At Agent Kronos' mention of a telepathic Ace capable of possession, Manny shakes his head. "Well, there goes my theory that he was duped, and not coerced."
Listening to the rest of his report, he thinks out loud, "If she died after LaPointe, and her body shows signs of restraints, she might have been left at his house by whoever sprung Cannibal, as a 'getaway vehicle.'" He looks up, "I don't think there is any real chance that Cannibal is still in her form now, but LaPointe's body would have been too obvious. Still, no reason not to check it out."
He steps out of the cell, turning to Ms. Gendrone with a grin, "I imagine that I won't be able to just walk out of here."
Ms. Gendrone looks to Kronos.
"If you folks have seen enough down here we can head back upstairs. I can show you the files we have on LaPointe and Kazinski. If you want you can see LaPointe's body or visit with our psychologist. However, I understand that you might want to wish to go to LaPointe's appartment while the crime scene is still fresh."
It's not too difficult to get the inmate on janitor duty alone for a minute to speak with him.
At Agent Kronos' mention of a telepathic Ace capable of possession, Manny shakes his head. "Well, there goes my theory that he was duped, and not coerced."
Listening to the rest of his report, he thinks out loud, "If she died after LaPointe, and her body shows signs of restraints, she might have been left at his house by whoever sprung Cannibal, as a 'getaway vehicle.'" He looks up, "I don't think there is any real chance that Cannibal is still in her form now, but LaPointe's body would have been too obvious. Still, no reason not to check it out."
He steps out of the cell, turning to Ms. Gendrone with a grin, "I imagine that I won't be able to just walk out of here."
** spoiler omitted **
It's not too difficult to get the inmate on janitor duty alone for a minute to speak with him.
Manny approaches him and looks around to make sure that nobody is directly listening. "Hey man. I need to know if anyone snuck ol' Cannibal there any information in the last week, strictly below channels." Before the janitor can protest, "Don't even start with the 'that don't happen here' story. I *know* it happens, and I just wanna know if someone passed him a note before it all went down."
He looks around again, reinforcing that this is supposed to be a private chat, and adds, "I can either tell Ms. Gendrone that you were cooperative, or didn't know squat and had a bad attitude, whichever *you* prefer, 'cause I know sometimes a reputation for being 'too helpful' can be worse than a death sentence in a place like this."
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1740616/
He keeps his head down and continues to work. His strangely textured skin is disturbing and he has an odd musky odor about him. "Lot's of stuff happens here, but I don't know anything about nuthing like that," he mumbles as he mops.
Michelle has moved into the hub area leading the other agents back to firestairs as per Marko's request. However, she seems to notice you hanging back and chatting with the inmate. She calls back to you in a firm voice.
"We're leaving agent Marquez. Come join us."
Manny, quite possibly for the first time today, drops his grin and looks annoyed, but it quickly passes and if the Joker can see his face, he'll see that it's not directed at him.
He pats the janitor on the shoulder with a quiet, "Thanks man." and then rejoins the others.
Michelle takes you into the stairwell, though there is little to see here it is basically just a fire stairwell. LaPointe was the only one believed to have used it, and there is nothing of interest you can see in it.
Still she takes you up some distance, but not to the top, and eventually she stops at a landing. She swipes a card on the door and you step out into another room that is a hub for several long hallways. She leads you to a set of transparent doors that accesses one of the halls, swipes her card again and she takes you into the sterile hall beyond.
"This is our medical wing," she says as she leads you down the hall. You see several doors on the left side, but none on the right. Several meters up ahead of you the hall stops at a set of sliding double doors. These ones are opaque, and you can't see what is beyond them. However they suddenly open and a middle aged man in a doctor's outfit comes through holding a clip board. Just before the doors close you catch a quick glimpse of what is beyond, but it seems to be only more hallway.
Spoiler for Manny
The man walks toward the agents, and Michelle introduces him as he approaches.
"Greetings doctor Boroughs. These gentlemen are special agents working for SCARE. They have been sent here to help investigate the Kazinski inncident."
The doctor seems to be looking you all over with a very appraising gaze. He nods.
"I see. Pleased to meet you gentlemen."
Michelle continues and directs her words your way.
"Dr, Boroughs is our head physician."
She then continues to talk to Boroughs
"These men would like to have a quick look at LaPointe's body. I have to go retrieve a few files for them to look over. Could you show them to the morgue."
He nods compliantly. She then turns back to you.
"Dr. Boroughs will assist you. I'm going to go get the documents you wish to see and then I'll be back. There is an office back down the hall where we can meet in a few minutes. I'll try to be quick, as I'm sure you are in a hurry to press on with your case."
She then goes back down the hall the way you came and exits the sliding transparent doors.
Boroughs says, "Follow me."
He then takes you up to the opaque sliding doors, and swipes his card. You head through and into the hall beyond. It is essentially an extension of the previous hall and shares the same sterile look and feel. You don't go far before he stops at a shiny steel door. He swipes his card through a scanner, and the door opens. The room beyond is small. Only one wall has the typical body fridge doors, and it has merely 8 such doors.
"Our morgue is small. We generally are only a very temporary storage facility for corpses. Any body's generally receive an autopsy here and then are moved along. We still have LaPointe's body, but it will be shipped to a funeral home tomorrow."
He then moves towards one of the doors and pulls it open and slides out the metal shelf that holds the corpse. The corpse is in a black plastic body bag. He unzips the bag. It looks like the mortician will have to do some work to get him cleaned up. His throat has clearly been torn out, and it looks pretty much as you expected it would.
Spoiler for Manny
Spoiler for Kronos
Manny attempts to keep his composure, but in the face of the doctors close look over the group, throws out an excuse for his discomfort, "Woah, nelly! He's dead all right." He then look apologetic at his outburst, "Sorry. I've been a desk jockey, for the most part, we don't see a lot of dead people. I'm sure this is old hat for you."
He puts on a 'toughing it out' expression and peeks with visible distaste at Alain's injuries. "No signs that any brain tissue was removed, so our perp wouldn't necessarily know anything that LaPointe knew, save from any effects or identification on his person."
The doctor nods. He seems to be staring very intently at Manny.
Pixie fights off a momentary shudder of nausea, the state of the corpse is ghastly but she has seen worst. Taking a deep breath she hovers closer to the corpse and carefully investigates it for clues.
She glances over at Manny and then back at the Doctor. The doctor is staring rather strangely at Manny. Worried she slowly hovers behind the doctor trying to sense the motive in his stare.
Manny looks away from the corpse with a deep breath, then covers his mouth with the back of his hand, as if regretting that choice and responds with a quip, "I think my choice of breakfast is disagreeing with Cannibals..."
He seems to compose himself enough to add, "We'll need some DNA, think you could do the honors, Agent Kronos?"
He then steps slightly away from the body and looks for an unoccupied examination table or workbench to lean on, trying to keep his face away from either the doctor, or any mirrored surfaces.
Manny's pretty sure that this is a terrible idea, but he has to know, so he again opens his mind to any signals from the Swarm mental network, bracing himself for what he hopes will only be a painful burst of jamming static from the prisons security systems or something.
Joseph rests a hand on Manny's shoulder as reassurance but turns his gaze to the doctor. "Was anyone else killed during the riot and if so, did any suffer similar injuries?"
Spoiler for Pixie
As for the doctor you can't discern exactly the reason he is staring at Manny, but he does seem quite fascinated by him. Its the kind of stare you give someone when you think you know them, but you aren't sure it's actually that person or not.
About the time Charme asks him a question he seem to shift his gaze away from Manny and look back to his clip board, lost in his own little world.
Pixie fights off a momentary shudder of nausea, the state of the corpse is ghastly but she has seen worst. Taking a deep breath she hovers closer to the corpse and carefully investigates it for clues.
She glances over at Manny and then back at the Doctor. The doctor is staring rather strangely at Manny. Worried she slowly hovers behind the doctor trying to sense the motive in his stare.
Kronos you take a quick sample of some flesh, which prodigy quickly stores away on a tiny plastic slide case.
"Sure, kid. Let me get my gloves on."
As you're asking him the question, you see the doctor kind of zone out. He seems to have become distracted by his clipboard and is staring at it quite intently. He doesn't even seem to realize you just asked him a question.
Joseph rests a hand on Manny's shoulder as reassurance but turns his gaze to the doctor. "Was anyone else killed during the riot and if so, did any suffer similar injuries?"
Spoiler for Manny
"So you are one of us. I thought you were. Welcome. I know how you must feel. You have become detached from the hive. You have become lost and uncertain of your purpose. Fear not. Here you can meet the new master, and you can rejoin your people. The master's presence is all around us, for we are close to him you can feel it, I can see it on your face. Don't fight it. Let it bring you into its embrace and make you part of the new hive.
You suddenly feel another force in your head calling to you. This one is VERY persuasive...
"Welcome. You are home. Feel my embrace. Join me. We have much to do, and you will be of great help."
Please make a Will save and post it with a spoiler. Your mind shield does apply.
Suddenly feeling a bit uneasy, Joseph moves his hand from Manny to his firearm, not drawing. “Dr. Boroughs?”
The doctor snaps out of his trance.
"Oh uh, sorry what was your question?"
Manny's mental shields slam down like the enormous doors that led into this facility. Assuming that roll is good enough, that is...
Manny tenses, and despite the chill in the morgue, a bead of sweat trickles down his forehead. "We should get out of the Doctor's way and get to the LaPointe residence while the scene is fresh." he says abruptly and moves for the door.
"If I need anything else from you, Doctor, I'll call you."
Spoiler for Manny
You again start to feel the dizziness and elation. You now suspect that they must be some kind of swarm pheremones, which is why they only seem to be effecting you. This time they hit you harder, as if whatever is responsible for them is trying to increase the dosage. You see that Dr. Boroughs seems to be reeling from them a little too (and he's probably gotten used to them). This is separate from the effect that was just playing on your mind.
Fortitude save with spoiler please.
spoilers for PH Dungeon
Keeping the following in spoilers, for you to post if I beat the Swarm Pheremones;
"NO!" Manny shouts at the doctor, pulling his pistol. "I decide my destiny! I decide my place. I had to find my way alone for twenty f***ing years, and the loneliness was all I had left. You are not going to take that away from me. Get out of my head or I will kill every f***ing one of you."
He's wild-eyed and raving, and looks around at his team-mates like he's never seen them before. He has the look of a trapped animal, ready to lash out at anyone.
His loose clothing tightens as his entire body seems to swell up, leaving him a few inches taller, and noticeably more muscular, with an odd angular quality to his exposed facial features and hands.
"We need to get out of here, *now*. Everyone's in danger, and I can't be trusted right now." he warns the others in a deeper voice. His hand is shaking, but his gun is still pointed at Dr. Burroughs.
Pixie flies over to Manny and hovers next to his ear.
Whispering, "the Doctor looks like he recognizes you. Is there a chance you have met him before?"
"NO!" Manny shouts at the doctor, pulling his pistol. "I decide my destiny! I decide my place. I had to find my way alone for twenty f***ing years, and the loneliness was all I had left. You are not going to take that away from me. Get out of my head or I will kill every f***ing one of you."
He's wild-eyed and raving, and looks around at his team-mates like he's never seen them before. He has the look of a trapped animal, ready to lash out at anyone.
Shapeshift as free action, activating Growth 1 (mainly to boost his Fortitude save) and Impervious Protection 1.
His loose clothing tightens as his entire body seems to swell up, leaving him a few inches taller, and noticeably more muscular, with an odd angular quality to his exposed facial features and hands.
"We need to get out of here, *now*. Everyone's in danger, and I can't be trusted right now." he warns the others in a deeper voice. His hand is shaking, but his gun is still pointed at Dr. Burroughs.
Dr. Boroughs calls out to the team.
"You have a Swarm alien among you. He cannot be permitted to leave this facility. It is imperative that you take him down one way or another!"
Manny remains at the exit, gun pointed at the Doctor.
As the Doctor calls him a Swarm, his grin returns, although it looks different on his swollen face,
"I know you are, but what am I?" he says in a childish sing-song cadence. The grin fades, "You couldn't even control me. You *definitely* can't control them, so don't waste your breath, Doc."
Pixie flies over to the Doctor and hovers behind him ready to sting. Grows to her normal size +1 as a free action.
"Everyone calm down! Manny, what is going on?"
*draws firearm but keeps it pointed safely downward until able to identify a threat*
“Mr. Marquez, would you care to explain what is going on here?” *attempting to keep an eye on both Manny and the doctor*
Manny's voice is strained, and his delivery clipped as he replies to his fellow Agents. His posture seems locked one step away from 'fight' or 'flight,' "The Doctor would like me to stay. I intend to leave. More information right now might only serve to make this situation irreversible, and we are not in a good tactical position, surrounded by hundreds of heavily armed people whose loyalties are in question, and probably the most fortified location one could ask for. The Doctor and I obviously aren't agreeing on matters, so it's incumbent on you to make the choice of who to trust."
My command must be spoken aloud (as he's Power Stunting off of his Communications array and thus can't use it), and it will follow the spoiler.
If this action isn't do-able, Manny still says the text, because it remains a valid statement.
Turning back to the Doctor, Manny says, "Let me walk out of here, neither of us wants a confrontation. You have more to lose than I do."
"Right. I believe our welcome has expired." *attempting to move between the Doctor and Manny, facing the Doctor with weapon still lowered*
Pixie hovers closer in behind the Doctor and says in a very firm manner, "Doctor, I suggest you release whatever hold you have on Manny immediately!"
Spoiler for Manny
The swarm invasion is the first known alien invasion in history. The swarm are a race that essentially is bent on replicating itself to the point that it destroys any habitat it takes route in. However before the habitat/planet is destroyed it is generally able to produce new hives that it sends into space to seek out new planets to lay waste to. The swarm produce "swarmlings" that are adapted to the planet that it tries to take. The first generation swarmlings to hit earth were monstrous animal like predators. This initially invasion was fought off, but they then tried a more insidious invasion and created swarmlings that mimicked humans in appearance. The hive used those swarmlings to infiltrate governments throughout the world. Most of these swarmlings have been dealt with. See the wildcards book for full details. Swarmlings are pretty close to be considered kill on sight, and seeing physical evidence that a team member is one of them should be a concern.
*draws firearm but keeps it pointed safely downward until able to identify a threat*
“Mr. Marquez, would you care to explain what is going on here?” *attempting to keep an eye on both Manny and the doctor*
Dr. Boroughs is unarmed, and there is nothing about his appearance that would suggest he's not human. On the other hand there is some clear evidence based on the sudden change in Manny's appearance that he is some kind of swarm alien.
He lowers his clip board.
"Be on your way." his says in an emotionless voice.
Pixie shrinks back down to normal size and flies towards the door. As she passes Manny she says in a lowered voice so the Doctor does not hear, "you have some explaining to do when we get out of here Mr. Abductee." The expression on her face is less than friendly.
I activate my alternate form; It looks like some kind of Polyceramic with layers of little rainbows as the light strikes his skin.
say in my best, loud intimidating, authoritive voice. <Gm can roll for me if you like; I dont mind; I just like the play until I get the hang of it>
"Settle down or get smashed! Choose Now!" Stomp my feet to root in front of the door so nothing gets past me; hopefully will shudder the floor a bit and add to my intimidation.
Manny, who's been standing by the door for a short time now, eager to leave, takes this as permission to open said door and walk out.
"I assure you, I won't use any Wild Card abilities, Agent Kronos. Never have. Never will." This seems incongruous, as his formerly loose clothing is still stretched snugly over his expanded frame.
He seems to notice the gun in his hand belatedly, and promptly holsters it as well.
He turns and looks at his teammates, "If we discuss this with Director Gendrone, we'll be endangering her life. My apologies if this seems cryptic, Pixie, but sooner we get to the plane, the better for everyone."
"I do not have time for cryptic, Agent Marquez. Explain yourself. Now."
Manny looks annoyed, but shrugs and redraws his pistol, checking his ammo, "The Doctor is Swarm. I am Swarm. This place appears to be crawling with Swarm, and they want me to return to being one of them. If they find out that you know about them, they'll probably kill every one of us to keep their secret. And now, since they can hear us," he points at the Doctor, "they know that you know, so an attack is likely imminent and the human prison staff will end up killing us for attacking people that they don't know are aliens, since there is no chance in hell we will be able to fight our way out of a maximum security prison, guns blazing."
"So the short version is that I'm going to be a slave again and you're all going to die."
Manny continues to study the gun in his hand, as if trying to decide what he's going to do with it.
Pixie who is hovering next to Manny turns to face the other teammates.
"Everyone chill!!! Manny is right, now is neither the right time nor the right place! Let's leave here first then let's drill him." She hovers in place glaring.