skill. People who live dangerous lives and understand how surveillance works are more wary, they understand that they're more likely to get spied on than the average person, typically have more secrets to keep, and they know what to look for. Higher risk, and bigger bet. Add on their experience and skill and it's a whole different ballgame."
"Which is why we're doing this--well, it's why you're doing this. I'll be in close contact with you, and we'll meet up regularly, but for the day to day stuff you're on your own."
He gets out of the car, leaving the keys in the ignition, and leans down to say something more.
"The duffel bag of espionage equipment is in the back seat, and there's an M4 in the trunk in case of...surprises. But I'm not worried, you can care of yourself. Gather as much information about his day-to-day as you can and write a full report. Thirty days."
After answering any questions you might have, Elliot lights a cigarette, pulls his coat close and walks off down the busy Chicago sidewalk. People are loud, laughing, drinking, despite the night's icy wind. A few are even in costume, and you spot a group of kids trick-or-treating.
Mark's apartment is on the third floor, facing the road. His curtains are drawn. You're not sure if he's home or not.
What do you do?
Sang-mi Shrugs watching Elliot disappear into the distance. Turning she gets into the car and takes a short drive looking for a costume store (or equivalent) and purchase herself a swaggerly pirate costume (eyepatch appropriate). As with most female adult sized costumes it's a tad showy for her tastes but she makes due with it. After she also buys a pumpkin pale and a mix bag of candy and loads the pale up.
Returning to the Mark's, she waits and hunts down some trick-or-treaters (ones not accompanied by parents of course, this is the 90's after all). And offers up some cash money for them to go into the building with her and pretend she's their sister watching over them. She'll lead them around, still getting candy clearly, but taking stock of the lay of the building. Then she'll doubly focus on neighbors, especially if there's a kindly old woman or similar. She'll also look for good spots for surveillance equipment and take note of the apartment number and the mail box situation.
As you walk, you catch a few wafts of alcohol and the sulfur of fireworks. The costume store is busy with last-minute shoppers. You even see a few people in drag picking up accessories to add to their outfits. In the changing room you note that the prayer beads you've been wearing lately actually work with the pirate costume. The store clerk is a younger lady in glasses with a couple star tattoos on the inside of her arm, who squints at you when you bring the costume up to the counter. "Aren't you...Nevermind," and rings you up. You notice she's still staring as you leave, as if trying to remember where she knows you from.
The first group you see is a group of three black girls, the youngest maybe 10 and the oldest in her early teens. From youngest to oldest they are dressed as: Belle, Jasmine, and Ariel. The oldest is clearly the caretaker of the group. 'Ariel' sizes you up, negotiates another dollar out of the deal, then accepts. You have to nearly skip to keep up as they run from door to door, giggling and collecting candy. By the 2nd floor 'Belle' is trying to hold your hand.
The mailboxes take up a wall right after the main entrance, which you would normally have to be buzzed in for, but someone has propped the door open with a jack-o-lantern tonight.
Most of the people who answer the doors are over 50 and it's pretty quiet. One old man stands out as especially kindly, maybe in his early 80's in a button-up shirt and a tweed cap, grey-haired but clean shaven.
Eventually the kids stomp up the stairs to the third floor and start making their way apartment-by-apartment towards Mark's door. Do you want to try and slip away, persuade them not to, something else?
As Sang-mi is playing the part, she won't mind holding Belle's hand as they walk.
As the kids start to make their way toward Mark's door she stops them for a moment. "I'm going to wait over there for a moment don't go too far after you've knocked on that door." The entire time she makes no gesture or glance toward Mark's door instead pretending to gesture toward many doors and to meet back at this spot with her hands, then thumbs towards the last cross hallway (unless there is none, the back toward the stairs). She then heads of to duck out of sight and watch as the girls knock on Mark's door.
The little girl dressed as Belle beams brightly up at you and has a permanent smile the rest of the trick-or-treating. She seems to think you are the coolest.
The oldest ('Ariel') eyes you suspiciously then holds out a hand for another dollar.
They knock on door 304...knock again... the middle girl dressed as Jasmine says "Trick-or-treat!" at the closed the door. Eventually, the door opens and you see Mark. He looks around then down at the girls with a forced smile. "Trick-or-treat," they all say. He goes back in for a moment, then comes back, giving something to each of them and closing his door.
The girls walk away frowning and staring into their candy pales, pulling something out of them and muttering to each-other. You hear one reading, "Pro-tee-in? What the heck is that."
"Language, sheesh," another chastises.
Sang-mi continues with the girls through the building, utilizing the benefit of having a cover to investigate the building more thoroughly. She'll look around for alternative points of entry, fire escapes, building security, etc.
After finishing off the building she will lead the kids around the corner and give them the bag of mixed candy and her pail as a bonus for their help.
"Share dis with kids who aren't as lucky as you, I'm counting on you." She instructs 'Ariel' as she hands it over, viewing her as the most responsible.
After thanking them and parting ways, Sang-mi will change into more nondescript clothes for blending in and spend the rest of the night planning where to plant the surveillance equipment and how she's going to monitor Mark.
You part ways and start walking back to the car, when you hear a man's familiar voice whisper behind your left ear: "Mira por allí, chica."
Turning quickly, you see a woman about thirty feet away. The sidewalk is crowded and busy, yet there she is, as if under a spotlight. She has burning red hair, porcelain skin with red lipstick, and wears a rich green gown with a matching green masquerade mask. People seem to avoid touching her as they pass. The woman meets your eyes with hers, green like her dress, and smiles as if she just caught you, and now you're in trouble. You could swear her eyes flash red like coals--but someone walks past, breaking your line of sight, and she's gone. Completely gone.
You're left with the familiar mocking laughter as you return to your car.
Looking through the equipment, you find tiny cameras, audio recorders, phone taps, lockpick kits, a kit for copying door keys,
You have a few options for where to base your operation:
A) Most risky, best spot: There's a vacant apartment in the building, Apt. 404, it's directly above Mark's room. This would be the easiest way to monitor his every move and word as your bugs wouldn't have to transmit very far (no interference). You could break in and squat there, try to acquire it legally at some cost, or something else creative. It would be a comfortable place to work from, but you'd have to be constantly vigilant to avoid detection.
B) Medium risk, good spot: You could work out of the car. It would be cramped, with nowhere to go to the bathroom, and Mark might notice the car even if you move it regularly. Benefit is that you're mobile at a moments notice. For example, if Mark took a taxi, you could immediately follow him. If there was interference in your bugs' signal you could move closer.
C) Lowest risk, okay spot: There are multiple vacancies in the apartment across the street from Mark's. They would provide near zero risk of being spotted, but it might make monitoring him more difficult.
The CSB takes care of your request, and marks off the cost as work-expense.
Setup Phase
Make an Intelligence (Disguise Kit) roll for your blonde-glasses disguise, and a Dexterity (Stealth) roll to avoid getting spotted by Mark.
The disguise isn't great, and you weren't sure what to do about your missing eye, it makes you pretty unmistakable. The disguise won't withstand any sort of scrutiny. Still, it's better than nothing, and at least you won't be instantly recognizable at a glance.
Between your spying and your hired help, you work out Mark's basic schedule. Though once or twice you have to let him go or else get spotted, so it's not thorough yet. The main gap is you don't know where he goes to Friday nights.
You try to follow him in your car, but you're pretty sure he's glanced up at his rear-view mirror too many times so you back off, resolving to try again next Friday.
Week One
First off, make another general Dexterity (Stealth) check for how well you're staying unnoticed this week.
Your apartment is ready, under a false identity, and you get set up without issue, using the gaps in Mark's schedule. For one, you can move freely while you know he's at the CSB HQ and you don't have to be. If you want to break into his apartment make a Dexterity (Lockpick Kit) check. If you want to set up audio and/or video monitoring, roll an Intelligence (Wiretapping Kit) check.
And let me know anything else you want to do this week.
Through a miracle of bad luck, every time Sang-mi tries to break into Mark's apartment, someone randomly walks by and she has to abort. Finally, in the brief window when Mark goes out for groceries, she manages to pick the lock and--it's also dead-bolted. Of course it is. As she starts working on the deadbolt the timer in her pocket goes off, indicating Mark could get back soon, and she has to cancel again.
She is, however, successful in thoroughly bugging the areas outside his room and in the entryway, even a camera in the alleyway behind the apartment, just in case. All of it hooked up to her little command center set up in the apartment above Marks. An array of monitors for the cameras, and an audio switch system to listen to different bugs, as well as a deck of recording equipment that automatically records when a bug detects the subtle vibration in the air of people talking.
Through all of this she stays very well undetected, disappearing in crowds, perfectly avoiding Mark's path as she follows his schedule, etc.
It takes a little while, but on Thursday she finds the right person to help with her disguise. It gets upgraded with dark sunglasses that hide her missing eye, a new haircut, and a handful of new outfits that drastically contrast her usual style, but still fits in with what a local might wear.
Thursday, as she returns to her new apartment for the night and goes to bed, she realizes how far she's progressed. This is real spy s&%~ she's doing, like in the movies. And there's real risk too, Mark could legitimately shoot her if she f~**ed up, before he realized it was her. It's not really clear where the line was between actor caught up in a crazy situation and real-life spy, but this felt...natural, good, right, powerful.
She has a very familiar dream...
It's the same circular steel room, but this time you're not blind. It's still very dark, but you can see dimly around you. The floor is smooth metal and your footsteps make no sound on it. Walking slowly through the darkness, reaching to search for the wall again, your hand touches a man's shoulder and he spins around startled, eyes wide.
This jolts Sang-mi awake, and the feeling of being trapped in that metal prison lingers. The image of that man's face is hard to focus on in memory, but you're certain you've seen him before. One of the Cartel you killed in that gunfight maybe?
Friday Night
Another chance at following Mark wherever he goes Friday nights, the one gap in your surveillance.
Make another general Dexterity (Stealth) check.
Sang-mi shoots up in bed, drenched in a cold sweat and chest pounding. She stumbles her way to the bathroom and flicks on the light. Standing in front of the sink mirror she splashes her face with cool water trying to calm her nerves.
"Who are you?", she whispered, barely recognizing the face staring back in the reflection. A hot wash of anxiety and bitterness overcomes her for a second at the prospect of the hallucinations being a product of the gunshot injury.
Turning her head away she gathers herself, there was a mission to accomplish and doubt would only hold her back. She glanced back at the mirror one last time before leaving, then prepared for the day.
You wait in the car to follow Mark, and like clockwork he steps out of the apartment building.
You follow his red jeep back out of the nice neighborhoods into the slummy part of town. It's about a 30 minute drive. Throughout the drive you keep good distance and always keep a car between you and Mark. You're certain he didn't notice you following him.
Mark pulls up to a warehouse-like building with dozens of cars parked outside, people coming and going, crowding around the doors and smoking. You park a block away and follow on foot, raising the hood of your sweater and adjusting the sunglasses closer on your face. You watch Mark walk in, and you begin to follow after him, about fifty feet behind. As you get closer you can hear awful live music blasting from inside and the smell of tobacco and marijuana smoke hits you immediately.
Stepping inside, through the small crowds gathered outside, you can now see the interior of the "warehouse". It's been converted into huge a bar/dance club with a band on stage and various colored spotlights flashing to the music. There must be a hundred people inside--easy to blend into. You tail Mark through the crowds, and watch him approach the bar, ordering some kind of drink but not sitting, he just watches the band.
You find a decent spot away from the center, close enough to Mark but not too close, and watch. Almost immediately, all the spotlights of the house shine down on the center of the dance-floor and the crowd goes crazy, whooping and cheering as they back away from the light. Their absence forms a neat circle in the center as the band cuts out and a man's voice booms over the speakers.
"What the f!~! is up tonight we got so many hopefuls ya'll fit to burst. Gonna start out with some pros tonight then open the floor to newbies and just keep it going all f$@*ing night!"
The crowd roars.
"First up we got longtime veteran Alejandro Murphy versus eight to zero Jake Meyer!"
Two men from the crowd step into the cleared circle, one of them shirtless and the other wearing a black shirt with the sleeves ripped off. A man in a fake viking helmet steps up and signals them to begin. The band immediately starts playing again, and the fight starts. The sound of their fists hitting each other is like meat being tenderized. There's no gloves. The band is s!*!ty and loud. Eventually the shirtless man gets knocked down and beaten while prone until the 'viking' ref stops the fight, raising the hand of the winner.
"Alejandro Murphy! Tough f+&@ing fight. You'll get him next time Jake. Up next we got another veteran, Billy Price, fighting one of our regulars, Mark Lareson! Can you believe these two have never fought before? It's a match made in hell!"
You see Mark move through the crowd and take his shirt off as he enters the circle. A few people pat him on the back as he goes, encouraging him by name. He seems popular here. The other man that steps forward, 'Billy Price' you assume, is a giant of a man, bald and well over six feet tall with massively broad shoulders, who ought to be playing pro football. Mark looks a full head shorter than him in comparison, and half as broad.
Viking ref starts the fight, and the band starts too (they're awful and way too loud).
Mark comes right at the big man, hammering away with body shots. The fight goes on for a solid eight minutes, and you see Mark take hits that should have knocked him out cold but somehow he's still standing and aggressively full of energy even as the big man slows down, panting, tiring out, and blood all over his face. Mark has a swollen eye but no blood on him--just his hands. Billy goes for a slow tired swing and Mark lunges down for his legs, taking him to the ground and the fight ends just like the last.
"Hell of a fight as always. F$@! I've always wanted to see that match, haven't you? Great f%@*ing spirit from the both of them. Alright someone mop down that floor for some FRESH BLOOD! That's right, we're opening it up. Cash prize is five hundred for winners, but the real prize is the glory am I right? F&*# yeah!"
Your attention shifts to Mark as he puts his shirt back on and collects an envelope of what you assume is cash, then starts making his way through the crowd towards the exit. You check your watch...add in the 30 minute drive and Mark will be home right on time, like clockwork. Guess he doesn't make any stops before home.
You now have his complete schedule and have succeeded in your mission tonight, while staying perfectly undetected. You're free to go home and move this along, or whatever else you want. The night's yours.
Making note of this place for 'future research' Sang-mi rolls out. The choice is difficult as the opportunity to flex her muscle is incredibly enticing.
Once home she'll begin working on a full write up to present to Elliot in the morning.
Before ending the night she'll go out for a bit of a workout, still being slightly pumped from the fight night.