*** William is now known as WillGM WillGM ponders alternatives to the planned scene. BA: Blow up the moon WillGM: Bit of a substantial change to the historical continuity. WillGM hits the logfiles. WillGM: Hm. We haven't seen Fearless and BA for a bit. UL, you said you wanted to plan some stuff -- was that in-character, or out? BA: Mostly out, but we could RP it Fearless: question... how close are we to a climactic scene in this stretch? WillGM: The scene I plan to cap the adventure, I don't mind saying, is the night of the Hallowe'en party. Edward: tonight? oh boy. WillGM: Tonight? Gosh no. Edward: aw WillGM: Unless Fearless and BA can deal with the Swami effectively, DS comes in and we resolve the "case", somebody goes in to take a look at Sean Edwards and deals with whatever happens there, and we hit Hallowe'en tonight. :^) Fearless: define "effectively"? :) WillGM: That's your call, Fearless. BA: BA could always retool his gun barrel, add a silencer, and see the Swami to the border ;) WillGM: Well, what are your plans at the moment? Fearless: BA, that'd have to be done without Fearless' knowledge. BA: BA's plans are to crash the party as quietly as possible Fearless: well, right now, we have to determine whether the Swami really is a demon, or just controlled by Mr. Winkle Fearless: however, without "sensing" abilities, that's going to be difficult. BA: We could shoot him and find out Fearless: fine... you shoot him. Fearless: ;) BA: 'k :) WillGM: Let me be more specific. As of the day after you went and poked around the TCS HQ, what are your plans? Fearless: right now... Fearless: hrrm... BA is preparing for the Hallowe'en party Edward is calling the 'works and 'cole about what Fulmeniel found out. Fearless will head down to the paper's Morgue, then the police station for mug shots and names, to find out more on the Swami. Fearless: if there's anything there, Fearless will find it. :) WillGM: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for WillGM (3d6) and gets 8. WillGM: Fearless: Okay, the next morning you hit the Morgue. A search in the recent computer archives indicates that several newspaper ads were placed by the TCS in the classifieds section; not classifieds, but ads in the section, if you get my meaning. They basically offer the same thing, and also indicate that the Society is just moving into Philadelphia. This is about three years ago. Fearless: *nod* Fearless: are the ads as annoying? WillGM: Hardly as possible, since they're in print -- but they're definitely busily composed. Fearless: as the web page, that is Edward: Not a chance, since newspaper pictures can't blink, don't flash, and don't have music. WillGM: There are one or two brief mentions of the Society in news articles, usually as one of several groups at various sorts of ecumenical or New Age conferences. You manage to find one picture of the Swami, in the same dark blue robe, posing smiling with a group of people at one of the latter. Fearless: is Terrence's face among the people in the pic? WillGM: Hmm. No, it's not. The picture appears to be of the heads of various Eastern and Eastern-influenced schools in the metropolitan area. Fearless frowns. .oO(Either they're in deeper, or the Swami's a dupe of Winkle.) WillGM: At the police station, the Swami fails to turn up in a search of the information available to you (of course, there are mounds and mounds of mug shots, but the ones in for fraud don't turn up anything). Fearless: hrrm.... WillGM: BA: What have you done this morning? Day job? BA checks all the local costumers for a black cat costume, preferably one that includes a fake cat head WillGM: You find one at the first place. Most of them are for women, though. BA: 'k WillGM: There's one of a slightly different type: black male leotard with a full-face porcelain mask of whickers and ears. Edward: Ooh, neat. A leopard leotard. BA gets it back to the house and makes sure that he can wear it with his .44 holstered unnoticeably under his left arm WillGM: A leotard? By definition form-fitting? WillGM: No. ;^) BA: Hmm... scratch that BA looks for something more baggy WillGM: The shopkeeper grumbles a bit about a same-day return, but takes it. WillGM: By "something more baggy," do you mean another cat costume more baggy? Edward returns to the post-watch fragfest with the other people on his 'watch, finds himself drawn to the Lightning Gun for some reason. BA: Will: Yeah. Think along the lines of a college or high school mascot comstume WillGM: Okay. Another couple of trips finds you this. Plenty of volume in there. WillGM: $250 to buy. BA buys it BA gets it home and starts wiring the thing WillGM: With what? WillGM: SUICIDE EXPLOSIVES Fearless: *heheheh* WillGM: Can't you just picture BA in a giant cat costume shouting "Allah-u-akbar!" and pulling the ripcord... WillGM: ...to produce a large flag that says "BANG!" BA: An audio-video cam in the head, scavanged off of Patch Kit if nothing else is available, and that fake bomb flag thing :) Fearless: *snicker* Fearless: No, I keep getting _Captain America_ (the movie) flashbacks... BA yelling "Hiel Hitler!" as he pulls the trigger of that flag-gun BA also makes a slit in the comstume where he can reach in and grab his .44 from it's under-arm holster, closing the slit with Velcro WillGM: BA: Okay, this takes you the rest of the day. Both seem to work, and yes, the cam comes off of Patch Kit. (Don't worry, payday's coming in three days. ;^) ) BA: heh :) BA rigs a transmitter (probly Patch Kit's as well) as well as a personal recorder for the audio BA: Baa kats katster: moo. WillGM: BA: n/p, goes with the earlier. BA: 'k BA is ready for the event WillGM: Fearless, I think we should keep going with you and your plans to deal with the Swami for the moment. Fearless: hrrm... WillGM: If you're still thinking of stuff at the moment, I can do another bit. Fearless: first things first, from the office computer (assuming it doesn't crash... Microsoft Millenium garbage), I'm gonna hit the IRS home page and see if I can see if the Society is tax-exempt. WillGM: That information's not available to the public unless it claims to be a tax-exempt institution for one purpose or another. *thinks* WillGM: You would know that it's not the IRS home page, but the City's Hall of Records to check for this -- and it is. It applied the same year it moved into Philly, and the status was granted. Fearless: 'k Fearless: non-profit, or religious tax exemption? WillGM: Religious. Fearless: does it list which religion? WillGM: Its own -- True Connectedness. Fearless: .oO(Interesting. Usually I've seen these listed as Buddhism or Hinduism.) WillGM: There is record of an investigation of tax-exempt status, pursuant to a complaint from someone about the purchase of a lot of electronics equipment -- TVs, computers, radios, etc. The investigator decided the status was valid, noting that "information exposure" was an espoused tenet of the group's philosophy. Fearless: investigator's name? Edward: Insert cynical comment here. WillGM: Flunky you've never heard of in Department of Revenue. WillGM: He does comment that the Swami's own residence, other than several items of the equipment himself (computer, several TVs, radio) was ascetically spare -- little furniture, no food in the pantry, etc. Edward: o/~ And bingo was his name-o o/~ Fearless: stakeout time again... WillGM: You go back to the same spot from which you were observing the Society yesterday? WillGM: (Perhaps the spot you met BA in, the park catycorner to the TCS HQ, from which it's possible to see both the storefront and the Swami's apartment?) Fearless: pretty much. BA: Baa Pat WillGM: 'k. Looking for anything in particular? Fearless: the no food in the pantry I can understand... if he takes a trip to the market every day or two for fresh food. WillGM: Ah. So you wait and see if he does this? Fearless: *nod* Fearless: or if people from the Society bring food for him. WillGM grabs the GURPS book to see if there's anything on staying awake... Fearless: and I'll be wired on Caffiene and No-Doze Fearless: (myself, personally, I can go for 18 hours...) Fearless: but... I think that's a will roll after a certain time to avoid falling asleep... WillGM: May I proffer a slight suggestion? :^) Fearless: yeah? WillGM: This is the perfect kind of job for people to take shifts on. :^) Fearless buzzes Ellis. WillGM: Player's out right now. Fearless: d'oh, forgot. WillGM: And... might be busy at this point. I'm not sure. BA: Then, there's always electronic surveillance :) Fearless: and BA will be busy... Fearless: and so will Nicole... BA: Rumble Strip and Speed Bump are still green light :) Fearless rings BA. BA: "Thank you for calling the Residence of Burgess Altmeir and the Alien Conspiracy to Smoke Trees. If you are a telemarketer, die. If you are a family member, leave a message. If this is who I think it is, Utten utten." Fearless: "Very funny, BA." BA: "Thank you. What's up?" Fearless: "Just wondering what shape your cars are in. I've found something here that I need some surveillance on." Fearless: "What kind of person doesn't keep food in the pantry?" BA: "Someone who gets daily Big Mac Attacks, Mutant freaks, or people who like their food fresh. And Rumble Strip and Speed Bump are ready if you need them. Patch Kit's going to be needing a seeing eye dog for a while." Fearless: "What kind of battery life do they have?" BA: Running 'em, three hours. Letting 'em sit and watch things, five." BA: +" BA: "And their tasers are good for three shots each, if you need them." Fearless: "Well, I need to keep the Swami under watch for a while... I need to see if he hits the market every day or two, if his society brings him food regularly, or if he just doesn't eat. Won't need the tasers." Fearless: "Think you can help out?" BA: "ehn... I'm kinda busy with getting equipment ready for Nicole's big party. But I can have RS and SB standing by if you wanna come get 'em." Fearless: "Okay, be there shortly." BA: "Roit." *click* Fearless: While en route to BA's, I ring Ed. WillGM: Ed? Edward hears the phone, is distracted and gets fragged. "Wong here." Fearless: "Ed, its Fearless. How're things on your end?" Edward: "In the middle of a fragfest, otherwise fine. Or are you referring to the research?" Fearless: "Yes." Fearless: "I've got something here, and I'd like a second opinion. As Coach is currently unavailable, I thought I'd ask you." Edward: "Shoot." Edward: "Oh, I had that flyer looked over by an acquaintance with an eye for the truth... And it don't look good." Fearless: "What kind of person doesn't keep any food in their home?" Edward: "Someone who doesn't eat at home?" Fearless: "Or someone who buys their food fresh every day, or someone who has food brought to them regularly, or... someone who doesn't eat." Edward: "Could be perfectly mundane... Heck, if that 'religion' involves ascetism it might even be a good reason." Edward: "But yeah." Fearless: "Running a check on the Society, actually. Fits the pattern for the Swami. I still don't know whether he's legit or not." Fearless: "You said your acquaintance looked at the flier?" Edward: "Yeah. He concluded that whoever wrote it, and I quote, 'was telling the truth but expecting it to be taken as a lie'..." Fearless: "The old hide the truth under a lie. Sounds like a true cover-up artist." Fearless: "Any news on the others on the list?" Edward blinks and swears under his breath.. "...And I just had a really bad thought about it. " Fearless: "What's that?" Edward: "check me on this one: Suppose he's going to use the 'authentic' ritual to sucker everyone at the party into playing along with it -- and actually using their unwitting help to summon something nasty?" Fearless: "That is nasty. Want me there for that?" Edward: "I think at least one of the guys from the 'works is already going, and I already called them about it so he'll be on guard." Edward: Will: I'm not sure whether we played out me calling the 'works yet. Do we retro that or just assume it was done? WillGM: Note: Ed: The 'Works took your call with great equanimity, thanked you, and didn't have much other reaction. WillGM: I'd RP you calling Nicole, since she's a PC, but there's not much need to parrot what one NPC told you to some others. Edward: *nod* Fearless: "Okay. Think you can handle a little surviellance before then, though? Nothing life-threatening, just watching who comes in and out of the Society building, and if they have food. Especially if the Swami comes out at any time." Edward consults his watch. "I'm due at work tomorrow morning, but other than that I can manage a couple hours tonight." WillGM: Ed: if you're so inclined, you do have off-days you call in on short notice. Fearless: "Not a problem. Here's the address," *gives it to him* ", I'll probably be around the area if/when you show." Edward: "Is this somewhere where someone on a motorcycle can be relatively inconspicuous?" Edward does not have a car. Fearless: "There's a few alleys around it, and some motorcycle parking. Its close to a market." Edward: "Be right over, then." Fearless: "Take your time, no sense both of us being there at the same time... I'd like to do this in shifts." Fearless: and... leave it there for now to intro Bruce? WillGM: Okay. Fearless, you hit BA's, nab the cars, and head back to the plaza. You arrive about half an hour after Ed... and yeah. WillGM: We rewind the clock 24 hours. Ellis has just had the scene at his place and is at Rath's place. WillGM: It is about 10pm, Oct 27th of 2001. Bruce, you are at the station, when the lieutenant on duty drops another case on your desk. "Whitechurch, you're on again." Bruce groans from beneath the newspaper draped comfortably over his face and gingerly lifts the corner before scooting forward to his desk. "Great, what is it this time?" He flips the file open. WillGM: You see the file I sent you in email Bruce flips the file closed in disgust. "Oh, good. Another easy one. Thanks." WillGM: He just grins and continues on his rounds. Bruce taps his finger on the file, glancing the trash bin next to his desk, deciding whether it'd be simpler to just file it now. Nah, better at least give it a shot. He opens the file again and reads it a little more carefully, frowning. WillGM: The file you see now is completely different, apparently an injuction from The High Court of The People against the traitor Trotsky for jaywalking, demanding he be shot on sight. Fearless: *snicker* Bruce: *gasp* [ snip game /msg's ] Bruce sighs, scoops the file off his desk and grabs his coat, heading off to the scene. WillGM: The officers there -- one forensic and the two who were called by 911 -- welcome you. WillGM: You know the older guy, Harv, though his partner Carl's a rookie. The forensic's some guy from the labs Bruce nods at the officers, unscrewing the cap of his hip flask. "Well, what have we got?" he asks, although he probably already knows. But hey, gotta make these guys earn their pay too. WillGM: Pause. You do realize that drinking on duty is liable to get you fired, right? Bruce pauses, and thinking better of it tucks the flask back in his pocket, exchanging it for his notes. ;) WillGM: "Well, so far pretty much what we wrote up. We sent a blood sample and the fingerprints down to the labs -- you've probably got the results from the fingerprints by now, at least. We've been looking around, and nothing seems missing. Oh-" he reaches into a pocket. "Here's the number where you can reach the owner of the apartment." WillGM: "Tech here says that something heavy was dragged through the blood, dunno what. Body seems likely, but you never know. We've found a bunch of fencing foils, but they seem too bendy to kill somebody. Kitchen knives, too. No gun. Figure we test the other stuff?" Bruce: "Nothing missing but the body, if there even is one," Bruce sighs, taking the number. "Yeah, better check it all, just to be thorough. Mr..." he checks his notes, "Ellis was cooperative?" WillGM: "Oh, definitely. I've actually met him before -- he was witness to a stabbing last month. Pretty peripheral there, according to the other witness. Seems like a nice, polite guy." WillGM: "He says he's a coach for the fencing team at the University. Steady job, good pay, all that." Bruce hmms, and nods. "Alright. Get the techs on the knives and stuff, while I give Mr. Ellis a call." Edward: except that ellis, as played by aris, isn't here... Ellis: Okay, I'm back, looks like I'm up in a sec but I need to brb... Bruce: It'll be a brief call. ;) Edward: speak of the false-positive. :) WillGM: "You got it, detective." Bruce sighs and dials the number he was handed on his cell, giving the crime scene a half-hearted once-over while he waits for the call to ring through. Ellis: *click* "Hello?" Bruce: "This is Sergeant Bruce Whitechurch. Mr. Ellis, I presume?" Ellis: "Uh, yeah. Hi. What can I do for you?" WillGM: (Ellis: You're ensconced at Rath's place right now. It's around 11pm that evening.) Ellis: Thanks. Ellis: In that case, I'm sitting in front of the window with a bible on my lap looking through the Gospel of John looking for references to Jesus-as-Messiah-as-God, beacuse of the relationship to apotheosis and the development of mystery cults in... er, never mind. Bruce: "I know it's late and you've probably had a very hard night. I'm taking over the investigation of the incident in your home tonight, and I was wondering if I could arrange a convenient time to meet with you in person. I hate working over the phone like this." WillGM: Oooh, send him to Rath's place! Ellis: "Ahh. Yes, of course we can meet. Uh... I'm at a friend's... I suppose I'll be here until they tell me I can go home... and I have classes tomorrow, but they're later in the day. What time is good for you?" Bruce: "I'm willing to bend my schedule around yours, but how about some time after lunch. Say, twelve-thirty?" Ellis: "That sounds fine. Yes... I'll be here. Ah, here is..." *addressgivetothenicepoliceman* Edward: oh boy. :) [ snip a bit of OOC discussion about a point of continuity ] WillGM waves wand. It is tomorrow. BA is constructing his costume, Fearless is doing research, it is meeting time. Ellis 's in the house, rererereading the bible. Bruce takes one last drag from his cigarette and stamps it out as he gets out of his car, before proceeding to the door and knocking/ringing/whatever. Ellis puts down the Book, opens the door. "Hello?" Bruce produces his identification. "Sergeant Whitechurch... Mr. Ellis?" The man holding the badge is an aging gentleman, badly in need of a shave and probably a lifestyle change. Edward: Vimes! Ellis: "Yes, that's me. Come in." WillGM: Bruce: the inside of the house is sparely but comfortably furnished. No TV, but there is a shelf of books on the back wall, the chairs are comfortable, and there are some few objets d'art about. Mostly small pieces of stonework. There is also a round shield hanging on the wall of the living room. It had the damndes... err, *oddest* air about it you've ever seen. Bruce tucks the billfold back into the depths of his jacket as he enter the home. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Mr. Ellis." He glances at the shield, momentarily distracted by it. "I'll try not to take up too much of your time." Ellis: "No, it's all right. Classes are in the evening. I want to help as much as I can." Ellis sits down again, almost involuntarily glancing at the bible he just set down. Bruce helps himself to a chair. "Thank you. Our boys have managed to ID a set of prints on the door and desk. Do you happen to know a Carver Steele, Mr. Ellis?" Ellis blinks. "Yes, he's a student in my class." Ellis: "The advanced fencing class at the university." Bruce nods, and notes this down. "Well, we have reason enough to suspect that he was responsible for the break-in. I'm still waiting on analysis of the blood. Can you think of any reason he'd break into your home? Bad student?" WillGM: "Jealous lover? Murderous demon from the infernal pits of blackest horror? Drug binge?" Ellis frowns. "I hate to condemn any student of mine, but he did cause a lot of equipment damage. He had trouble controlling his temper. I had to speak with him about it frequently." Ellis: "I can't see him breaking into my home, I mean, my *home*..." Bruce: We decided there was a school day between then and now, right? WillGM: The day that you're speaking on is a school day. Ellis will be teaching later, with, of course, Carver absent. Bruce: Oh, okay. Bruce: "People are capable of some pretty extreme things if they get mad enough. But you don't figure there was that sort of friction between the two of you?" Ellis shakes his head slowly, more in thought than in denial. "I wouldn't have suspected it. But then, I don't know how personally he may have taken my comments. He was always proud of his skill as a fencer..." Bruce: "It's possible that he did and he was just trying to shake you up a bit. At any rate, we'll be looking to pick him up for questioning. You'll give me a call if you happen to run into him before we do?" He produces a business card with his desk phone, cell number, etc. Ellis takes the card. "Of course I'll call you. He should be at class tonight. ... If he is..." Bruce: "No worries. I'll have some uniforms waiting on the premises." Ellis: "All right. Thank you." Ellis: Okay? Assume that the police showed up for class, which went on as normal because Carver wasn't there, then convo with Nicole... WillGM: Yah. WillGM: Also, it's 2am here, so I need to hit the sack. Edward needs to have that phone convo with 'cole still. WillGM: *nod* I remember that. Edward: Make that facetoface, since I'm returning that flier. WillGM: We can continue Bruce's discussion when we pick up again, as well. Bruce slides off his chair, moving to take a closer look at that shield, strangely drawn to it. He shakes his head, turning away to offer his hand for a shake. "No, thank you. Well try to close this as quickly as possible. An officer should call you sometime as soon as your home is ready for you to reenter." Nicole: Okay, so a slightly bigger than the last time when we shrugged off the flier return. ;) Edward: yeah. :) Nicole: (gah, when have I become the person who's keeping track of the consistency around here?) Nicole: ;P :) Ellis: *handshake* *goodbye* WillGM: -------------------- Session End ---------------------