@Jonathan,
"yes we do Jonathan, it may mean you heading home in a blacked out limo but we should have time."
@Henrietta
"It saying it has feelings and really having this hard to say. She was genuinely confused about the date, and seemed to be acting very human. But in this day and age of complex language model AIs all that feeling could be mimicked. I suspect its somewhere in between, an Engram copy of her mind state or soul if you will."
The large fellow's haunts I think.
Agreed. Let's go meet (and smell) the man
Agreed.
The building's unassuming modern facade (three stories of clean brick and glass. Patios on the first floor screened by woven wood walls, polished metal railings on each floor above. Potted plants flank a secure front door with a buzzer system. Streetlights cast discreet cones of yellowish light on the sidewalk.
In the early morning, the street is quiet. No pedestrian traffic, no early morning joggers yet. A few car engines echo in the distance. A pair of alley cats slink by, tails low as though they sense something amiss.
At a distance, the building feels still, self-contained, like a set stage waiting for a show to begin. The apartment you want is in the back on the right, first floor.
"I smell the same smell that was at the water. We're at the right place. Shall we just go into his apartment and, what is the phrase, use some enhanced interrogation techniques on him? I should be able to just leap onto his balcony carrying a couple of you. I'm sure we already have the layout of the building, right? One moment though, let me see if my friends over there have anything to share"
She takes out 2 tins of cat food and approaches the 2 feral cats. After opening and putting down the cans sufficiently apart to not prompt a fight she waits a little bit for them to nosh out.
"hello my little friends. I'm interested in the smelly two legs who lives over there. Can you tell me anything about him?"
"Excellent. Can you describe the smell?" Jonathan replies to Sehkmet unconsciously revealing his enlarged canines. His eyes reflect a bit of light showing the supernatural predator within the clothes of a gentleman.
The vampire steps out of the vehicle looking at the horizon where the sun will rise, which is probably currently behind buildings now. "Please hurry your feline interrogation. My nemesis approaches."
"It is a bit hard to describe. The best that I can come up with is the smell of a human mixed with the smell of a fish. With the tang of necromnacy and just a smidgeon of various kinds of chemical smells"
Hathaway opens the door and indicates, Everyone who wants to steps out. But Hathaway stays in the Limo.
"I need to make some calls. Let me know if anything interesting happen."
And he gets on his mobile.
A calico cat slinks over to Sehkmet, walking figure eights around her legs, leaving her scent behind. She looks well fed, familiar with the streets but taken care of by someone nearby.
"That one smells like death and fish. Don't go there. He hurts us, hurts two legs like youse. But safe now. Not here now."
Jonathan and Sehkmet smell the familiar (to Sehkmet) mix of necrosis, humanity, and fish flesh. You smell a dog upstairs just as it begins barking loudly, muffled through the ceiling above. You also smell another familiar smell from the apartment across the hall from your target. A rotting human corpse.
Jonathan can easily move through any of the doors. They aren't hermetically sealed, being standard doors.
"Ah. I smell that mix of necrosis, humanity, and fish flesh, too. Foul. Must be evil." The vampire states humorously.
"There's also a rotting corpse across the hall from Dylan's apartment. It's probably too coincidental to be unrelated. Let me mistfully check it out." Jonathan dissolves into mist as you have seen him do countless times.
He flies up to enter the apartment with the rotting corpse through an outside, non-hermetically sealed window. He will stay in mist form and float through the apartment investigating.
"Do we go in? I know someone who can open the doors for us." Henrietta suggests teasingly. While her Ms. Hyde identity is a separate personality, they share memories.
”we go in. Not gonna let a friend confront danger alone. Your idea, you can do the honours. But please hurry.”
Jonathan finds that this apartment is in the middle of a renovation. The floor is stripped down to concrete, the bathroom and kitchen are without fixtures. In the center or the room is a toppled chair and, on the floor, the twisted and broken body of an elderly East Asian woman. In life, she was thin and wrinkled. The angle of her neck makes it clear that it is broken even with Jonathan's hasty inspection.
After floating around the apartment enough, Jonathan floats outside the apartment to join his team, as they prepare to enter the apartment illegally. He whispers, "The apartment is in the middle of a renovation. The floor is stripped down to concrete, the bathroom and kitchen are without fixtures. In the center or the room is a toppled chair and, on the floor, a twisted and broken body of an elderly, thin and wrinkled, East Asian woman. The angle of her neck makes it clear that it is broken."
He nods toward Dylan's apartment, "Is he home? Do we want to investigate? Then, call the police to investigate the neighbor's apartment?"
Henrietta groans. Her body twists and reshapes, becoming a muscular, seven-foot-tall monstrosity. Her skin takes on a greyish pallor and her eyes recess into her face, becoming little more than pinpoints of black amid the grey wrinkles. Her hair, once so beautifully fixed into a neat bun, now hangs loose, scraggly, and unkempt. She reaches out with a mighty fist and "knocks" on the door (with enough force to break it from its hinges). "Door's open," she says simply.
Hathaway calles around to sort the Governors fundraiser on his boat.
As he dose he tells the Driver to black out the Limi, so Jonathan will be alright heading back. It would be dawn soon. What ever was up there I would be of little use, so being down below and dealing with things here was better.
The apartment, I think. I believe that's where she and Sehkmet are standing.
The apartment, I think. I believe that's where she and Sehkmet are standing.
For those who have enhanced senses of smell, a strong odor of fruity vinegar with a hint of acetone washes over you as you open the door.
The apartment beyond the door is dark but for a beam of city light streaming through the windows, throwing the whole thing into a patchwork of light and dark. The fridge doors stand open, filling the room with the smell of rotting meat and vegetables.
Two whiteboards fill with wall and even the bathroom door closest to you. A treadmill and free weights scattered across the floor attest to a messy fitness regime.
The whiteboards are covered with neat writing that is overwritten with notes that become increasingly disordered. There are photos of the victims and news clippings about their deaths. There is also a photo of another woman of similar description on the board, this one with no news clippings or notes.
Photos of two other women, torn into pieces, lie scattered on the floor. There are also no accompanying news about them. Doors to a bathroom and bedroom stand open. There is a closed laptop on a coffee table.
to identify the smell
Sehkmet will go check out the weights. see what they're set for in order to get a very rough estimate of how strong this person is
"We need to see if we can identify these woman, especially the one with the intact photo, immediately"
Although I'm sure others are better at this, she'll do a quick image search of the 3 photos
"What is that smell?" Jonathan remarks asking no one in particular.
Remembering to keep his presence as light as possible in this apartment due to the developing abilities of forensic science, Jonathan touches nothing. Gives Greenway one less identity to hide. He prefers to be a legend or a myth.
Seeing the doors to the bathroom and bedroom, he walks down to them to investigate expecting nothing he cannot handle. He leaves the computer to those born since it was invented.
"Good of you to join us, Ms. Hyde.".
Helen is distressed to learn of a murdered woman across the hall, but as she can enter no more discretely than Ms. Hyde, she replies to Harker, "Do you know how long she has been dead?"
She follows the others into the other apartment, examining the clippings and writing of the notes on the whiteboard.
"No." Jonathan replies to Helen. "Perhaps, you would be able to uncover something useful. Let me unlock the door for you."
Before Jonathan checks out the bathroom and bedroom in Dylan's apartment, the vampire mist forms through the neighbor's door, reforms, unlocks the door, opens it, and returns to Dylan's apartment to investigate the bedroom and bathroom.
Passing Helen, he offers, "as you will."
Sehkmet recognizes the smell as triacetone triperoxide, an explosive that is easier to manufacture from commonly available chemicals used by terrorists around the world.
It seems to be concentrated in the left hand side of the room where there is a tv stand and a tv.
With a reverse image search, the intact image returns a hit of Dr. Cassandra Wells, faculty at Boston University in the History department. Some quick searching finds that she has published many papers on the economic history and exploitation of the Amazon river basin. She has offices in the Boston University History Museum.
Jonathan finds that the bathroom is a mess. The tub is filled with muddy water in which float some unusual spotted water lilies, green platforms with violet speckled spots.
On the sink, there are patches and strips and shreds of scaly translucent skin.
The boards contain a variety of medical notes and drawings detailing a series of data, temperature, heart rate, skin lesions.
Perhaps of more interest to Helen, there is a photo copy of a chapter of a book Folklore of the Amazonian People. It details the Yacuruna.
After perusing the bathroom, Jonathan calls to his companions, "who was asking about a plant earlier? There are several in the bathtub and some scaly skin in the skin." The vampire continues toward the bedroom.
"No." Jonathan replies to Helen. "Perhaps, you would be able to uncover something useful. Let me unlock the door for you."
After Jonathan checks out the bathroom and bedroom in Dylan's apartment, the vampire mist forms through the neighbor's door, reforms, unlocks the door, opens it, and returns to Dylan's apartment to investigate the bedroom and bathroom.
Passing Helen, he offers, "as you will."
"I've found the woman in the picture. Dr. Cassandra Wells of Boston University. I'm going to try her office number but seems unlikely at this time of night. Can one of you get her home number and address? I think we need to head over there RIGHT NOW"
With that, she dials the office number of Dr Wells
"Hmmm. Her life might be in danger. We should go."
As other ask about getting info, Hathaway makes come calls to the local bureau.
After perusing the bathroom, Jonathan calls to his companions, "who was asking about a plant earlier? There are several in the bathtub and some scaly skin in the skin." The vampire continues toward the bedroom.
[dice=Investigation (bedroom)]1d20+10"No." Jonathan replies to Helen. "Perhaps, you would be able to uncover something useful. Let me unlock the door for you."
After Jonathan checks out the bathroom and bedroom in Dylan's apartment, the vampire mist forms through the neighbor's door, reforms, unlocks the door, opens it, and returns to Dylan's apartment to investigate the bedroom and bathroom.
Passing Helen, he offers, "as you will."
The iron smell of blood and the sick sweet smell of infected wounds fills the bedroom. The bed is covered in twisted piles of sweat and blood soaked sheets and rags. It is as though a week's worth of bandage changes had just been tossed into piles. There are syringes scattered on the floor, empty saline bags in another pile. It would appear that someone recovered from serious injuries or surgery here.
"I've found the woman in the picture. Dr. Cassandra Wells of Boston University. I'm going to try her office number but seems unlikely at this time of night. Can one of you get her home number and address? I think we need to head over there RIGHT NOW"
With that, she dials the office number of Dr Wells
The call goes straight to voicemail. "Thank you for calling the office of Dr. Cassandra Wells. Dr. Wells is on sabbatical in 2025, so it may take some time to return your call. Please direct all press inquiries to the BU office of public relations."
As they rode in the limo to the apartment building, the group stating their intentions to slink into a specific apartment or two, Benjamin took a look around at the amazing abilities the others had and decides that they could handle the breaking and entering just fine. His unique ability, however, lent itself to Benjamin being the unseen watchdog. He would surveil the area, looking for signs of approaching sirens, prowling Amazonian fish monsters, or anything in between.
When the group exited the limo, Benjamin peeled off to hide in an alley or some other out of the way spot. There he stripped down and stashed his clothes out of sight. He's had a lot of experience hiding his bundle of clothes, so he knew how to recognize the best spots where they could remain unseen yet still readily available should he need them again. (And sometimes they would be gone when he came by to retrieve them or he wouldn't have the opportunity to retrieve them, and that's all right. That's just a minor hazard of the job.)
His communicator is a different matter, however. It could put the team or the maybe the entire organization in danger if it fell into the wrong hands. Fortunately, it was much easier to hide. He stashes the communicator nearby but in a separate location. Should his clothes be discovered, that doesn't mean his communicator will also be found.
Now completely invisible, Benjamin Griffin, the modern day Invisible Man, starts to move. He circles the building and wanders the halls of the apartment building, keeping an eye out for anything keeping an eye on the group. He's learned to be stealthy over the years, but if someone hears the brush of a footstep or hears a door close when nobody walks by, the human mind of observer is ready to provide an explanation to account for what their eyes are or are not seeing.
"Team, we have syringes and bandages back here in the bedroom. Does anyone want samples?" Hearing urgency and impatience from Sekhmet, Jonathan takes a deep breath near a bandage and syringe, so he can recognize it later.
On the second floor, Benjamin hears someone blasting metalcore in the apartment above the one the team is investigating.
Push them down and exhale water
Push them down and exhale blood
Push them down and exhale water
Push them down and exhale blood
… Breathe
You wanted this
And if we can't even trust ourselves how can we trust anyone else
And if we can't even trust ourselves how can we trust anyone else
It's not safe to swim today
It's not safe to swim today
It's not safe to swim today
It's not safe
… I don't think I can be saved
I don't think I can be saved
… This shallow water is my grave
I don't think I can be saved
… Breathe
Exhale blood
Push them down and exhale water
Push them down and exhale blood
As other ask about getting info, Hathaway makes come calls to the local bureau.
Hyde and Sehkmet are suddenly aware of a quiet, high pitched electronic whine from somewhere near the tv.
Helen picks up the book, noting to the others, "The student who was killed at Boston University was studying the Amazon." She tucks it under her arm for further examination later. When Harker fetches her to go over to the other apartment, she looks at the dead woman, with a sheen of sadness in her eyes.
As she looks her over, the frown of sadness furrows more deeply into anger. She speaks, not quite sounding like herself, in a strange accent belonging to no modern language. "Sacrilege! To leave the dead to rot like this. Her ka must be freed to move on to the next realm!"
She jerks slightly and speaks in her own voice. "The proper procedure would be to notify the authorities. They will... eventually... see her remains are properly cared-" A beat. The accented voice. "I will not trust the worthless servants of this city to carry out a sacred duty! Who are the gods she worships?"
Helen... or rather, Amunet, looks for symbols on the body or around the apartment suggesting her religious tradition.
”There is something coming from over there”
She then leaps over there looking for what she is hearing, ready to smash it or grab and throw it if it looks dangerous
Helen finds several perimortem blunt force injuries, suggesting the woman was beaten. But the cause of death is clearly strangulation. There are clear bruises in the shape of fingers around the throat. The spine was then broken at the C-5. The things that stand out are tiny puncture marks as though the fingers were tipped with sharp, pointed claws, there are some strange marks between the finger marks, and the strength with which the neck was broken was more than would be possible for even the strongest normal humans.
The woman wears a platinum necklace with a chai (ch pronouced like the ch in challah, not like the latte) pendant, a Hebrew charm meaning "life."
Sehkmet and Hyde rush to the sound. Hyde grabs the television and wrenches it from the wall. The wall mount holds to its moorings, tearing drywall and studs with it, revealing plastic pouches of a clear liquid lining one portion of the wall, and to the right of that, concealed behind a portion of the wall that was probably supposed to move in a way other than the way in which the giant woman is tearing it apart, a steel vault or safe door.
In that moment, a tiny explosive triggers the bags of explosive, bathing the room in fire and violence.
As the sturm and drang of the explosion settles (the room is filled with floating dust, the walls are cratered with shrapnel) the building's fire alarm system shrieks.
Before Jonathan realizes what is going on, he is lifted bodily and thrown against the far wall of the bedroom as the living room wall detonates. Fortunately, his body is supernatural and as hard as iron, so he picks himself up and casually walks to the remnants of the living room looking for his companions and threats.
Flippantly, he clearly asks, "what happened?", because the smoke and debris do not bother his vocal cords or non-existent breathing. But doesn't press the question, because their ears might still be ringing from the explosion.
His nonchalant response to the destruction of the room indicates that this is probably not his first time being blown up.