# Dark*Matter: Discovery, the Beginning



## Falkus (Oct 17, 2006)

9:03 PM, sometime in October
Public library in downtown Chicago

The rain was pouring down heavily outside, with the occasional crack of thunder to emphasize it. The storm had come up suddenly, just an hour ago, drenching Chicago and the people unlucky enough to get caught outside.

For one reason or another, you have all found yourself in the library this night.

Inside the library, Donovan Hanson, the usual librarian, as it at the circulations desk. At this time of night, there's only a handful of people around, mostly students, reviewing for midterms or writing essays or pretending to write essays. The library primarily serves a nearby college, providing students with access to references that the college's small library doesn't have.

All in all, just your typical, average library. Calm and quiet, there is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary so far as you can see.

Iwatt
[sblock]Janet Ford, the assistant librarian Larry's dating, isn't present in the main area at the moment, though she is on the job tonight.[/sblock]

Suddenly, the calm and quiet atmosphere of the library is broken by a woman's scream coming from the first floor meeting room.

(And we're off!)


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## iwatt (Oct 17, 2006)

_Janet's going to love these concert tickets I scored tonight._ Larry's on and off attempts to woo the lovely miss Ford had finally turned a bit more serious. 

As he enters the library, Larry waves at Donovan. _Got to play nice with the friends_ The older librarian wasn't known for his sparkly personality or witty banter, but Janet seemed to like him anyways.



> Suddenly, the calm and quiet atmosphere of the library is broken by a woman's scream coming from the first floor meeting room.




"What the ...." exclaims the startled Larry, "that sounded like Janet!"  Larry set's off running toward the sound, concern overpowering his normal instincts.


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## kinem (Oct 17, 2006)

Diego browses the small science fiction section, but he is bored and restless.  He hadn't expected the rain, and didn't feel like roaming the streets in it.  This local library rarely has new books that really interest him, either.   At least he felt safe here; most gangstas wouldn't be caught dead in a library.



> Suddenly, the calm and quiet atmosphere of the library is broken by a woman's scream coming from the first floor meeting room.




Startled, he quickly decides to check out the disturbance.  _Probably just some silly thing._  Still, as he runs towards the room where the scream came from, his hand finds its way towards the pistol concealed under his leather jacket.  _Not that I'd dare show it here, but if need be ..._


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## Shayuri (Oct 18, 2006)

Meredith was over in the periodicals section when the scream rang out, shockingly loud in the enforced quiet of the library. She looked up from the screen of the fiche reader, where she was running old archived copies of newspapers. For a moment she just sat there, unable to quite believe she'd heard what she'd heard. Then Meredith saw the same expression of dawning amazement and fear blooming on faces near her, and wondered.

In another heartbeat she decided. A scream in a library might just be a freak event. Some frosh or sophomore cheerleader encountering a spider or getting a spook from her boyfriend.

But it might be a story too. After all, news could happen any time, any place.

She jumped up from her station, grabbed her purse, and all but ran towards the place that scream had come from.


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## industrygothica (Oct 18, 2006)

Nick's heart skips a beat when he hears the scream come from downstairs.  He'd been so engrossed in his reseach in the local history section upstairs that he'd all but forgotten he was in a library in Chicago rather than at home in his study.  Taking a breath and settling his nerves, he peers over the balcony to see several people running into another room almost directly underneath him.

Nick is typically not one to get envolved if he doesn't have to, but he lets his curiosity interrupt his research for now and continues to lean forward over the balcony to see what he can see.


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## Friadoc (Oct 18, 2006)

OOC (Out of Character) - The following depends on if Falkus approves my character, which I think (as well as hope) he will.

IC (In Character)

Using the local free wi-fi, Cade had been searching for some old urban myth and legen references published back in the 70s, in the vein of 'In Search Of...'. Although he's been in town for several weeks now, Cade is still slow to find a social outlet, so, for now, he has been a bookworm, searching for texts and tombs relating to topics on previous nights' Coast to Coast AM Shows.

The infamous, as well as local, 'Lady in White' is the current topic of Cade's interest, however his peaceful browsing is interupted by the scream.

oO What the...Oo thinks Cade as he tries to scope out the direction of the woman's scream. Once he has a good idea of the direction, Cade shoves his laptop into his backpack and heads that direction, in a slight, yet steady jog. 

Unarmed or not, Cade's not one to let such a scream go unchecked. OOC - I figured the library had enough security to keep weapons out, ala firearms and pocket knives, et ceteras.


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## Falkus (Oct 18, 2006)

The library's meeting room was a place where the adminstration staff discussed various issues concenring the library, and was occasionally used by local groups as a meeting room. It was pretty standard, just a long table with seats, though, oddly enough, there were a couple of wooden crates in the corner that looked out of place.

As you piled into the meeting room, followed by some students and Donovan, you saw Janet Ford, an assistant librarian, who was standing in the room screaming hysterically. She was wearing a pair of jeans, and a rose colored shirt. She had brown hair and eyes as well.

The cause of her distress was obvious. A middle aged man, with black hair and a black suit, was lying on the floor.

In a pool of his own blood.

His chest had been cut open. The man was quite obviously dead, and it wasn't pretty.


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## industrygothica (Oct 18, 2006)

Seeing the growing crowd around the meeting room Nick decides that he wouldn't be too out of place if he joined them.  He packs his briefcase and heads down the elevator nearest to his location.

He soon wishes he'd stayed upstairs after seeing the man opened up on the floor like that.  Naturally curious, however, Nick can't take his eyes from the scene, and doesn't even realize that he is slowly making his way closer and closer to the dead man.


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## iwatt (Oct 18, 2006)

Moving towarsd the distressed librarian, Larry tries to soothe her. "It's all right Janet. It's going to be all right." Embracing her, he turns aroundso that she can't see the grisly sight anymore. _Well, there goes the date. Two perfectly good tickets down the drain._

The young man continues to console Janet, trying to calm her down. At the same time he looks at the gawkers with an unfriendly glare, making it clear that he doesn't want anybody bothering his girl.


OOC: Intimidate 17 (take 10 + 7)


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## Shayuri (Oct 18, 2006)

Seeing Janet's guardian, Meredith decides this isn't the moment for an interview. Besides, the woman was clearly hysterical. As for her...well, her hand shook as she went for the slim digital camera in her purse, but the gore didn't get to her too bad. Mostly she was afraid of screwing this up. A murder could be big; even in this town. And she was the only reporter here.

_Easy. Stay calm. Get the shots. Find out who saw what._

She edged around the crowd towards the body and the crates and snaps shots of both...making sure that she gets a shot of any printing or symbols on the crates as well. She then gets a picture of the crowd, and carefully swaps memory chips...in case the cops decide to confiscate. The chip with the pictures goes into the little rip at the bottom of her purse, slipped under the lining.

Now. Who to talk to? Meredith surveys the crowd, and deduces that whoever found Janet first is the next best source of information. So she swims upstream like a salmon, wiggling through the crowd until she gets to Janet and her menacing protector. As she does, she pulls her cellphone.

"Relax," she says to the intimidating young man. "Do you know if the police or ambulance have been called? Who is that on the floor there?" As she talks, she starts dialing the police dispatch number.

(description: Meredith Rosenburg is a pretty young woman in her twenties, with russet colored hair pulled back into a tail and striking pale green eyes in a pixieish face spattered with freckles. She's dressed in a university T-shirt tucked into a pair of jeans with a dark brown purse dangling over her left arm.)


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## iwatt (Oct 18, 2006)

_Great, the only thing worse than a cop is a reporter._ Looking down at the pixieish woman, an appreciative look enters Larry's eyes. _Not bad, not bad at all. I like freckles._ With a start, Larryr realizes that checking out women holding another one in his arms wasn't exactly the way to do things.

"I got here just before you did. I don't think anybody has called the cops yet." Relaxing slightly, he shrugs, or tries to at least, and adds "I have no idea who that is."

Pulling Janet's face upwards he looks down into her eyes and asks "Do you need anything? Do you want to sit down, or want a glass of water?"


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## Falkus (Oct 18, 2006)

Shayuri
[sblock]As Meredith takes the pictures, she notes that one of the crates has been opened. She also sees, one the floor next to the dead body, a blood stained wallet with some money and ID cards scattered around it, as well as a handgun.
[/sblock]

industrygothica
[sblock]Next to the corpse, Nick sees a blood stained wallet with some money and ID cards scattered around it, as well as a handgun.[/sblock]

Janet clutches Larry, obviously frightened out of her wits. "I just, oh god. I need to sit down, oh god. Away from him."

After Meredith dials the police, she's put through to the emergancy dispatcher. "How may I help you?" a calm female voice answers.


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## Shayuri (Oct 18, 2006)

Meredith takes a deep breath to steady herself. "I'm at the downtown public library, and there's a dead man in the conference room. He's been shot, I think, but I didn't hear a gunshot. A lot of the people here are really shook up. Please send someone to help?"

Her eyes flicked back to the crates. She wasn't enough of an idiot to actually touch or mess up the crime scene, but if she could get a better look...maybe get an idea of what was, or had been, in the crate...


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## yestotom (Oct 18, 2006)

Cyrus, sitting on a toilet in the first floor restroom, hears a scream, followed by a commotion.  Instinctivey, his hands feel for his concealed pistols.  Having almost become an "inncent bystander" at a 4th of July shooting at Detroit's Hart Plaza, he nervously anticipates the worst.  After a few moments, no one enters the restroom, so he buttons up and heads to the door.  He hears people running, but no shots fired.  He quickly washes his hands.  He takes a deep breath, gathers his courage, and walks out of the restroom.

Realizing that any immediate danger has passed, his curiosity gets the better of his caution, and he wanders to the crowd gathering around the meeting room.  As the room seems to quickly fill up, he stands outside the door, observing the others, and the area around him.

After seeing others trying to help, he slowly eases himself into the room.  Like others, he gives way to some driving need to see what he heard was a dead body.


OOC - Sorry for the late post, I didn't realize we had started.  Cyrus will be much more active here-on-out.


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## iwatt (Oct 18, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> Janet clutches Larry, obviously frightened out of her wits. "I just, oh god. I need to sit down, oh god. Away from him."




Taking the girl at her word, Larry guides Janet out towards the reference desk. As he helps her settle down, Larry can't help but feel a morbid curiosity to go check ou the corpse. In his concern, he'd barely even seen it. He couldn't help but feel a slight resentment for the missed oportunity. _On the other hand, maybe she'll be grateful for her big strong man later._

Once she is seated, Larry hurries off to the water cooler and returns with a cold drink for Janet. "Honey, are you feeling better? Did you know the guy?"


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## Friadoc (Oct 19, 2006)

With his brown, leather backpack slung over his left shoulder, leaving his right arm free to move, or reach his sidearm if needed, Cade easily looks over the gathered crowd as he takes in the scene laid out before him.

As his eyes pass over the protective man who is now holding the shaken up woman, Cade gives a simple nod and reassuring half-smile, obviously he is not intimidated, but he is not only understanding of the man's reaction, he approves of it.

OOC - Will save versus DC 17 Intimidate. (1d20+1=20)

oO Damn...Oo thinks Cader as his eyes pass over the slain man's form as he moves towards the back of the room to check the rear door. Upon hearing the reporter on the phone, talking to the police, Cade tells her in passing, "He wasn't shot, miss, he was cut open..." With a glance at the room, Cade gives it a once over, but also keeps from disturbing any evidence. "...so the perp, or perps, have gotta be covered in blood."

(Description)
Cade Black stands just over six feet in height, with a lean, muscled build that almost screams outdoorsman. His brown hair is short, but has some shag to it that leans him towards a ruggedly handsome look, however his blue-eyes are a bit more clinical, perhaps event slightly cold, to be considered much more than that, at the moment. 

Currently he is wearing a knee length brown, leather coat, that covers a blue denim shirt that is tucked into a pair of blue jeans. Hidden upon a black leather belt around his waist is a concealed weapon holster with a silver S&W model 1076, as well as a spare clip. The tan hiking boots add to the country boy charm of Cade, which is capped off by the leather backpack hung over his shoulder.


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## Falkus (Oct 19, 2006)

The other people at the library weren't reacting that well to the presence of a dead body, some of them running to the restrooms to throw up, with most of them just backing out of the room all together, looking pale.

"I'll dispatch a squad car immediately. In the meantime-" and then, abruptly, the call was cut off, disolving into static. A second later, Meredith's cellphone just simply stopped working.

The crate that had been opened seemed to contain what appeared to be Egyptian artifacts. An odd thing to be stored in a library, but a quick look at the shipping label cleared up the mystery. They were supposed to be shipped to a history museum two blocks away, but apparantly, the address had been miswritten, resulting in them being delivered here.



> Once she is seated, Larry hurries off to the water cooler and returns with a cold drink for Janet. "Honey, are you feeling better? Did you know the guy?"




Janet took a few deep breaths, and then drank down the water. "Thank you," she said, gratefully. "No, I didn't know him, he just came in here about twenty minutes ago. He didn't seem to be looking for a book though. Oh god," she said, jumping to a conclusion. "Nobody left since then. Whoever killed him must still be here."


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## industrygothica (Oct 19, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> The crate that had been opened seemed to contain what appeared to be Egyptian artifacts. An odd thing to be stored in a library, but a quick look at the shipping label cleared up the mystery. They were supposed to be shipped to a history museum two blocks away, but apparantly, the address had been miswritten, resulting in them being delivered here.




Without touching anything, and attempting _not_ to be blatantly obvious, Nick tries his best to see the nature of the items in the crates.  I mean, dead bodies aren't something you run across every day, but Egyptian artifacts?  To an archaeologist that's as good as candy to a baby--especially an archaeologist like Nick, who's current obsession was born in Egypt.


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## iwatt (Oct 19, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> "Nobody left since then. Whoever killed him must still be
> here."




At this phrase, Larry stiiffens in aprehension. _Damn. I should have brought the gun after all._ 

"Janet, he must have left already. I doubt he would have wanted to stick around after doing that." Although he was saying the words, Larry didn't quite believe them. Whatever sick bastard had gutted the guy in the room, there was no telling  what he would do. _ I met some pretty sick puppies in Juvie. They don't usually play with a full deck._

Curiosity getting the better of him, Larry looks into janet's eyes and says, "I'll be right back. I think I dropped my keys when I saw the body."

Running back into the room, Larry walks up to Donovan. "Do you mind keeping Janet some company. She's still a bit shook up. I lost my keys and I have to find them."

Walking towards the reporter, he leans close and whispers. "Janet says the sicko might still be here. Do you have a camera? It might be a good idea to photograph the people here, so the cops can check them out." 


OOC:  Bluff DC   -> [20,8] = (28) (d20 + Fast Talk Bonus + 7 )
Woot!!

Pulling out his phone, Larry will try to take pictures while pretending to talk in the phone with his mother.


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## yestotom (Oct 19, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> The crate that had been opened seemed to contain what appeared to be Egyptian artifacts. An odd thing to be stored in a library, but a quick look at the shipping label cleared up the mystery. They were supposed to be shipped to a history museum two blocks away, but apparantly, the address had been miswritten, resulting in them being delivered here.



Intrigued by the sight of artifacts in the opened box, Cyrus enters the room and works his way to the box to peer in...observing the dead body as he passes it, and not knowing which is more interesting. Cyrus looks in the box, then he looks at Nick, gives a quick "Hi", and then makes a closer observation of its contents.


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## Shayuri (Oct 19, 2006)

Meredith glances at the two guys that were giving her advice, consternation plain on her face. She shakes her phone and tries redialling. 

"What the... Thanks, that's a good idea, but my phone just cut out. It's getting a signal, but it's just static." She sighs. "Well, they said they were sending a car so..."

Meredith pauses and stares, aghast. "Wait, did you say the killer was -still here-?!"


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## Friadoc (Oct 19, 2006)

Cade does two things as he hears reporter's gasp, with his left hand he pulls out his cellphone and attempts to dial 911, while with his right he draws his sidearm from  the concealled holster at his hip and holds it down to his side. The flicker of the laser sight is evident upon the floor, as Cade's finger is resting on the trigger.

"If the one who did that is still here," says Cade with a nod towards the body on the floor. "Then it'd probably be best if you and the others move to a secure location, while we wait for the cops."

However, Cade is keeping his eyes peeled for any sudden movements as he looks the crowd over for any evidence of the perp amongst them.

OOC
Cade's check for the perp. (1d20+2=19)


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## Friadoc (Oct 19, 2006)

OOC - I meant to add this to the above post, but I figured I'd best at it as a second post, instead of editing it.

IC

Once Cade feels his given things a good look, he is going to kneel down and check the guy's ID, if its still on the floor.


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## Falkus (Oct 19, 2006)

Nick gets a good look at the artifacts that are visible. He places them at about the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, and also manages to remember what dig they were form. It was relatively recent dig into a recently discovered tomb in Egypt. It was the tomb of a supposed Egyptian necromancer, Akhentanen, who had been burned to death by Egyptian soldiers. Apparantly, the tomb was sealed with a warning that it should not be reopened. Curiously enough, ever since the tomb was excavated, four of the six archeologists on dig team have been mysteriously murdered.

Judging from the gap in the crate, the item that's been taken is a vase or an urn of some kind.


"Yeah, yeah, I'll go help her," Donovan said, nervously. He's obviously been shook up by this murder, and leaves the room.

Most of the other people from the library have left the room at this point, with the three university students seated at a table near the meeting room, quietly talking among themselves, and occasionally glancing at the door.

Two of the older people who were present, reentered the room and approached Larry. "Excuse me," one of them asked, a heavyset man with black hair. "But are you talking to the police? We've been trying to call with our cellphones, but we can't get a connection."

"Maybe lightning hit the local tower?" ventured the other man, a skinny guy with an auburn pony tail.


Meredith can't even get a connection this time, her cellphone just isn't working. Cade can't get through either.

Among the various credit cards lying on the floor, there's an ID card. It indciates that the man's name was Jack Williams, and that he was a member of something called the Hoffmann Institute.


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## iwatt (Oct 19, 2006)

> "Excuse me," one of them asked, a heavyset man with black hair. "But are you talking to the police? We've been trying to call with our cellphones, but we can't get a connection."




_Busted._ Still trying to take as many pictures as he can, Larry turns to the couple and says. "No. I was calling my Mom to let her know I was going to be late for dinner. We'll all probably have to talk to the police when they get here."




> "Maybe lightning hit the local tower?" ventured the other man, a skinny guy with an auburn pony tail.




"Beats me. Although I didn't here any thunder."  Larry has the distinct feeling that the cellphones shutting down weren't the best sign he'd seen tonight. Puting up an unworried front, he raises his voice so that everybody can hear him. "Maybe we  should all move outside this room and wait for the cops. They won't like us contaminating the crime scene. I've seen CSI."

OOC: Larry is going to try to herd everybody he can towards the reference desk.


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## industrygothica (Oct 19, 2006)

Immediately sensing that much more is going on here, Nick barrels through the crowd and runs upstairs, taking the steps three at a time.  He heads to the computer center in hopes that his fears go unfounded, and that there still may be outbound communication via the internet.  If there is, he immediately begins research on the archeaological dig in question, and on the lord surrounding the tomb.  While he's there he'll see what he can drum up on this _Hoffman Institute_.

If there is no internet connection, Nick stays in the computer center for a chance to be alone with his thoughts for just a moment.  He closes his eyes and goes deep into his knowledge banks, into his past research to see if he recalls anything about such a ritualistic killing surrounding similar objects.

When he awakens from his self-enduced trance, he'll do what others have yet to think of.  He'll go downstairs and try the exit door.  Afterall, it _is_ Chicago; there's bound to be a cop _somewhere_.

[sblock=ooc]Knowledge: Arcane Lore +8, Knowledge: History +8, Research +11[/sblock]


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## Shayuri (Oct 19, 2006)

Muttering something her mother would disapprove of, Meredith snaps her phone shut again.

"No luck. I'm gonna try one of the desk phones."

She darts out of the conference room and over to the information desk where she reaches across and grabs the phone with an apologetic smile to the librarian. "Sorry...there an emergency going on here."

_Funny...were there any librarians looking at the body? I can't recall now. I'll have to check the crowd shot I took._

She dials the dispatch again.


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## Falkus (Oct 19, 2006)

The internet connection in the computer center is functioning, though it seems to be going much more slower than it should be. 

The Hoffmann Institute, from what Nick can find on the internet, is a private think tank organization devoted towards research into alternate energy sources, ecological protection, social conditions, politics, archeology and finding scientific explanations for unusual events.

Akhentanen, according to the legends, was an Egyptian lord who terrorized a region in Egypt during the eighteenth dynasty, presumably in the same fashion as other such dictators throughout history, though legend appears to have given him various supernatural powers, including the creation of undead servants and the ability to return from the dead.

That's one of the more intriguing legends. Apparantly, according to certain writings recovered from another dig site, a certain ritual could be performed to call Akhentanen back to life, albeit in a limited form, which would involve Akhentanen's remains. Another ritual, which would involve the sacrafice of six people, would restore him to fully flesh and blood, as well as all of his powers. This ritual, once begun, would act to confine the potential sacrafices in a small area, to prevent them from fleeing or seeking help. The only way to break this would be wait a day, or to destroy the new form of the necromancer (which would be praticularly vulnerable to the means of its original demise).

Of course, it's just a legend, it has no actual basis in reality. Presumably, it was created after Akhentanen's demise, along with the claims of his supernatural power, to villify him in the minds of future generations.

One of the key items retrieived from the dig site in Egypt was an urn containing the ashses of Akhentanen. There is very little information on the killings, though they were accompanied by thefts of various artifacts in each case.

(OOC: Nice one, you got 29 on your research check)

The connection finally gives up the ghost, and stops working just after this.


"Oh, okay," the first man says in response to Larry. "I hope the police get here soon."


Meanwhile, at the information desk, Meredith has no luck with the desk phone. She can't even get a dial tone. The few people remaining in the meeting room move out as she tries to make the call. Mostly, they sit down in the main area, though two of them head towards the restrooms, the two men who had asked Larry about his cellphone.


After finishing his research, Nick tries to get the front door open, and runs into something rather unsual. The door won't open. The knob turns, and it isn't locked, but no matter how hard he pulls or pushes, it just won't budge.


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## kinem (Oct 19, 2006)

_Diablo._  Diego had seen dead men before, but he was still shocked to see this.  _So much for feeling safe here._

His first instinct was to run from the crime scene.  It was one thing he was good at.  He'd never been arrested, in part because he always seemed able to get away quickly when he needed to.  But he didn't run this time.  _Just relax.  I've done nothing illegal ... recently.  Running would just make me look guilty._ 

He still felt like people were looking at him.  The man holding the screaming woman seemed to stare right at him.  _Do you always blame the latino?_  He tried to blend in to the crowd.

At the same time, he was curious about all of this.  He noted the babe with the camera; what was up with her?

He tried to remember if he'd seen anyone enter or exit the meeting room.  _Bloody mess, but no one here is dripping with it._


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## yestotom (Oct 19, 2006)

Cyrus remembers that 4th of July celebration several years ago.  Seeing people standing next to you shot dead is traumatic--hence the pistols inside his leather jacket.  But this, this dead body lying on the foor, is different.  He is intrigued, not frightened.  He wants to know more.

Before he can get close to the body, he hears comments about police being on the way.  Not knowing Illinois law on gun licensing, let alone concealment, he slides out of the room.  He heads to the restroom, _I had better go in a stall where I can't be seen and maybe put these pistols into my backpack; if and when the police arrive, I don't want any trouble_.

As he passes the spanish-language book section, he notices two older men going into the restroom.  The ironic thought crosses his mind, _I wonder if they are going in, as am I, for reasons other than nature's call_.  The thought doesn't linger as he looks around to see what other people are doing and to make sure that no one strange is following him.

Instinctively, with one dead body and all the commotion, his right hand reaches under his jacket and grabs the grip on his Smith & Wesson .44 as he left arm extends to push open the restroom door...


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## Falkus (Oct 19, 2006)

As Cyrus walked into the men's restroom, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Indeed, he didn't see anything at all. There was the sound of a toilet flushing, and then the man with the auburn ponytail walked out of one of the stalls, and heads out the door past Cyrus.


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## yestotom (Oct 19, 2006)

"_Two enter.  One leaves.

And the one who left didn't have the decency to wash his hands!  :\ _"

Cyrus turns his head and watches the tall guy as he walks out.

Cyrus pauses to listen, and looks up and around and then down and around.  If he doesn't sense another person still in the restroom, he readies the Smith and Wesson, drops to one knee and looks under he stalls.  If there is still no sign of another person, he stands and pushes open each stall door, one at a time.


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## Friadoc (Oct 20, 2006)

oO Hoffmann...?Oo Cade has heard that name somewhere before, but he can't quite put his finger on it, yet. Leaving the ID card and items on the floor, Cade looks up in time to see Nick take off from looking in the open crates.

OOC - I'm thinking a Knowledge - Arcane Lore (+4) or Popular Culture (+5) or, maybe, Technology (+7) might give Cade a refresher of what the Hoffmann Institute is. Odds are, he probably heard of it via Coast to Coast AM or through his 'fringe' science interests.

"That's probably the best idea," says Cade as he adds his voice to that of Larry's. "I'm sure they'd want us together to ask some questions, too." 

With a half-shrug, Cade adds, "Plus, safety in numbers.

However, Cade, too, notices the two men heading towards the restroom, so he waits for a moment and then follows after them, stopping about halfway there, keeping his pistol quietly down at his side and his eyes peeled between the large group near the reference desk and the men heading towards the rest rooms.

When, if, the ponytailed man walks by on his way out of the restroom, Cade will give a simple, casual nod.

OOC  - Cade is taking up a picket point, basically, trying to keep a good visual, as well as mental, idea on where everyone is at and what's going on. Obviously, something wierd is happening and with a killer still in the room/building, Cade is being cautious and protective.


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## Shayuri (Oct 20, 2006)

Meredith puts the phone down angrily and looks around. With the meeting room draining, and nothing but time on her hands until the police arrive...maybe she can line up some better shots.

She heads back to the meeting room to get photos of the man's wound, and of the cards scattered along the floor. As she takes the pictures, she mulls the evidence over. Classic locked room mystery. Bloody mess on the floor, but no blood leading out, and no one in the library had a speck on them. Plus, the phones were being tampered with, meaning he had to have access to the roof, or someplace where the landline came into the library. So it wasn't like he was hiding in a closet.

But what if there was another way out of the meeting room?

Meredith lowers the camera and thinks. Then she starts inspecting the walls and ceiling. If the ceiling was normal acoustic tile, there'd be a crawlspace above it. If there was a place on the walls in the meeting room he could quickly climb up, shove a tile out of the way, and then replace it...he could be moving freely through the library, right under their noses.

Well...over their noses.

(Skill uses. Treat Injury +6 on the corpses wound, to glean any insights about how it was caused and so on. Search of +3 and Spot of +6 to look for irregularities in the walls or ceiling that might suggest someone had gone that way.)


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## Falkus (Oct 20, 2006)

As Cyrus glanced under the stalls, and caught sight of the second man's feet and legs. He was seated in the fourth stall, and there didn't appear to be anything that was immediately unusual.


The ponytailed man took a right after he exited the restrooms, and walked into the children's library.

Cade had heard of the Hoffman Institute, from two seperate sources. The fringe science interests he had noted that members of the Hoffman Institute were known to be seen at sites where there were supposodly public incidents of supernatural occurances, like Yeti or UFOs. Hardly surprising, however, given their mandate of finding scientific explanations for unexplained phenomenon. Also, they were known for developing several interesting, high tech systems  over the last several decades, generally in electronics, power generation and computers.


Meredith's examination of the multiple stab wounds on the dead man indicate something very interesting. Two men killed him, one would have had to hold him (and cover his mouth to keep him from screaming) and the other to do the stabbing. The man with the knife would have been drenched in blood, but the one who did the actual killing would probably have gotten a bit of blood on his lower arms.

Checking the wounds closely also revealed that the man was wearing an empty shoulder holster, which presumably had held the gun that was discarded by his body.

Checking the walls and ceilings didn't reveal anything unusual. The ceiling tiles were sealed in place, and to remove them and put them back in place after climbing through would require two people, one of whome would have to plaster them back in place after the first man climbed through.


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## Shayuri (Oct 20, 2006)

Meredith leaves the meeting room, even more confused. Her try to solve the locked box mystery only made it more bizarre. From one killer to two? Or one and an accomplice anyway. But at least she'd ruled OUT the ceiling. She heads over to the computers, only to find out that the internet's down too.

"Damnit...this makes no sense at all!" Meredith finally announces, just to vent steam.


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## Friadoc (Oct 20, 2006)

With a thoughtful expression on his face, Cade makes a quick decision as he watches ponytail-man walk into the children’s library. oO That’s just odd...Oo

After a quick look towards the crowd, Cade heads towards the children’s library, however he does it in a roundabout fashion, as casually as possible, so as to not let ponytail-man know that he’s coming. oO Viscera always puts me in the mood for Dr. Seuss. I do not like my murder in a boat, I do not like it with a goat... Oo

OOC  – Move Silently +4


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## iwatt (Oct 20, 2006)

_Wow. The paranoia is getting to everybody. Somebody is going to get hurt if they don't calm down._ Still, the truth of the matter is that dead phones and blocked cellphones added up to somebody wanting the Library shut off from the rest of the world.

After the reporter leaves the meeting room, Larry once again enters it. He is in their only a few seconds before returning to the others.

[sblock=OOC] You mentioned credit cards. Larry is going to take one, if their is more than one. Maybe this way the night won't be a complete bust.[/sblock]


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## industrygothica (Oct 20, 2006)

After reading about it, Nick thinks that this _Hoffman Institute_ seems like something right up his ally, and decides to check it out a little further when he has the chance.  Maybe they'll be able to provide him with some assistance in his own mysterious research, which is eerily similar to these artifacts in the next room.

Concerning those artifacts, Nick is trying to hold himself together after reading the article on Akhentanen.  He wishes he could've held the connection long enough to learn of the cause of the man's death.  The part about corralling potential sacrifices into a confined area is especially disturbing to him right now, given the current circumstances.  He's just been witness to too many strange things in this field not to believe the legends merit at least some credibility.  

After trying the door (and being a bit wierded out by the results), Nick tries to find a window to break.  He'll go to an empty section of the library to do so, and try to do it as quietly as possible.  Afterall, there is no reason to bring anyone else into his current state of paranoia.  At least, not yet.


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## yestotom (Oct 20, 2006)

_Phewwww._  Breathing a mental sigh of relief upon seeing the extra pair of legs, Cyrus rises and enters the second stall.  _At least no body disappeared.  Still, something isn't quite right.  Maybe I should keep my guns handy, just in case.  And maybe I'll sit here for a minute and just make sure there isn't anything fisy going on in the other stall._

OOC Cyrus will wait for a minute or two.  If nothing out of the ordinary occurs and fat man is still in the other stall, Cyrus will leave the stall, walk to the door, open it and pretend to walk out letting the door swing shut.  He will stand quietly for another couple of minutes just to check on the other man.  If, on the other hand, nothing out of the ordinary occurs and the fat man leaves, then Cyrus will leave after him.


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## Falkus (Oct 20, 2006)

Cade follows the ponytailed man into the children's library without being noticed, and catches a glimpse of him as he walked by the center wall to the main staircase, and heads up, drawing little attention from the people clustered around the reference desk.

iwatt
[sblock]Larry manages to retrieve the credit cards without any problems or interference[/sblock]

Nick discovers that whatever is affecting the doors is also affecting the windows. Anything used to strike or throw at the windows bounces off, like it was made of steel, instead of fragile glass. Something very strange is going on.

As for Cyrus, after a few minutes, it becomes readily obvious that the fat man isn't leaving. Glimpsing over the stall reveals why. A white towel is wrapped around the man's neck, and is completely soaked with blood from a wound hidden behind the towel. His eyes are dead and unblinking.


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## Shayuri (Oct 21, 2006)

Meredith decides she may as well do some looking things up as long as she has to wait for the cops here anyway. She reviews her shots of the crates to find where they were going and where they came from, then goes and starts looking for books on Egyptian artifacts to compare to her pictures...as well as does some hunting for references in the periodical index for the destrination and origin of the crates.


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## yestotom (Oct 21, 2006)

_Jesus, Mary and Joseph!  Jesus, Mary and Joseph!_

Cyrus sinks back down into his stall and thinks this through...

_Something bad is going down here and more crap is gonna hit the fan before the police ever show up. I can't risk going in that stall to see what happened.  Murphy's Law--I'll definitely get the rap for whatever happened.

Crap, crap, crap, crap!

But if he's not dead then there might be hope for him.

But I got guns that are probably illegal in the city._

"Damn it!!!"

Cyrus gets up and hurries out of the bathroom, looking or a friendly face. [OOC Presumably Larry would be the first person he'd come across]  Cyrus approaches Larry -

"Hey, I know this is gonna sound a bit crazy, but you remember those two guys who asked you about your cell phone a few minutes ago?  One was fat and the other had a pony tail.  Well, they walked into the mens room ahead of me.  When I got in, the skinny guy walked out.  But the fat guy is in there, and he is all bloodied up.  Bad.  I know it sounds crazy, but can you come with me to see if he is dead or alive?"


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## iwatt (Oct 21, 2006)

_Well, it's officially hit the fan. And it's probably going to land all over us, buddy._ Normally he would have doubted the word coming from the man's mouth, but the evening had taken a surreal turn a long time ago. Nodding in reluctance, Larry follows Cyrus. "I hope you're wrong man. This night keeps getting crazier and crazier. The name's Larry by the way."

Walking into the men's room, Larry pushes the stall door open. Checking for a pulse with an unsteady hand, he whispers in a low voice. "Remind me to thank you for this favor buddy. I'm guessing you didn't want your prints around a dead body."

OOC: If the guy is dead, Larry will walk out of the bathroom, go into the meeting room and pick up the gun on the floor. He's not going to be left defenseless with a psycho in the library.


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## Friadoc (Oct 21, 2006)

oO Definitely ain’t right Oo  thinks Cade as he watches ponytail-man head up the main staircase. With only a brief look back towards the others, Cade makes the call quick and easy, following the lone man up the stairs.

Cade relaxes slightly as he heads up the stairs, being on edge mentally is a good thing, but physically he knows he needs to be calmer.

Firearms versus edged weapons don’t always go as smoothly as the movies would have you think and Cade knows this, oO Too bad, a lot more good people would be alive if it did Oo.


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## yestotom (Oct 21, 2006)

> "I hope you're wrong man. This night keeps getting crazier and crazier. The name's Larry by the way."



"I'm Cyrus."



> "Remind me to thank you for this favor buddy. I'm guessing you didn't want your prints around a dead body."



"Yes.  Actually, I just didn't want to leave prints without a corroborating witness."


OOC: If and when Larry leaves, Cyrus will tell Larry that he is going to search the body for clues.  Cyrus will then search the man and the stall, taking 20 as necessary.  He will use a length of duct tape from his back pack to remove the towel from around the man's neck and to tape it to the side of the bathoom stall, in order to keep from getting bloodied.  He has a penlight, also in the backpack, if needed for extra light.

Search: 23 (20 +3)


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## Falkus (Oct 21, 2006)

It doesn't take long to determine that the man's dead, his throat has been heavily slashed, which becomes visible once the towel is removed. It was a very vicious wound, done quickly, and given the towel used to soak up the blood, quite obviously preemediated.

Searching the stall and the dead man finds his credit cards, indicating that the man was called Chang Merritt. The blood stains are mostly confined to the wall, probably splattered there during the killing, though the killer was apparantly careful enough to keep any from getting on the floor.

The gun retrieved from the first corpse is a Glock 17, and a quick check determines that the magazine is full.

At the top of the stairs, the man walked along the balcony overlooking the shelves. He stopped at about the top, getting a clear view of most of the shelves and the reference desk.


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## Friadoc (Oct 22, 2006)

While trying to keep out of ponytail-man's sight, Cade reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out his cellphone. Although it cannot make calls, it can take a couple pictures, with and without zoom, which Cade does, once he confirms that it's 'shutter' sounds are turned off.

oO Just in case Oo thinks Cade as he takes a full picture of ponytail-man and then a zoomed one of his face. oO...you're guilty and youget away Oo

Once the pictures are done and if Cade still goes unnoticed, he'll follow the man further, although his (ponytail-man) actions have grown more and more suspicious.

OOC - Obviously Cade will continue to roll for hiding and moving silently, but he'll also make note of the man's actions, as they seem like he's sizing things up - the crowd, the location, and so forth.


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## yestotom (Oct 22, 2006)

Cyrus leaves the credit cards but makes a mental note of the fat guy's name.  If there is any blood on his hands, he takes care to wash off all visible signs.  He then leaves the restroom and heads to the meeting room, looking for friendly faces.  As he exits, he checks to see if anyone notices him.


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## industrygothica (Oct 22, 2006)

Oblivious to the actions of those around him, Nick decides to go and take a closer look at the artifacts left in the crates.  He is confident that the police won't be coming, and wouldn't be able to get in even if they did, so he makes no attempt at being subtle about his search.  He'll freely open the crates further and throughly examine everything inside.


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## Falkus (Oct 22, 2006)

Meredith manages to find the destination of the crates rather easily as its on the shipping labels of the crates, as its on the label. A history museum a few blocks away, they wound up here because of a misprint on the address. The origin was Cairo.

The shipping manifest was missing, though, presumably taken at the same time the Urn was.

Checking some magazines related to the dig where the artifacts were recovered does reveal some interesting facts. Apparantly, the four archeologists who had been killed shortly after the dig were all killed with a .45 caliber weapon, the same one used in each murder. Also, each archeologist had been killed shortly after the artifacts he had been analyzing had been shipped out somewhere else.

Nick's search through the crates reveals nothing overly unusual. A few tablets with various prayers and stories written on them among other things, nothing that would be considered out of place in a shipment of Egyptian artifacts, and nothing that sheds anymore light on the present circumstances.

No-one seems to notice Cyrus leaving the restroom, all the other people are still clustered around the reference desk, hoping that the police will arrive soon.

Upstairs, Cade managed to keep hidden as he watched the ponytailed man. He then saw something that was defintely suspicious. The man removed a Colt m1911 .45 pistol from a shoulder holster, and screwed on a surpressor.


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## Friadoc (Oct 22, 2006)

oO A goodly man would call out a warning Oo thinks Cade as he steadies himself for what is about to come. Silencers are pretty much illegal, as Cade well knows, and those who generally have them aren't good people, either.oO I definately need to be more goodly Oo

oO Its better to ask forgiveness than permission Oo thinks Cade as he brings his sidearm to bear, using a bookshelf for partial cover, and squeezes off a round once the tell-tale red flicker of his lasersight illuminates near the man's clavicle - the sweet spot of center mass.

OOC  - Cade's Shot  1d20+4=23 and Cade's Damage (2d6=6) if it hits. By the way, I scared the snot out of my SO and our son when I rolled that, she jumped about a foot off of the couch when I groaned out a shout, while our son looked at me like I was crazy. It hurt so bad to be that close to a crit and not make it.


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## Friadoc (Oct 22, 2006)

OOC - Also, if that was to be considered the Surprise round and if it is needed - Cade's Initiative (1d20+3=9)


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## Falkus (Oct 22, 2006)

The short, sharp crack of the ten millimeter sidearm echoes throughout the library, and the ponytailed man flinches as the bullet buries itself in him. He raises his gun to return fire, and snarls, "You will die in the name of the Secret Masters of Thoth! You will not stop me from my attaining my destiny!"

Everybody below hears the shot, and has their attention drawn upwards to the balcony, where they see the ponytailed man stumbling, and then raising his sidearm to return fire back down the stairwell.

(Okay everybody, let's roll initiative and declare actions.)


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## iwatt (Oct 22, 2006)

Larry, had been standing outside the referencer room once he saw the old dude go in to check the crates. After the shot was fired and the psycho with the ponytail started to shout his freaky stuff, he moves towards a nearby table to gain some cover and takes a shot at the crazy man.



OOC: I'll roll all my acion now, since I'm not sure how much internet access I'll have today and I don't want to slow things down too much for the rest of you guys.
Initiative: 1d20+6=13

Attack: 1d20+2=22

Confirm Crit: 1d20+2=16

Damage: 2d6=8, 2d6=9

Woot! Larry really is lucky!! I hope a 16 is enough to confirm a crit, with whatever range penalties are involved.


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## Shayuri (Oct 22, 2006)

"I'll be da..." Meredith starts to murmur to herself...then she jumps, startled, at the sharp staccato report of gunfire.

She jumps to her feet and instinctively crouches low as she scans up above, where the noise had come from. Two men, one hit and turning around with a gun. He was saying something, but Meredith couldn't quite make it out. They both had guns though! Which one was the murderer, and which one was his ill-chosen victim?

Unable to do much else, she raised her digital camera to cover the scene, setting it to record in full motion rather than in snapshots. She'd just swapped memory, so she figured she had several minutes worth of 'footage' to record. Enough to get through a gunfight most likely.

(Initiative: 10   http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=693001 )


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## Friadoc (Oct 22, 2006)

“The Secret Masters, huh?"  Cade replies as he returns fire from behind the edge of a bookshelf, hoping the cover protects his wisearce-self. “Well, that definitely makes you the murderer /and/ an @$$%*!&.”
OOC - Initiative of 9

Cade's Attack Roll (1d20+4=24) 
Cade's Critical Hit Confirmation Roll (1d20+4=8) - Ok, this was more painful then missing the first roll by one. *grins*
Cade's Damage Roll (2d6=9)


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## kinem (Oct 23, 2006)

"Murrda!"  Diego, still in the meeting room, dives for cover and pulls out his pistol, preparing to shoot anyone who seems to be firing at innocent people.
He doesn't shoot at Larry because the ponytailed man is a shooter, too.

(ooc: initiative = 19)


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## industrygothica (Oct 23, 2006)

Nick looks at the surreal scene with a puzzled expression. _ Jesus, am I the only one in the library without a gun_, he thinks to himself.  Then the gravity of the situation slaps him in the face, and he heads for the nearest cover.

initiative (1d20+1=17)


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## yestotom (Oct 23, 2006)

OOC Assuming that Cyrus was mid-way between the restroom and the reference room.

Already on edge about the second murder, Cyrus whips around when he hears the gunfire, and, seeing the pony-tailed man he assumes to be a killer, Cyrus withdraws his weapons, and fires up at pony-tailed guy.  He then move five feet towards the audio-visual stacks for cover.

OOC
Cyrus' Initiative (1d20+3=*21*)

Cyrus's S&W .44 Magnum Attack (1d20+3-2=*2*) I'll assume that's a miss.

Cyrus' 9mm Attack (1d20+3-2=*12*)

In case that's a hit, Cyrus' 9m Damage (2d6=*7*)


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## Friadoc (Oct 23, 2006)

OOC - You do know that we couldn't have planned a crossfire this good if we tried, gotta love 'fate'. *big evil grin*


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## Falkus (Oct 23, 2006)

As the man turned, and fired a shot at Cade, only missing by an inch, Cade, Larry and Cyrus catch the murderer in a heavy crossfire. Cade hits the man in the left arm, while Larry shoots him the center of his chest. Groaning, the man clutches the balcony, and then falls over the edge, firing randomly into the stacks. He slams into the ground on the center of the first floor.

The other patrons and staff of the library scream as the gunshots begin, and run for the main doors, panicking even more when they find they can't get it.


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## Friadoc (Oct 23, 2006)

OOC - Initiative 9, assuming we're still in combat rounds

As ponytail-man falls over the balcony edge, Cade quickly moves to the balcony/stairway's edge, grounding his sidearm, thusly aiming it away from anyone else, thusly being ready ti react, yet appearing in a non-threatening manner.

"Was anyone hit?" shouts Cade towards the others and the panicked crowd. "He was preparing to fire on the crowd, using a silencer, so..." Cade pauses as he moves slowly down the stairs, doing his best to keep ponytail-man in his line of sight. "...I think we're safe until the police arrive."


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## iwatt (Oct 23, 2006)

"I got you, you sick freak!!" Shouting from the excitement and adrenalin rush, doubt suddenly springs into Larry's mind. _All I had was Cyrus's word that ponytail was the killer._



> "He was preparing to fire on the crowd, using a silencer, so..."




With those words, Larry's nerves calm down some. In a loud voice he adds "I'm not hit. That was the killer, we found another body in the men's room." Clearing the action of his gun, Larry begins to walk out. "I'm coming out. Nobody shoot." 

OOC: Larry will carefully walk towards were the body fell. He'll signal Cyrus to do the same from the other side.

[sblock=OOC] BTW, Larry had taken only one credit card, because more might draw suspicion on to him.[/sblock]


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## Shayuri (Oct 23, 2006)

_Jesus._ Meredith almost burst into nervous, shaky laughter. Leave it to the big city to find not one, but THREE patrons of a smalltime library carrying iron. Score one for the NRA. Then a chill. Wait...it wasn't over yet, was it?

She went towards the gunmen, waving a hand. "Guys, there's an accomplice! I don't know if he's armed, but there's definitely another dangerous person around."

With a glance at the broken body on the floor, she adds, "Besides you all, I mean."


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## Falkus (Oct 23, 2006)

The murderer wasn't quite dead yet, though he was obviously on the way out, and would no longer be among the living in a minute or so. He using the last bit of time he had on earth to mumble something.


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## industrygothica (Oct 23, 2006)

Friadoc said:
			
		

> "...I think we're safe until the police arrive."




"The police aren't coming," Nick says as he makes his way out of the meeting room into the main part of the library.  He nods toward the door and the group of people in a state of panic trying unsuccessfully to get through it.  "Obviously you haven't tried the door."

He moves a little closer to the three gunmen that are still alive, figuring them to be the good-guys, at least for now, and says quietly, "I think we have more problems on our hands than just this guy."  He points to Ponytail Guy, still lying on the floor (hopefully).  Nick then proceeds to explain to them the situation with the doors and the windows, and the loss of all outside communication, and relays his concern with the Egyptian artifacts in the other room, figuring that things have been just strange enough in the past few minutes so that they wouldn't think he was _too_ crazy.  Afterall, it did seem like a stretch, but what other explaination could there be?

"Oh, I almost forgot," he says at the last minute, nodding to the dead man laying on the floor.  "Thanks for that.  Are you all cops or something?"


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## Falkus (Oct 23, 2006)

industrygothica  	
[sblock]As Nick passes near the dying man, he can make out what he's mumbling. Oddly enough, the language he's using is ancient Egyptian. He's saying "Akhentanen, rise again. Akhentanen, live again. Akhentanen, come claim your sacrifices," over and over again. He's also using the last of his energy to draw some sort of symbol on the ground in his own blood.[/sblock]


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## yestotom (Oct 23, 2006)

_Did I do that?  Did I just shoot another human being?  But he would have killed me!  And wait, I wasn't the only one to shoot.  Larry I can understand, but who is this other dude shooting at pony-tail guy?_  Cyrus looks around, worried that everyone is staring at him.  When he sees that he isn't the center of attention and that Larry is there too, he walks over to pony-tail guy.

When Cyrus realizes the man is trying to speak he gets down on one knee and turns his head to hear him.



> She went towards the gunmen, waving a hand. "Guys, there's an accomplice! I don't know if he's armed, but there's definitely another dangerous person around.



Cyrus looks to Meredith and says, "Actually, I think he killed his accomplice.  This one left another corpse sitting on the toilet with a slit neck."




> Oh, I almost forgot," he says at the last minute, nodding to the dead man laying on the floor. "Thanks for that. Are you all cops or something?



No, but I play one in community theater.




> and relays his concern with the Egyptian artifacts in the other room



So you think that an urn was removed from the crate of artifacts?  If so, maybe it is still inside the library since all of the doors and windows are locked.


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## industrygothica (Oct 23, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> industrygothica
> [sblock]As Nick passes near the dying man, he can make out what he's mumbling. Oddly enough, the language he's using is ancient Egyptian. He's saying "Akhentanen, rise again. Akhentanen, live again. Akhentanen, come claim your sacrifices," over and over again. He's also using the last of his energy to draw some sort of symbol on the ground in his own blood.[/sblock]




Nick's eyes bolt open as he recognizes the arcane chant for what it is.  The first thing he can think to do is to actually stomp on the man's hand and kick him right in the teeth.

[sblock]Ya know, I'm liking Nick more and more as this thing goes on.  I don't know if I Just lucked out at creation or if you're catoring to his skills, but it certainly looks like he was made for this one, eh?[/sblock]


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## iwatt (Oct 23, 2006)

industrygothica said:
			
		

> "Thanks for that.  Are you all cops or something?"




Larry laughs nervously at this. " Nah. I just picked vic number one's gun. when I saw this guy here" he points at Cade, "start blasting away at ponytail guy, I just let loose. I guess I was lucky. The name's Larry."



> Nick's eyes bolt open as he recognizes the arcane chant for what it is. The first thing he can think to do is to actually stomp on the man's hand and kick him right in the teeth.




"What the hell are you doing. The man is as good as dead, unless one of you guys is a surgeon?"


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## Falkus (Oct 23, 2006)

Nick's fast actions stopped the dying man and put a permanent end to his existence, but as the saying goes, too little, too late. The gates to the netherworld had already been unbarred, and reopening them was a simple matter as a result.

Black smoke rose up from under the dead man's hand, as the sigils he had drawn in his own blood evaporated. It quickly boiled up to encompass the entire area around the dead man's body, before vanishing as mysteriously as it had appeared.

Where the smoke was, a man was standing. Decked out in ancient Egyptian clothing, looking almost exactly like a Pharaoh out of a history textbook. However, there was not a single scrap of flesh or blood on his bones. Except for the bronze short sword that he was holding, which was dripping in blood, as if it had been recently used.

A strange voice, came forth from the skeleton, speaking in a language that none present, save Nick, could understand.

industrygothica
[sblock]"Worthless servant. I shall complete the ritual myself, if necessary. I shall bathe my blade in the blood of my sacrifices."

OOC: You got lucky. I'd planned the Egyptian theme before I started the game. Having a character as an expert in it just[/sblock]


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## kinem (Oct 23, 2006)

industrygothica said:
			
		

> "The police aren't coming," Nick says as he makes his way out of the meeting room into the main part of the library.  He nods toward the door and the group of people in a state of panic trying unsuccessfully to get through it.  "Obviously you haven't tried the door."




"What the hell is going on here?" Diego demands as he joins the others, his pistol still in hand.

Deigo's mind reels, but when the skeleton appears, his strained brain tries to make sense of it all.

"Hallucinogenic gas!" he shouts.  "Get away, everyone!"

He backs away, though his pistol points towards the skeleton he figures the gas is making him imagine.


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## iwatt (Oct 23, 2006)

kinem said:
			
		

> "Hallucinogenic gas!" he shouts.  "Get away, everyone!"




_What the hell is he talking about. The old man just started talking about egypt, and now I have a damned skeleton in front of me. I already saw this movie!!
_ The heavy weight of the Glock in his hands reminds Larry that he isn't totally defenseless. Taking a few steps back he raises his gun and yells "What the hell are you talking about. Shoot the son of a ... "  whatever else he was going to say was drowned by the sound of his gunfire.


OOC: Larry is a simple guy. He just saw a dead guy turn into some freak. All he knows is that he has nearly a full clip in his gun and a big targte in front of him. He's ready to step back and start pumping lead. 

Initiative:1d20+6=19
Firing into melee: 1d20+2-4=15
Glock damage: 2d6=11


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## Shayuri (Oct 23, 2006)

Meredith emits a startled squawk of horror and stumbles backwards away from the ghoulish apparition. Even as her brain struggles to process what she's seeing, her reflexes bring the camera up again to start snapping shots.

Then something occurs to her, just as bright as a bulb going off.

_The urn!_

Forget gasses, trapdoors, marionettes...forget all those plausible things for just a second, and step back into the fuzzy slippers of childhood, where monsters were REAL. This thing had clearly been brought here via the urn. Maybe it could send it back!

"Where's the the thing they stole?" she asks aloud, hoping someone saw it. "Where's that urn they took?"


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## Friadoc (Oct 23, 2006)

oO Take it easy Oo thinks Cade as he makes his way down the stairs, listening to everyone else, but keeping his eyes on ponytail-man. oO It was the right call Oo

However, as calm as Cade tries to keep, it is the first time he’s killed someone, which marks him somewhere no one can see. A frown crosses his face briefly as Larry celebrates for a moment, but Cade shoves that away, too. oO Not the place, not the time, and not my place Oo

Upon hearing the lady mention an ‘accomplice', Cade keeps his sidearm at the ready as he makes his way over towards ponytail-man. “Figures, it’s not like this could be a simple thing,” says Cade with a half-smirk. “Never is.”

“Nope,” answers Cade as he moves to ponytail-man, thusly near Nick. “The name’s Cade Black, I do freelance security.”  

But, as Cade hears ponytail-man’s chanting he says with a nod towards the balcony, “Why does that sound as creep as the Secret Master’s of Thoth crap he was spouting up there.”

When Nick stomps and kicks the downed man, Cade doesn’t say a word, as his focus has moved more towards the surrounding area.

oO This ain’t good Oo Cade thinks as the smoke forms near the now dead ponytail-man. Once the smoke clears and Cade sees the skeletal pharaoh his demeanor actually seems to steady a bit.

“I don’t know what you just said,” shouts Cade as he takes a few steps away from the man, so as to get a clear background on the undead, raising his sidearm and fires at the things head. “But, I’m pretty sure it makes you a righteous target!”

OOC

Cade's Initiative (1d20+3=19)
Cade's Attack (1d20+4=13) 
Cade's Attack Damage (2d6=4) - If he hits.


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## industrygothica (Oct 24, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> A strange voice, came forth from the skeleton, speaking in a language that none present, save Nick, could understand.
> 
> industrygothica
> [sblock]"Worthless servant. I shall complete the ritual myself, if necessary. I shall bathe my blade in the blood of my sacrifices."



[/sblock]

Eyes wide, stumbling backward blindly, Nick could only manage one word in a barely audible stutter; "Akhentanen."

[sblock]Cimematic flare suggests Nick should probably trip over something and land on his arse while he's stumbling backward.  I can picture him half laying on the ground, mouth agape, looking up at this mythical figure who is probably giving him a wicked glare right now for saying his name.  As a player, however, I obviously don't want my character prone, so I'll leave that roll to you. [/sblock]


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## kinem (Oct 24, 2006)

_I can't understand why they're shooting at a figment of _my_ imagination.  This must all be just a nightmare.  Someone musta drugged me.  But this is one bad trip.  The sooner that skeleton leaves my dream the better._ 

Dirgo raises his pistol to shoot the figment.

initiative = 9
attack = 16
damage (if he hits) = 6
(ooc: The skeleton will be his Dodge target.)


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## yestotom (Oct 24, 2006)

Cyrus doesn't think twice; with pistols still in hand he opens fire with both weapons.

_I've got to get my wits around me and settle down when I take these shots._  He takes a 5' step back and takes a deep breath, readying for his next shot.

OOC
Initiative (1d20+3=*21*) 

.44 Magnum Attack (1d20+3-2=*10*) 

9mm Attack (1d20+3-2=*10*)


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## Falkus (Oct 24, 2006)

Larry and Diego both manage to score hits in the frantic gunfire that follows the unnatural appearance of Akhentanen, blowing off bone chips, but otherwise having little affect on the skeletal Egyptian necromancer.

The skeleton turned to stare at Nick, who had fallen over backwards, scooted back a bit, and scrambled back to a standing position, intoning more words in ancient Egyptian.

industrygothica
[sblock]"So you know my name. No matter, you will die like the rest."[/sblock]

The skeleton then leapt forward, with amazing speed, cutting into Nick's side with his short sword, causing a nasty wound.

Meanwhile, the rest of the library staff and patrons are running for cover in the library, screaming frantically after they found they couldn't get out.

OOC: Nick takes 4 points of damage


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## Friadoc (Oct 24, 2006)

Reacting out of reflex, more than habit, Cade will turn, grab Nick by an arm or leg, and quickly pull the fallen man out of harms way.

OOC - Yeah, potentially I know this might hurt, but Cade would pull the non-combatant, as well as one of the few who might know what is going on, out of danger. Basically, I'm dragging him out of the way using either a double move (if grabbing him is a free action) or my full move (if grabbing him is a move equivilant action). So, here goes nothing.


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## yestotom (Oct 24, 2006)

Cyrus fires two more rounds hoping, at least, to provide some cover for Cade and Nick.

.44 Magnum attack (1d20+3-2=*17*) 
.44 Magnum damage (2d8=*7*)

9mm attack (1d20+3-2=*13*) 
9mm damage (if it hits) (2d6=*10*)


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## iwatt (Oct 24, 2006)

_What the hell. It just won't go down._ Steading himself, Larry tries to shoot the skeleton once more. Maybe it just was too tough.

Looking at the older man who seemed to understand the monster, he shouts out. "How did they kill this thing in the first place."

OOC:
Attack: 1d20+2-4=10
Damage: 2d6=8

I guess I missed.


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## industrygothica (Oct 24, 2006)

iwatt said:
			
		

> Looking at the older man who seemed to understand the monster, he shouts out. "How did they kill this thing in the first place."




Visibly shaking, and stuttering even more than before, Nick forces the words from his mouth.  "I d-d-d-don't know.  The c-c-c-computers went down b-b-before I got that far." 

Nick clutches the fresh wound on his side and winces in agony.  He looks up at the man dragging him to safety and mutters, "W-w-wait... There was an urn.  Maybe he was b-b-burned before he died?"


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## Shayuri (Oct 24, 2006)

Hearing the magic words, Meredith whirls, then sees Nick being dragged away.

"You there! Oh...you're hurt..."

She hurries forward to take a look at the wound.

"Listen mister, I think that stolen artifact, that urn, has got to be the key to all this. Do you know anything about it? What it looks like, or where it might be? I don't think guns are going to help much against this thing."


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## kinem (Oct 24, 2006)

"This dream sucks!" Diego declares.

_I musta played one too many D&D games.  From now on, it's Battletech.  Hmm, in D&D, you need a blunt weapon against skeletons - makes sense I guess._ 

Diego looks around for anything he can use as a club - a table leg he can break off or the like.  If he grabs such a thing, he'll attempt to bash the skeleton with it, using a two-handed grip.


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## Falkus (Oct 24, 2006)

As Cade moved into to grab Nick, he opened himself up to an attack of opportunity from Akhantanen, he swiped at the would-be rescuer with his short sword. Fortuntaely for Cade's health, he missed, and then Cade managed to pull Nick out of harms way.

Larry pulled the trigger on his gun a little too early, and missed, the bullet ironically blowing apart a copy of the Gun Digest in the periodicals section.

Cyrus managed to score a hit with his .44 magnum, but just blew away another chip of bone, not noticibly slowing the skeletal monster.

Diego smashed apart a nearby chair, and grabbed the leg, and took a vicious swing at the creature with it. Akhentane parried the swipe, and riposted, taking a swing at Diego, who barely managed to dodge out of the way of the blow.

Shayuri, industrygothica
[sblock]There wouldn't be many places in the library to hide an urn where it wouldn't look out of place, however, there are some plants in the computer center upstairs, some of which are stored in vases. An urn placed there might not look out of place at first glance.[/sblock]


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## iwatt (Oct 24, 2006)

industrygothica said:
			
		

> "W-w-wait... There was an urn.  Maybe he was b-b-burned before he died?"




_Fire._ Stepping towards the remaining peices of the chairs while scrounging in his pockets, Larry kneels and takes out his trusty zippo lighter and his pack of cigarretes. _Good thing I haven't quit smoking._ Using the pack as kindling, Larry tries to start a fire. Looking around, he grabs whatever books are near to add to the flames.

OOC: I have no idea how easy this is to do IRL, but the idea is to get some flaming club action.  Larry picked up the habit as a dissolute teen, and never has had the urge to quit it. I didn't include it in my equipment though.


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## Friadoc (Oct 24, 2006)

Seeing that Nick is being tended too, Cade looks back at the conflagration and figures that small arms fire is not doing much good against the creature.

oO Gygax be my guide Oo thinks Cade as he picks up a chair, a improvised blunt weapon, and just pretends that he is in a bar fight back home.

Cade charges the skeletal Pharaoh and attacks it with the chair.

OOC
Cade's Charge Attack (1d20+2=4)  - Oh yeah, that sucked. *grins*

I assume the chair would break on impact, whether or not it hit, but I do plan on trying to use the pieces as clubs.


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## Shayuri (Oct 25, 2006)

Meredith pulls Nick away from the fight, trying to get him out of sight of the monster.

"Hi," she says. "I'm Meredith. I heard you...talking to that thing. Do you know what it is? Or what's going on?" As she talks, she wads up some of Nick's shirt hem and staunches the blood from the slash in his side.


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## yestotom (Oct 25, 2006)

_Damn, I know what they're doing, but surely the gunfire was doing more damage than the "chair attacks"_.  Realizing the futility of firing into this melee, Cyrus attempts to sneak around behind the skeletal freak, holster his weapons, and also attack with a chair or heavy book or whatever else is available.

OOC  Movement 40'/round , reduced to 20' for a no penalty hide check (+4).  Not sure of the distance involved, but I am assuming I'll get an attack in the following round, unless my comrades-in-arms find a way to finish him off.


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## industrygothica (Oct 25, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> "Hi," she says. "I'm Meredith. I heard you...talking to that thing. Do you know what it is? Or what's going on?" As she talks, she wads up some of Nick's shirt hem and staunches the blood from the slash in his side.




Nick recollects the potted plants upstairs.  He figures it's a longshot, they've got nothing to lose.  That, and he's not helping anybody by sitting here bleeding all over the place.

"Akhentanen.  Egyptian pharaoh or something.  Ancient curses... he's coming back to life."  Nick winces as she tries to stop the bleeding.  He grabs her hand, "Help me upstairs," he whispers, obviously still in pain.  "There may be something that can stop him."


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## Shayuri (Oct 25, 2006)

"The artifact," Meredith agrees, relieved someone's on the same frequency. "From the crate. You think it's upstairs?"

She gets one of his arms around her shoulders and carefully helps him to his feet, keeping one hand on the injury through the shirt.

"Okay...I know you're hurt, but we're gonna have to do this a little faster than usual for a stab victim. Otherwise we'll have a lot more stab victims to go around."

With that, Meredith escorts Nick up the stairs, as fast as she can safely go with him in tow.

"I know it was supposed to be some kind of urn...but I have no idea what it looks like other than that. Please say you have a plan, mister..."


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## industrygothica (Oct 25, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> Please say you have a plan, mister..."




"I wish I could," Nick wheezes as he climbs the stairs as fast as he can.  "Even if the urn is there, I won't know what to do with it.  I don't know; maybe since he's preoccupied at the moment, the internet connections will be back.  Really, I just don't know."


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## kinem (Oct 25, 2006)

_No imaginary skeleton is going to get the better of me._ 

Diego, being an avid fan of MTV's "Yo Mama", always figured he could do well in that game show.

"Your mama took in so many sticks, that's all your made of!" he shouts at the skeleton as he swings his chair leg again at it.


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## Falkus (Oct 26, 2006)

Nick and Meredith break away from the vicious struggle, and head towards the stairs ((It'll take them another round to get to the computer center). Larry gets a cheery little blaze going using the broken chair and random books that were lying around (it'll take another round before the wood gets going enough to be used as a flaming club).

Cade misses with his wildly swung chair, smashing it to pieces on the floor, though Diego gets lucky with his chair leg, and knocks the skeleton around the head.

Akhentanen muttered a few words in Egyptian, then counterthrust at Diego, only managing to cut the young man's shirt as he jumped out of the way. Unfortunately for Cyrus, the skeleton spotted him trying to sneak around, and kept fighting so that Cyrus remained in his vision.


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## Friadoc (Oct 26, 2006)

Cade moves slightly so that the skeleton is between himself and Diego before taking another swing with a char leg.

OOC
Initiative 19 still
Cade's Club Attack with Flanking (1d20+2=12) 
Cade's Club Damage - if it hits (1d6=4)


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## iwatt (Oct 26, 2006)

While he waits for the fire to catch, Larry takes another shot with his gun. Unfortunately, his aim is spoiled by the fearsome melee between the skelton and the two guys wailing on him. "Come on guys, nail King Tut with thos clubs!" Turning back to the fire, he keeps blowing on it.

OOC:

Attack: 1d20+2-4=5 Miss!!


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## yestotom (Oct 26, 2006)

Seen or unseen, Cyrus grabs a chair like the others, and comes up behind skeletal dude, trying to flank him with Cade and Diego.  With all his strength, he swings the chair at skeletal dude, screaming, "What are you, you Freak!  Take that!"

OOC
Attack Roll +1 Str +2 Flanking (1d20+1+2=*21*)
Damage (1d4+1=*5*)


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## kinem (Oct 27, 2006)

Diego, though greatly doubting his own sanity, is at least encouraged by having whacked his imaginary foe.

"Want some more chair, anorexic boy?"  He swings the chair leg again, hard but perhaps a bit too soon.

attack d20+5 = 13, dam if hit = 6 (1d6+4) or 8 (1d4+4)


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## Falkus (Oct 27, 2006)

Nick and Meredith made it up to the library. Now that they knew what they were looking for, the stolen urn stuck out like a sore thumb among the other vases of flowers, being larger, and covered in hieroglyphics. The murderer must have stashed it here sometime after making the first kill.

Cade and Larry both missed with their swings and shots, but Diego and Cyrus both managed to score succesful hits with their improvised clubs. The skeleton wasn't looking too good now, missing several ribs, and with its left arm fractured, but it wasn't out of the fight yet, and riposted, sliding its sword into Diego's side, opening up a bloody wound.

((Diego takes 7 points of damage)


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## Friadoc (Oct 27, 2006)

Cade will press his attack with the improvised club, as seeing the damage already done to the creature as motivation. Plus, it might take some of the focus off of Diego who was just wounded.

OOC

Per the other discussion, Falkus can roll my combat rolls. Initiative is still 19.


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## industrygothica (Oct 27, 2006)

"That's it," cries Nick as he spots the urn.  He rushes to it, maybe a little too quickly for the sake of his wound, and pulls it out to the middle of the floor so he can get a better look at it.  He'll try to read the hieroglyphics for any sign on how to get rid of the thing (or any other useful knowledge).


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## Shayuri (Oct 28, 2006)

Meredith loses her grip on Nick as he rushes forward. She follows him more carefully, snapping shots of the urn as she does.

"What should we do?" she whispers. "Break it? Or would that just trap it here?"


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## iwatt (Oct 28, 2006)

Seeing his improvised club catch fire, Larry grins and turns around. "Time to warm things up, mummy boy." Taking advantage of the fact that they're all crowding the skeleton, the young man takes advantage of the distraction and tries to burn the skeleton.



OOC: I think i can score a flanking bonus. Instead of swinging., Larry is going to try to burn him with his improvised torch. Should be a touch attack. I'll leave the rolling in your hands as well.


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## yestotom (Oct 28, 2006)

The sold hit on the skeleton felt good in Cyrus' hands.  To good to stop.  He swings again with the chair/club.


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## kinem (Oct 28, 2006)

_MURRDA!  Jesus Christ that hurts!  If this is a dream it's the worst ever.  If not ..._

Either way, Diego tries again to bat down the evil skeleton with his chair leg.  _At least it's starting to look beat up._


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## Falkus (Oct 28, 2006)

OOC: yestotom, I'd appreciate it if you'd put your character sheet up in the Rogue's Gallery here: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=176370


Nick quickly begins to translate the hieroglyphics. The story it tells speaks of Akhentanen, and how his depredations had grown too much to stand, and so the Pharoh had marched against him and his army of the undead. However, as the forces engaged, the Pharoh's armies soon found themselves overmatched, as every soldier that was slain, rose again as an undead beast, intent on slaying his former comrades. The tide was turned and the battle was won when the priests joined, and, by combining their power, managed to destroy the army and burn Akehtanen to death in holy flame.

The last bit is the most interesting, and most pertinent to your present needs. The priests knew that reviving Akhentanen was a possiblity, so weaved a spell into the urn to prevent that. Once revived, Akhentanen will continually restore himself, even if defeated in combat, until a day has passed. To cut that time short, and to permanently banish him, the urn must be destroyed in fire.

Downstairs, the Akhentanen ducks under the desperate swing by Diego, but ducked into Cyrus' swing, fracturing its jaw.

Cade also missed, but gave Larry an opening to press the flaming brand against Akhentanen. The skeleton let out an unearthly scream, as the skeleton caught fire unnaturally fast, and then fell apart, collapsing into a pile of bones.

However, the bones then started to stir, and started reconnecting, with the breaks and cracks starting to disappear as well.


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## Friadoc (Oct 28, 2006)

oO Sweet mother of ...Oo Cade cuts his oath short as he watches the fallen skeleton attempt to piece it's self together. oO Well, if you're coming back, it'll be without your sword! Oo

Quickly, before too much of the skeleton re-assembles, Cade reaches down and snatches up the skeleton's sword and hacks with it into the pile of bones.

OOC

This'll either be a good thing or a really, really bad thing.


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## Shayuri (Oct 28, 2006)

"Burn the urn?" Meredith repeats as Nick translates.

"How do you burn something that's ceramic? I mean, without a blast furnace or something..."

She looks around...then shrugs and produces a book of matches from her purse. "I guess it makes as much sense as some...skeleton pharoh from Egypt showing up in the library," she mutters as she sparks the match and holds it...a bit tentatively...towards the urn's base.


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## iwatt (Oct 28, 2006)

Seeing the skelton crumple down, Larry let's out a loud victory holler. "Burn baby burn!". 

Seeing the bones begin to reassemble makes Larry pause in id celebration. "What the hell!" Turning towards Cyrus and the Hispanic, he calls out, "Bring some books to build a bonfire. The fire seems to hurt him." Turning back towards the reassembling nightmare, Larry pokes it once more with his torch.


OOC: BTW, it's "Mierda".  Feel free to consult me on any spanish cursewords, it is my maternal tongue    .


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## industrygothica (Oct 29, 2006)

Still groaning fromhis wound, Nick scrambles to find some paper, be it a book, magazine, or scratch paper laying around for notes.  He hears the celebration going on below and peers over the balcony to see what's going on.  His eyes open wide as he sees Akhentanen's bones begin to reassemble themselves, and he runs back over to Meredith and her waiting matches.

He quickly shreds whatever paper he can find makes a small pile of makeshift kindling.  After it catches, he takes the urn and places it in the middle of the fire.  Instinctively, he grabs Meredith and backs away to a semi-safe distance.


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## Falkus (Oct 29, 2006)

Nick and Meredith ignited a fire, and placed the urn in it. Almost immediately, white flames ignited on the outside of the urn, and in less than a second, the blaze completely consumed it, burning white hot for a few seconds. When the flames vanished, the urn was gone, leaving only a hole burnt into the floor.

In the main library area, a circle of golden light snapped up from underneath Akhentanen's remains. It was blindingly bright, forcing everybody to avert their eyes, and when it disappeared, the remains of the skeleton were gone. All that was left was the bronze short sword that Cade had taken.

And then, the front door of the library burst open, and three men in blue uniforms who were carrying guns burst in. "Chicago police, nobody move!" they shouted.


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## Friadoc (Oct 30, 2006)

"About time," shouts Cade as the light envelops the skeleton, but before the cops burst into the room. 

However, as soon as the cops arrive Cade stops staring at the sword in his hands, dropping it to floor and trying to look as law abiding as possible, he says as he points to ponytail-man's corpse, "The man you're looking for is right over there, officers, the dead guy with the ponytail."

OOC

Cade will be quite co-operative with the authorities, in fact he will let them know what happened from his perspective with ponytail-man, but he will keep the skeleton-pharoah close to his vest until he knows what the other people in here will say on the subject.

Also, on a side note, if possible, Cade is gonna keep the sword, a trophy of his first jaunt on the shadowy side of things. *grins*

By the way, his sidearm is holstered and secure, although it will show that it has spent rounds. Cade has a permit and license for the weapon, as well as being a bonded and licensed security operative/contractor.


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## Shayuri (Oct 30, 2006)

When she hears the voices from below, including the police, Meredith sags with relief against the table.

"It's over...we actually won. We..."

Then she blinks as what happened actually sinks in.

"My _GOD_! Do you realize what just  happened?!" she blurts at Nick. "An actual supernatural event! And I have it on my camera! From the murders to the...the skeletong, to the urn...all of it! I even did some research, dug up some backstory, but that's nothing compared to...to..." she waves a finger at the stairs. "It's proveable! All those Egyptian curses and mummies and so on! We can PROVE it!"

Meredith gasps in a breath then asks, "It's lucky you were here though. How do you know so much about all this? Are you some kind of...I don't know...magician or something?"


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## kinem (Oct 30, 2006)

(ooc: Thanks jw.  I may take you up on that.  I got the spelling from some web site.)

Diego sits down on one of the remaining intact chairs and opens his jacket and shirt to try to take a look at the wound.

"What ... happenned?  Did I go crazy and start smashing ..." looking at Cade "Was it you who stabbed me dude ... or was it a ... skeleton?"


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## industrygothica (Oct 30, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> "My _GOD_! Do you realize what just  happened?!" she blurts at Nick. "An actual supernatural event! And I have it on my camera! From the murders to the...the skeletong, to the urn...all of it! I even did some research, dug up some backstory, but that's nothing compared to...to..." she waves a finger at the stairs. "It's proveable! All those Egyptian curses and mummies and so on! We can PROVE it!"
> 
> Meredith gasps in a breath then asks, "It's lucky you were here though. How do you know so much about all this? Are you some kind of...I don't know...magician or something?"





"Magician?" grins and shakes his head.  "No.  I'm just an archaeologist.  I just happen to have done a lot of research on Egyptian lore." 

Nick sits back and leans against the wall, his arm resting on one knee with his other led outstretched in front of him.  Regarding her camera, Nick says "Better hold on tight to those.  You're going to need them.  The police are never going to believe any of this.  In fact, I can't think of anyone who will.  Well, except for one..."  Nick trails off, deep in thought.  As quietly as possible, he tries to get to a computer without being noticed by those below so that he can confirm any sort of contact information to the Hoffman Institute.


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## yestotom (Oct 30, 2006)

_Cops?  I knew this would happen.  I'm screwed._  As soon as the cops enter, Cyrus is immediately aware that he must hide his guns.  Unless he is clearly in front of the cops, he will try to sneak into the nearest stacks and hide his guns behind some books.


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## iwatt (Oct 30, 2006)

Clearing the action and putting the safety of his newly aquired gun, Larry put's the gun behind his back. Moving towards the wall, he looks for a fire extinguisher with which to put out the fires. After he is done with that he'll try to move towards the refernce desk and try to settle Janet's nerves.

_Cops. At least there was a lot of witnesses._

[sblock=OOC] Larry will hide the credit card he palmed, using Sleight of Hand.[/sblock]


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## Falkus (Oct 30, 2006)

OOC: Everybody gains 1200 experience points

Rechecking the Hoffmann Institutes's website soon turns up phone numbers for their Chicago office, and a general e-mail address that can be used to contact them.

Outside, the rain has stopped, and the police start rounding up everybody who was at the library, and taking them outside, as more police cars and ambulances show up, as well as a few detectives in unmarked cars. Soon, the library was sealed off as the authorities conduct their investigation.

All of the firearms and weapons that you have on you are confiscated, at least temporarily, by the police. Meredith's camera is taken as well (for evidence), but they miss the memory chips she hid in her purse.

Soon, the detectives and police officers were taking statements from the other patrons and staff members of the library, which tended to, from what you could overhear, be fairly hazy on the exact circumstances of what happened after the murderer was killed. They either didn't get a good look at what happened (doubtful), are deliberately lying, or just simply don't want to accept the truth.

When the police finally got around to your group, a blond woman in a white trench coat interceded, flashing her ID and quietly talking with them for a minute, before walking over to you.

"I'm Agent Angelena Lear," she said, quietly. "The other officers think I'm a police detective specializing in cult crimes. I'm actually a member of an organization known as the Hoffmann Institute, and right now, I'm the only person here who's likely to believe anything you might have to say about the supernatural events that happened here tonight."


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## iwatt (Oct 30, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> "I'm Agent Angelena Lear," she said, quietly. "The other officers think I'm a police detective specializing in cult crimes. I'm actually a member of an organization known as the Hoffmann Institute, and right now, I'm the only person here who's likely to believe anything you might have to say about the supernatural events that happened here tonight."




_Right. And we're supposed to believe this?_ Turning towards the only one who seemed to actually know anything about what had happened this evening, the young man asks the archeolgist. "Nick, you the man with the inside info. Does this ring true to you?"

OOC: average hitpoints at level up?


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## Falkus (Oct 30, 2006)

OOC: Average hitpoints.


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## industrygothica (Oct 30, 2006)

[sblock]


			
				Falkus said:
			
		

> OOC: Everybody gains 1200 experience points




Nick's Profession Check (1d20+7=22)[/sblock]



> "I'm Agent Angelena Lear," she said, quietly. "The other officers think I'm a police detective specializing in cult crimes. I'm actually a member of an organization known as the Hoffmann Institute, and right now, I'm the only person here who's likely to believe anything you might have to say about the supernatural events that happened here tonight."




"May I see your identification please?" Nick asks politely.  He really couldn't tell one way or another if it was legit, but he wants to compare it to that of the dead man in the library.  If they match, that'll be proof enough that she's telling the truth.

_Assuming her ID matches the other Hoffman Institute ID found in the library:_
"Well, I suppose if you're from the Hoffman Institute then you already know what happened.  Your other agent is inside.  I'm sorry, but he didn't make it.  We burned the urn, though.  It was the only way."

_If her ID doesn't match up, or if Nick guesses its a forgery of some sort:_
No thank you.  I think I'd rather take my chances with someone in a uniform.  There have just been too many strange things happening tonight, I can't afford a risk.


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## Falkus (Oct 31, 2006)

industrygothica said:
			
		

> [sblock]
> "May I see your identification please?" Nick asks politely.  He really couldn't tell one way or another if it was legit, but he wants to compare it to that of the dead man in the library.  If they match, that'll be proof enough that she's telling the truth.
> 
> _Assuming her ID matches the other Hoffman Institute ID found in the library:_
> "Well, I suppose if you're from the Hoffman Institute then you already know what happened.  Your other agent is inside.  I'm sorry, but he didn't make it.  We burned the urn, though.  It was the only way."




"Certainly," she said, handing over an ID card. Aside from the name, picture and other incidental personal information, it matched that of the dead man inside. Presumably, they were both genuine.

Angelena sighed, and looked up at the sky. "He was my partner," she said, after a moment. "When we found that the ritual had begun, we knew that he was almost certainly dead, but there was alway a chance. I should have come with him, but he said he could retrieve it on his own, and I had an assignment on the other side of town. He thought he'd misdirected the Secret Masters by having the crates shipped to the library instead of the museum, but they must have caught on."

She then looked back at the group. "It's impressive that you managed to stop the ritual, however. I quite agree with you, artifacts like that are much to dangerous to be left intact."


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## industrygothica (Oct 31, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> She then looked back at the group. "It's impressive that you managed to stop the ritual, however. I quite agree with you, artifacts like that are much to dangerous to be left intact."




"So," Nick continues.  "How do we get out of this?  I mean, surely they're going to want answers.  They'll never believe the truth.  Hell, I'm not sure that I believe the truth, and I was there.  But there are three dead men in there, and I have no idea where to go from here."


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## Shayuri (Oct 31, 2006)

Meredith peeks over Nick's shoulder to see the ID, then focuses on Angelina.

"Secret Masters? Look...you're talking like this sort of thing happens a lot! I don't know about you, Miss Lear, but I think we deserve some kind of explanation! Who would go around trying to...to...bring back Egyptian mummies? And even if they wanted to, HOW? That...this isn't some kind of movie after all. But..." she digs in her bag, producing the chip she swapped out. Before the police took her camera, she put the first chip back in...the chip where she'd photographed the crowd and murder victim. The 'normal' footage. All the supernatural stuff was on the memory she now held. "But I know it happened. It's all right here. How is that possible?"


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## Falkus (Oct 31, 2006)

"Don't worry about the police. Their investigation will determine that a wanted serial killer entered the library and killed two people, before being gunned down by several courageous citizens. We'll make sure of it. No need to bother them with facts that they wouldn't believe anyway. They'll give you a pat on the back, perhaps a lecture or two about vigilantism, and that'll be the end of it. From the police, that is."

The Hoffmann Institute agent turned to look at Meredith. "You're quite right. You do deserve a truth or two. Not the whole truth, not yet, but part of it. You encountered something that the average human being is incapable of understanding, and yet you not only managed to react rationally, you managed to defeat a rather malevolent force. Not many people could do that."

She sighed again. "It's never easy, the initiation. It wasn't easy for me, it wasn't easy for the dozen other times I've had to explain the facts of life. I'll be blunt: Much of what you know is a lie. That magic and the supernatural are concepts that exist solely in works of fiction. You've uncovered a truth tonight. That magic is real, that ancient Egyptian necromancers can be brought back to life. And, as any student of human psychology can tell you, when something exists, there will be people who will exploit it. In this case, a man looking for power by calling back an Egyptian necromancer into life."

"The reason why you didn't know this before is because you, and most other people on this planet, didn't and don't want to know, and refuse to know that reality is a lot less stable and scientific than we're taught to believe. How else could we cover it up without the willing cooperation of the people we're hiding it from? Except, of course, for a few people like yourselves and me and my fellow agents who, when presented with the TRUTH, see it for what it is. Look at your fellow witnesses from the library. They saw everything you saw, but they refuse to acknowledge it, can't explain it, and probably won't even remember it by tommorow."


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## Friadoc (Oct 31, 2006)

For much of the activites after the conflagration within the Library, Cade has remained silent, as it was the first time he has had to try and kill another human being, whether they deserved it or not, and that is a lot for one person to absorb so quickly.

Yet, Cade has put on a good enough face and simply listens to the conversation, resting behind the normal assumption that the country boy is more of a doer than a thinker. He did the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons, and that should be enough for him and his maker.

However, Cade breaks his silence with a quip, actually a quote, on the topic of the conversation.

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents," says Cade as he quotes H.P. Lovecraft from Call of Cthulhu.

"Ma'am, I can't really speak for the others," says Cade in a simple tone, again retreating to the safety of the country boy. "But, seeing what I saw, knowing what I know, well....I want in."

Cade's tone leave little mistake in what he means by 'In'.

But, Cade softens his tone with a 'Tom Sawyer' like grin as he adds, "Oh, yeah, I want my sword back, too."

OOC

My Trophy! *grins*


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## iwatt (Oct 31, 2006)

Friadoc said:
			
		

> "Ma'am, I can't really speak for the others," says Cade in a simple tone, again retreating to the safety of the country boy. "But, seeing what I saw, knowing what I know, well....I want in."




Looking at his companions, Larry wasn't sure what the angle was. _There's always an angle. The proffesor was in as well, no doubt about that. The reporter was hard to read, but she'd probably let her curiosity get the best of her._ 

"So what is this, a recruitment offer? I didn't join the marines when that judge asked me too, and I don't see any reason to volunteer for your Men in Black now. Unless you have something to put on the table."


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## industrygothica (Oct 31, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> "Don't worry about the police. Their investigation will determine that a wanted serial killer entered the library and killed two people, before being gunned down by several courageous citizens. We'll make sure of it. No need to bother them with facts that they wouldn't believe anyway. They'll give you a pat on the back, perhaps a lecture or two about vigilantism, and that'll be the end of it. From the police, that is."
> 
> The Hoffmann Institute agent turned to look at Meredith. "You're quite right. You do deserve a truth or two. Not the whole truth, not yet, but part of it. You encountered something that the average human being is incapable of understanding, and yet you not only managed to react rationally, you managed to defeat a rather malevolent force. Not many people could do that."
> 
> ...




Nick is obviously deep in thought.  He can hear those talking around him, and comprehend what the lady is saying, though his thoughts are with his lost friend Cliff Kenzington and the mysterious circumstances around his disappearance.  It was artifacts so similar to these that were the cause of the whole mess, and the reason Nick got involved in the old Egyptian lore in the first place.  He guess he owed it to Cliff for saving his ass in a way.  Hopefully, with his newfound knowledge of _the truth_, he could someday repay him...


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## yestotom (Oct 31, 2006)

Being something of an introvert, Cyrus is not ready to jump right into some organization he knows nothing about.  At the same time, he is conscious of how much he misses the comraderie of the Michigan track team and how, since he has been in Chicago, he misses even the social outlet of his D&D gaming group.

His intellectual curiosity of ancient and prehistoric civilization gets the better of his social shyness and he speaks up, "I think I might like to know a little more."  Even as he says the words he recognizes the double meaning of wanting to know more about the Hoffman Institute and to know more about the things unknown things to which she has alluded.


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## kinem (Oct 31, 2006)

(ooc: I assume that the paramedics have seen Diego and given him first aid.

He is worried about the risk of tetanus from the old blade, and would have asked if he needs to go to a hospital.)

Diego has been quiet for a while, taking it all in.  Thinking.

He asks of the Hoffman agent "So what happens to people who don't play along with your cover-ups?"


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## Shayuri (Nov 1, 2006)

"In?" Meredith blurts in surprise. She opens her mouth to say more...then stops abruptly when Diego asks his question. Then she holds still and waits, listening intently.


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## Falkus (Nov 1, 2006)

OOC: Everybody wounded has had their wounds treated. A hospital visit would be required after you're finished here, but there's nothing urgent or life threatening.

The agent looked Diego. "Why, nothing, of course. Why should we have to do anything? Nobody will ever believe you if you tell them what actually happened, so we don't have anything to worry about."

She then turns to look at Larry. "The Hoffmann Institute is interested solely in learning the truth. That's all we can promise you, aside from a regular salary and routine excitement. If you interested in finding out more, come to this address in two days at three PM. Oh, we'll also have your weapons and the sword back from the police and waiting for you there. We'll ship them back to you if you chose not to show up," she then hands out business cards, that simply read Hoffmann Institute, and listed an address on the outskirts of Chicago.


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## Friadoc (Nov 1, 2006)

Cade listens to the Hoffmann agent answers the suspicions and questions of the others, taking the business card when it is offered.

"Thanks, ma'am," says Cade with that slight roguish smile. "See you in two days."

Remaining silent until the others have asked the Agent Lear anymore questions, Cade held his voice until it was just the group of people from the library who 'acted in' instead of witnessed the events inside.

"Well, I hope t'see you in two days," says Cade as he looks at each one of you. "I could care less if no one believed what happened in there, but I doubt I could just go back to the blissful ignorance we had before...or that I'd want to. I'm not to thrilled about people not knowing, or believing in this, but I'd rather be doing something about it, whether I trust the Institute or note, then going back to being clueless." With a wry chuckle, he adds, "I, mean, dang, the truth actually is out there, ain't it?"


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## industrygothica (Nov 1, 2006)

Nick takes the card with a warm smile and a nod.  Realizing he doesn't have any weapons to pick up, he says nothing about showing up at the Hoffmann Institute, though deep down he knows that he will, if for no other reason than to answer the previously unanswerable.  "Thank you," he says as he puts the card in his wallet.


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## kinem (Nov 1, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> The agent looked at Diego. "Why, nothing, of course. Why should we have to do anything? Nobody will ever believe you if you tell them what actually happened, so we don't have anything to worry about."




Diego follows up on the question.  "OK, that's true, but what about someone who can prove something?  I mean, if there are real necromancers and all, surely some of them are more interested in the fame and fortune they could get by going public, than in murdering people and such."


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## Falkus (Nov 1, 2006)

"Most of them know the benefits of keeping our secrets secret. The others tend to get laughed down when they try to demonstrate their abilities. And for those who can convince other people, well, they have no means of mass demonstrating the fact that magic exists. Television? This is the age of CGI. Radio? Even easier to fake than on television. Live performances? Magicians do acts that are even more impressive that most magic in Vegas every night."


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## Shayuri (Nov 1, 2006)

"So...what would we be doing?" Meredith asks, looking at her card. "Do we need to give two weeks for the jobs we have now, or...or what?"


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## iwatt (Nov 1, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> "The Hoffmann Institute is interested solely in learning the truth. That's all we can promise you, aside from a regular salary and routine excitement."




"A job? I've never had a steady salary in my life. Trust me to get a regular job working in the exciting field of paranormal studies." The truth is that Larry had been small time all his life. Small confidence jobs, petty larceny, nothing to write home about. The idea of doing something special, of been special, certainly held an appeal. Still, he couldn't resist the chance to joke around "Do you guys offer a good dental plan?" Taking the offered card, Larry is ready to leave.

[sblock=OOC] Larry is going to tryo to save the night as much as possible, by taking Janet out on the town with the credit card he palmed. A good restaurant, and then off to a fancy club. Champagne, caviar, the works. He'll get rid of the card after the night is over. 

Also, he will spend the next couple of days working over whatever contacts he can find trying to get as much info on this Institute as possible. He'll pretend to be a reporter, or a uniformed cop, whatever is requried, to get what is needed.
[/sblock]


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## Falkus (Nov 2, 2006)

"If you want to quit your job and work full time at the Institute if you get in, then that's fine," Angelena stated. "But it's also encouraged for field agents to continue with their previous employment as a cover job. We can sort things out with your boss to ensure that you get the time off needed to perform duties."

"You'll be told exactly what the job entails at the address in two days, and then you'll be required to make your final decision as to whether you want in or not."

"Now, if there are no further questions, I've got some reports to file," Angelena concluded, then left, going back into the crowd of police officers.

iwatt
[sblock]Larry and Janet have a wonderful time, thanks to the generosity of the dead agent, though Janet's still a bit shellshocked over the events of the evening.

Your investigations mostly only turn up what must be the public face of the Hoffmann Institute. A think tank founded in 1917 with two divisions, administrative and research, and offices in many major cities, including Chicago. They do have an official interest in the supernatural, but officially, they're a skeptics group, finding normal, rational explanations for the supernatural. Given what you know now, this has to be a cover.

A bit deeper poking does find out that the Hoffmann Institute has quiet relations with several major corporations, all of which have made at least one innovative, unprecedented and highly profitable technological development in the last fifty years.

One of your more technical contacts tells you that nobody has ever managed to hack through the security of the Hoffmann Institutes computer system.[/sblock]


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## industrygothica (Nov 2, 2006)

Nick quietly gathers his his belongings, including all the notes he was working on before the night's events unfolded.  He walks alone back to his car where he drives back to his hotel room.  The sound of the road is the only noise, and Nick couldn't even hear that, he was so engrossed in his thoughts.  Yes, he would go to the Hoffmann Institute in two days, and he would join them, if he was offered.  

Nick inserts the keycard in the door of his room, waiting for the red light to turn green.  He sets his briefcase on the dresser, trying to put past few hours behind him, at least for the next few minutes.  He sits on the corner of the bed and picks up the phone.

"Hi baby, it's daddy..."


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## Friadoc (Nov 2, 2006)

After all the talking is done, Cade will turn and head into the parking lot, climbing into an old, customized International Scout whose engine turns over on the first try. He's been working on it again.

While the Scout warms up Cade's thoughts turn to tonight's events, as well as his part in them, in the shooting. It's not an easy thing, knowing that you could try and kill someone, even though Cade always thought he could, if he had to. But, it's not the same, theory and practise.

After a couple of minute, Cade flips the stereo on and some Pink Floyd's 'On the Run', from The Dark Side of the Moon, ironically, is playing on his MP3-fed system.

"Nice," says Cade with a half-smirk on his face. Before pulling out, Cade reaches behind is passenger seat and flips the tie-down loose from the holster for his rifle. It is doubtful that anything will happen on the ride back to his apartment, but it was also doubtful that there would have been a gun turned chair battle with a skeletal warrior in a library.

Over the next two days, Cade will do research on the Hoffmann institute, as well, but he'll focus not only on his technological contacts, both within and without the security community, but also his more fringe folk, like the conspiracy types that hang out on Coast to Coast AM type boards.

While he'll never divulge his own contact with the group, he will scour the web on his down time, in between contract jobs and workl.

OOC

Basically, Cade's just burning time, as he knows he'll say 'Yes' and hopefully be able to join Hoffmann.


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## Falkus (Nov 3, 2006)

Two days pass, and eventually you all arrive at the address you were given at the right time. The building is a small, one story house in a residential neighborhood filled with similar houses for the upper-middle class. The door's unlocked, and allows you access.

A long table is in the living room, with various chairs around it. The chair at the head of the table is occupied by a man with black hair, black sunglasses and a black suit. Several folders are lying on the table in front of him.

"My name is Mr. Smith," he said, simply. "I am the head of Human Resources at the Hoffmann Institute. Please be seated, and we will begin."

Friadoc
[sblock]Your tecnological contacts let you know that nobody has ever managed to penetrate the computer security of the Hoffmann Institute. Your fringe science contacts tell you that agents working for the Hoffmann Institute always turn up at very public sites of the paranormal, but act as skeptics, finding various scientific and down to earth explanations for the paranormal.[/sblock]


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## iwatt (Nov 3, 2006)

Larry had come in MiB attire himself. An armani black suit of course. It had cost him dearly, but the effect it produced was worth it. Handing over the card he'd received, Larry holds a seat for Meredith, before sitting down to face Mr Smith. _Smith? And I'm Mr Jones._

Leaning backwards, a slight grin appears in Lary's face. "Well, here we are, ready for your sales pitch. I guess this is the part were you explain what's the going rate for mummy slaying?"


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## yestotom (Nov 3, 2006)

As usual. Cyrus arrives a couple of minutes early.  He sits in his car, parked along the street, reliving the events from two nights ago.  There is no questioning the adrenaline rush and the actual thrill that long outlived the natural chemical high.  _Yes!  I want to do this._  As he sees a couple of other cars pull up and his watch approaching th appointed hour, Cyrus gets out and walks to the front door with the other familiar faces.



> "My name is Mr. Smith," he said, simply. "I am the head of Human Resources at the Hoffmann Institute. Please be seated, and we will begin."



  "Hi.  My name is Cyrus.  Cyrus Lane Diffenderfer,"  Cyrus says. As he extends his arm for the traditional handshake, he adds, "But I guess you already know that,"  with a smile that belies his self-satisfaction with his attempted humor-making.


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## industrygothica (Nov 3, 2006)

Nick nods and extends his hand.  "Nick Wells," he says quickly as he turns to shake the hands of the others who've already arrived.  He finally take his seat, albeit a bit nervously.  "Gee, I kind of feal like this is all a movie or something," he says with a nervous chuckle.  "Like I'm going to wake up, and life as I know it is going to turn out to be a complete lie."  He starts to chuckle again, but then suddenly realizes with an accute seriousness that that is exactly what has already happened.  Now, deep in ponderous thought, Nick sits back and waits for Mr. Smith to begin.


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## Shayuri (Nov 3, 2006)

Meredith hurries in, cursing downtown traffic as she goes. She's a bit awkward in her heels, but makes it to the table where she manages to shake Smith's hand and plunk her purse down. She's dressed professionally, beige blouse and brown skirt with a long coat over it. This time she's wearing a pair of glasses too; small, round thin-rimmed lenses perched atop her nose.

"Meredith Rosenburg," she says, breathing a little hard. "Sorry I'm almost late. Parking's a...well, anyway. Hi, everyone."


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## kinem (Nov 3, 2006)

The past two days have been uncomfortable for Diego.  After the library, he had gone to the hospital to have his wound checked.  The wait was the worst part of that, and the doctor said he would be fine.

Explaining to his mother just how he had come to be knifed while on a simple trip to the library had not been easy.  Fortunately he could point to the news report, as evidence that he had not fallen back in with the old gang.  Only the fact that he'd gotten a job offer seemed to mollify her.

He'd tried researching the Institute, as well as magic, on the internet.  But he hadn't turned up anything much, just public information.

Now, he wears his leather jacket as he strides in to the job or interview or whatever it was, late as usual.

_Mr. Smith!_  He goes for the obvious.  "I'm Mr. Anderson."

No one seems much amused, so he says "Mr. Diego Borges."


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## Friadoc (Nov 3, 2006)

Waiting outside, counting those who enter, Cade waits until the last of those who received Hoffmann's offer have arrived and enter. After locking up his Scout, he heads into the one-story house.

Dressed simply, Cade is wearing a tan, denim shirt tucked into a green pair of canvas cargo pants. Upon his feet are a pair of worn, but cared for brown hiking boots. Over all of this is his trusty brown-leather jacket.

"Hi," says Cade as introductions go around. "The name's Cade Black, nice t'meet you all and to be here."

"So, what's the plan, Mr. Smith?" Cade asks as he finds a place to lean against the wall and listen.


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## Falkus (Nov 4, 2006)

"Good, you're all here, we can begin," Mr. Smith said, ignoring any quips or Matrix jokes. He opened up a folder in front of him.

"Over the last two days, Department-3 of the Hoffmann Institute, my department, has been performing rather extensive background checks on all of you. Thanks to our resources, we can conduct these checks rather quickly. We checked the usual, employment records, criminal records, medical records, as well as a few other more esoteric sources that we have access to that you don't need to know about right now. It pleases me to tell you that you have all passed these checks, as per our criteria of what makes an acceptable field agent."

"Before we go on, there is one thing I must make explicitly clear. Under no circumstances are you to reveal the true nature of the Hoffmann Institute or the exact nature of your new jobs to ANYBODY not cleared to know. This includes family members."

"The Hoffmann Institute was founded in 1917 by Dr. Itohiro Nakami, and bankrolled by Thomas Hoffmann. Our ultimate goal is to research the supernatural and the arcane, and to understand the causes of paranormal activity. There is more to our goals, of course, but that will be explained to you as your clearance level within the Institute rises. Suffice it to say, the Institute's work can be said, without exaggeration, to be one of the most important endeavors in the entire history of the human race."

"As for what your job will entail? You will be joining Department-7, part of our hidden Intelligence Division that the public doesn't know about. Your position will be field agents. Your goals are simple: To uncover the truth behind the paranormal, the supernatural and the preternatural in order to further our understanding of humanity and the universe it exists in. To this end, you will be dispatched on various assignments to research paranormal events, acquire arcane artifacts and uncover the truth behind myths and legends. We generally prefer to avoid violent action, but no make mistake, the malicious nature of many components of the supernatural and those who lust for power through it make violence a certainty in the lives of a field agent. You will be required, at times, to kill in the course of your duties. You will also be required to break the law, lie, cheat and hide the truth from those not capable of handling it yet. In return, you will be in a unique position to be one of the few human beings actually capable of learning the real truth of our existence."

"Salaries for entry level field agents is forty-two thousand American dollars each year, paid in any currency you desire, and in any form you desire."

"Are you still interested?" Smith concluded.


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## industrygothica (Nov 4, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> "Are you still interested?" Smith concluded.





"Yes," Nick states simply.  "I am interested.  What are your policies on using your facilities for '_extracurricular_' research as well?  I'm sure you know to what I'm referring."


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## Friadoc (Nov 4, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> ["Are you still interested?" Smith concluded.




"I'm in,"  says Cade after a brief moment of thought. It is a lot to take in, but more than Cade imagination could ever hope for or dream of. "...110%!"

"Do I get a lab?"  Cade asks with that 'look' that techies get when they think about all of the wonderful toys.


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## iwatt (Nov 4, 2006)

Falkus said:
			
		

> "Are you still interested?" Smith concluded.




_I'll take tte Blue pill, Morpheus._ No small talk, no sugar coating. It was clear that smith was keeping  a lot to himself, but that was probably expected in a situation like this. some words kept ringing in Larry's head:



> Suffice it to say, the Institute's work can be said, without exaggeration, to be one of the most important endeavors in the entire history of the human race.




The chance of been into something big and important, was just too much of a lure to the petty criminal. "I'm in."


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## yestotom (Nov 4, 2006)

"I'm in.  Can we start today?"  Cyrus blurts out.  Later, qustions about medical insurance, flexibility to undertake his PhD studies in the fall, and what exactly is the consequence if one happens to say something to a family member would cross his mind.  But for now, it was an emotional response, one for which he felt he had been somehow headed all of his life.


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## kinem (Nov 4, 2006)

_You will be required, at times, to kill in the course of your duties. You will also be required to break the law, lie, cheat ...

... forty-two thousand American dollars ..._

Diego thinks for a moment.  _The Hoffman Institute ... good guys or bad guys?  I guess if you want out, they take you out.  But what better option do I have?_

"I'm in" he says.


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## Shayuri (Nov 4, 2006)

Meredith tried to ignore the mounting pressure to give in, to conform. Theatrics. She knew her answer. She'd known it since the day after the incident in the library, when she'd tried to explain to her editor...and couldn't. When she'd picked the chip out of her purse lining, but couldn't hand it over. The chip that had her shots of the impossible. Of a skeleton in Egyptian garb. Of the urn. Of the urn burning. More and more she'd wondered why she changed chips so fast. How fortuitous it had been that she had, since all the mundane research had been on one, and all the wild wooly stuff had been on the other. Coincidence? Divine guidence? Latent precognition?

It didn't matter though. She'd kept that memory chip sacred because in her heart she knew there was only one place that could really appreciate it. Explain it. And she was there now. One day the events she would document as part of this group would be public. There would be no laborious climb from boring intern grunt work to the investigative work she craved. No famous names swooping down to grab the big stories from her before they went to press. And this Hoffman Institute, and what they faced, was the biggest story of all.

"Okay," she said, when everyone else had had their say. "There's no way I could walk away from this...so I'm in too."


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## Falkus (Nov 4, 2006)

"Excellent," Mr. Smith said, removing several forms from a folder. "Just a few more formalities to conclude, and then you will be officially agents of the Hoffmann Institute. All you have to do is sign this non-disclosure and employment agreement."

"And to answer your questions, yes, you will have access to labs at our facilities to conduct your own research when you are not actively engaged on an assignment"

He handed out six ten page forms to each of you. Most of the stuff was what you'd expect from a NDA, citing penalties for revealing the Institutes's secrets, ranging from monetary fines for small infringements, up to unspecified 'serious' penalties for major infractions. Some of the stuff was unusual for your standard employment form (requiring agents to report all supernatural abilities they had as soon as they were discovered), and some was just plain odd (all medical treatment and checkups had to be handled solely by Hoffmann Institute personnel).


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## Shayuri (Nov 4, 2006)

Meredith raises an eyebrow at the supernatural ability stipulation. Great...how was she going to compete with employees who had super-powers? She looks up at Smith and asks, "Uh, this one here caught my eye." She shows him the form. "Do a lot of Hoffman agents have 'supernatural abilities?' I know I don't...and in the interest of fairness, I think we should know what sort of things we can expect from our co-workers at least."


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## industrygothica (Nov 4, 2006)

Nick signs off on the papers without a second thought.  The idea of being able to use such advanced research methods as these people surely have outweighs any suspicions he has about such odd questions.


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## Falkus (Nov 4, 2006)

"There are a number of a Hoffmann Institute employees with a wide variety supernatural abilities, ranging from simple, to extraordinarily powerful. I can't disclose exact demographics to you just yet, of course, but there's several at each facility we control, both serving as agents and in other positions, primarily research and support," Smtih explained.


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## Friadoc (Nov 4, 2006)

oO Gee, this ain't familiar Oo thinks Cade with a chuckle as he signs and initials the forms quickly and in the proper places. It is obvious that he's signed similar forms before and reads them quickly, one might think too quickly, but something about how Cade does it shows an experience with NDAs and such.

"Done and done," says Cade as he hands the paperwork back to Mr. Smith. "Now, my sword and sidearm, please? It's the egyptian one from the library and the S&W Model 1076 Tactical Model with combat laser sighting."

It is definately obvious that Cade has felt 'underdressed' without his sidearm, very underdressed.

"Clips missin' a couple rounds," adds Cade with a wry smile.


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## yestotom (Nov 5, 2006)

Cyrus is anxious to be a part of all of this, but not so anxious that he won't take whatever time is necessary to read every word and to ask questions about each and everything he doesn't understand.

Assuming he does not uncover any deal-breakers, Cyrus signs the documents and adds, "I, too, would like to get my weapons back.  Of course, any upgrades that the institute can provide would be greatly appreciated."


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## industrygothica (Nov 5, 2006)

"So," Nick says.  "What now?  When do we get the grand tour?  I mean, this obviously isn't your main headquarters, and I guess we have a new boss to meet, too."


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## iwatt (Nov 5, 2006)

Larry's signature is amessy scrawl through all the apropriate forms. He didn't even trouble himself with reading the textk, and handed it over immeadiately. He seemed apparently unconcerned with what the specifics said. _Just go with the flow._



> "Do a lot of Hoffman agents have 'supernatural abilities?' I know I don't...and in the interest of fairness, I think we should know what sort of things we can expect from our co-workers at least."




His laziness had payed off. Of course someone else would ctch anything important and bring it to the attention of the rest. "Well, I've go to tell you that I'm a magician." Waiting for the rest to turn and look, Larry goes into a small performance of  sleight of hand. His appearnace seems to transform and before you stands _Hogo The Magnificent_. A dissapearing tricks, a flower out of thin air for Merdith, all standard parlour tricks he'd done a thousand times. "But I'm guessing that's not supernatural enough for you," he finishes with a grin.


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## kinem (Nov 5, 2006)

Diego scans through the contract.  It was pretty much what he expected, and he doubted it mattered anyway.  _Contract or no, the Institute obviously regards itself as above the law.  And Smith said it himself, agents lie and cheat and break the law at will to protect their secrets.  Does anyone think they will take a contact violator to court?  This contract is not worth the paper it's printed on._

Still, he signed it.  He didn't want to return to his boring job at McDonald's, and he suspected it was already too late to back out.

He wondered if he should mention his suspicions that he could 'speed up' people.  After all, if anyone could help him to understand it, it was the Institute.  But he wasn't sure what they would do to him.  And after all, he had no solid evidence; he could always mention it later and say he hadn't known about it until then.

He clapped at Larry's act.  "Not bad.  Now all you have to do is learn to make animated skeletons vanish."


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## Falkus (Nov 6, 2006)

Once all the forms were signed, Smith gathered them up. He seemed unimpressed by Larry's impromptu magic act. "Congratulations," he said. "You are now officially field agents for the Hoffmann Institute."

"First, you'll need to be equipped," he continued, and then handed out laminated ID cards and cellphones to each of you. "These are your ID cards, don't lose them. They contain a chip with your biometric information that will allow you access to our sensitive facilities, as well as serving as your login password for the OSIRS computer network. As field agents, you'll have level three access. The cellphones are specially encrypted, and use our own cell network, to minimze the chances of the NSA listening in with the ECHELON system, as well as anybody else who'd be interested in Institute business."

"As for your weapons, and your sword, they're in the basement. If you don't own a gun, there are a few nine millimeters handguns of various models and concealed carry holsters down there as well. Please take one and familiarize yourself with it as soon as you can."

He handed each of you another business card with another address downtown. "This is our Chicago building. Not the public one, of course. Fortunately, we have an opening for a team here in Chicago, so you won't be required to relocate. Report to the director tommorow morning."


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## Shayuri (Nov 6, 2006)

Feeling a bit in a daze, Meredith accepts the items offered, studying her ID card owlishly before putting it in her wallet in her purse. The building location gets a long look too, then is also stowed away. It all seems so far away, still. Guns. Skeletons. Swords. Burning urns. Could this really be her world?

_It is now._

"We...I mean...are we here all going to be on the same team?" she asks. "If so, maybe we should introduce ourselves at least."


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## Friadoc (Nov 6, 2006)

It takes an act of will, a forcible act of will, for Cade to not bury Mr. Smith in questions; biometric chips, secure networks, encrypted cellphones, and all of it ready before they even confirmed their acceptance of the offer. 

oO I wonder what the cipher strength is on these puppies, Oo thinks Cade as he looks at his cellphone, not only does he confirm it is on, he does a quick run through on the on-board options for the device as he listens.

"I bet that p!sses the NSA off to no end," says Cade when Agent Smith mentions ECHELON. "I'm gonna miss starting off my phone calls with "I am a terrorist" when I call for movie times, though."

After slipping his Hoffmann ID card into a flip wallet, similar to those used by the FBI or Undercover Cops, Cade pockets it, the cellphone, and the business card as he listens in on the final details for tomorrows meeting.

When Meredith asks for introductions, Cade smiles that country boy grin of his and says, "Cade Black, owner, president, CEO and sole employee of Black Ops Incorporated, a freelance security solution provider."

It is obvious from the chuckle after Cade says the above, that he is not where near as egotistical as the spiel he says would suggest.

"Oregonian in exile," adds Cade quickly.


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## iwatt (Nov 6, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> "We...I mean...are we here all going to be on the same team?" she asks. "If so, maybe we should introduce ourselves at least."




"The name's Larry. Larry Higgins. A born and bred Cubs fan, a true son of the windy city, and of course, always at the disposal of a beautiful lady." The last was said with a twinkle and a wink of an eye. "And now of course a fully fledged occult hunter."

Turning towards Cade, he adds "Well Mr. Black, I could use your help choosing a nice gun. The Glock I picked up during the shooting was OK, but you were carrying a nice piece of hardware yourself." He finsihes with a chuckle and another alusion to cinema, "And if you're going to be Mr. Black, I'll be Mr. Blue."


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## Friadoc (Nov 7, 2006)

"Well, Larry, that shouldn't be too hard," says Cade in an easy-going manner and chuckle at the Reservoir Dogs reference. "If you're up for some range time, I can help you find what's the best fit..." With a look around to the others, Cade adds, "...any of you, it's an open offer."


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## Shayuri (Nov 7, 2006)

"Black ops. Heh, very cute. Pleased to meet you." She offers a hand to each.

"I'm Meredith Rosenburg...I work at the Chronicle. I, uh...well, the story you'll read in the paper doesn't mention any of the weird stuff. Even with the pictures, I figured the editors wouldn't believe me. And the pictures might make them think I was making stuff up, trying to make a name. The news industry is still a bit sore after...well, you know. Lots of scandal lately."

"As for the supernatural, I don't even know as much as Larry's card tricks, I'm afraid. But I'm a quick study, and eager to learn. Only I probably will want a gun. I took a basic course when I moved up here, but if you can help any, Mr. Black, it would be appreciated."


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## Friadoc (Nov 7, 2006)

"Not a problem, Ms. Rosenburg," says Cade as firmly, but not too firmly, shakes Meredith's offered hand. "I've been around guns since before I could walk and started shooting them not to long after. It's pretty much required studies, back home."


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## kinem (Nov 8, 2006)

"I'm Diego Borges."  He offers his hand to shake the others'.

"I don't have much work experience, but I'm a fast learner.  I used to be in a gang, but that's behind me now.  You know how you can get sucked into a powerful group that makes its own rules and won't let you leave.  Like ...

Well, I can be handy in a fight.  Cade, I have a gun but I wouldn't mind seeing what you've got.

I'm smarter than I look, and I know a thing or two about the rough side of town.

Do you plan on keeping your job as a reporter, Meredith?  I wonder what our working hours will be.  Odd I guess, like everything else about this."


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## industrygothica (Nov 8, 2006)

Nick heads to the basement for his equipment.  He knows how to fire a gun, but is not especially familiar with the various types of weapons.  If he can chose, he'll simply chose one that feels the best in his hand.  Otherwise, he'll take whatever he's given (ooc: I'll leave it to you to tell me what kind of gun he gets).

If there's nothing else pressing, he may follow the others to a range, unless the institute offers access to a private one somewhere.  In any case, assuming he's done here, he'll go on about his day, passing the time until the morning when he arrives at the new office.  

He still hasn't figured out what to tell his ex-wife and daughter, since it looks as though he may actually have to move to Chicago, unless there is a way he can still work out of Boston, just travelling when the time comes to go out in the field.


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## Falkus (Nov 8, 2006)

"Well, gentlemen and lady, it seems that our business together has been concluded, Mr. Smith said, packing his forms and papers into his briefcase. "It's been a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps we can meet again in person sometime in the future. But now, I have to return to Washington, DC. for a meeting with the Director in five minutes."

And with that, he adjusted a ring on his left hand, and vanished. No puff of smoke, no flash of light. He was just there one instant, and gone the next.


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## Friadoc (Nov 8, 2006)

"Ok," says Cade with a big ol' techie-grin. "I definately want one of those!"

After "the Vanishing" by Mr. Smith, Cade will go and retrieve his sidearm, confirming it's working status with a quick field stripping. Once he's satisifed he will load it with a fresh and full clip, before decocking the gun and holstering it. Then he takes the old clip and pulls out the exact number of bullets missing from his pocket and re-loads the clip.

Finally, for those who are willing and able, Cade will lend some advise while at the range, including recommended technical modifications to their sidearms - sights, tactical modifications, as well as calibers (if Hoffmann allows for it) that would best fit variuos shoots.

OOC - The Hoffmann Institute presents ' Pimp Mah Gat!'

Overall, Cade seems more gregarious with this group of people than he usually is with new folk, which is probably due to the shared life-change of becoming Hoffmann agents - after all, our lives will be in each others' hands.

"Well, folks, let's make sure to exchange contact info before leaving, ok?" Cade asks, "Just in case we need to reach each other in a hurry."


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## iwatt (Nov 8, 2006)

"I wonder in what cereal box he found that ring. All I ever find is those crappy decoder rings." Larry clearly uses humour as a defense mechanism. It helps put others at ease, as well as allowing him to keep his cool in stressful situations. 

After giving off his cellphone, Larry also give the name of downtown bar were he's a regular. The barman there takes messages for Larry.



> I'm smarter than I look, and I know a thing or two about the rough side of town.




"I'm not a stranger to those neighborhoods either. Lately I've been making a living as an amateur stage magician, but parlour tricks are less popular than what they used to be. Seems everybody wants to make buildings dissapear or see magician's levitate."


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## kinem (Nov 10, 2006)

"Damn!" Diego declares as he passes his hand through the space where Mr. Smith had stood a moment ago.

"I agree we should be able to contact each other.  Look, I know we work for the Institute now.  But we don't know much about it, really.  What I mean is, I trust you guys more than I trust Mr. Smith.  And I feel like I'm in over my head already.  So let's stick together."


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## Shayuri (Nov 10, 2006)

Meredith takes a deep breath and nods. "All right then. Here's my card..." 

She passes out plain little business cards with her name on them. "That's got my desk and cell numbers on it. I'm still..." She shivers a little and rubs her arms. "This is all so weird. I feel like I should be freaking out or something. People disappearing. Skeletons. Magic. " She takes off her glasses and rubs her eyes. "But for some reason I'm not. It's like...I don't know. Anyway, I should be going. It's been nice meeting you all."

With a wan smile, Meredith gets up out of her seat, a little unnerved by what had almost come out of her mouth. _It's like...I was expecting it._ That's how it felt though. Like a little corner of her mind had been waiting for this moment...and had taken over when the rest of her was panicking.

What did that even _mean_?

She replaced the glasses on her nose and tapped them back, then headed out to catch a cab home.


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## iwatt (Nov 10, 2006)

After choosing a couple of guns, Larry is ready to leave. He'll share a cab with Meredith, and during the ride he'll share whatever info he has on the Hoffman Institute.


[sblock=Meredith] The only relevant piece of info I gathered was that nobody ahs ever hacked the Hoffman computers.[/sblock]


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## Friadoc (Nov 11, 2006)

After offering some advise on sidearms, accessories, and such, Cade will hang back until everyone leaves and then headout, himself, with his own sidearm and the sword in tow.

Once Cade gets home, he'll go into his offer, once he unlocks it with an RFID, and hangs the sword up on a plaque made of oak, which is mounted at the center of a recently undecorated wall.

A trophy wall, of which the sword is now, for now, the central, defining trophy.

With a smile Cade says, "...The Beginning."


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## kinem (Nov 14, 2006)

Diego retrieves his own gun and picks up a Glock-20 at the shooting range.

When he gets home, he informs his parents that he got the job, and they take him out to dinner to celebrate.  Explaining the nature of his new career proves somewhat tricky, but he tells them that he will be ... helping to build equipment at a laboratory, for a company that does some scientific research and some private investigation, and maybe going on some field assignments.  That worries them, and they make him promise not to go on any dangerous assignments where he might come face to face with criminals they are investigating.

The next morning, he reports to work as scheduled.


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