Scene Two
Scene Three
Scene Four
Chapter Three: Investigations
Scene One: The House of Livia
mgrasso> So, we last left our intrepid heroes in the office of the putative "Mistress" Livia in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.
mgrasso> We'd just watched a playback of "surveillance" video of Livia being knocked out with a stun grenade and taken out by two black-mask-wearing commandoes.
mgrasso> (and now I'll step back as tonight's chapter begins)
mgrasso> http://www.homegame.org/mgrasso/diversion/chapter21.html#scene7, by the way.
Chet> Wow! Those are some pretty powerful non-enemies that woman has...
* Gemma glances at Chet
Ingrid> Yeah, she must not have inflicted enough pain on them...
James> and heavily armed- if those are her non-enimies, I'd hate to meet her friends
Gemma> Never underestimate the power of an unhappy customer.
Ingrid> Do you know this from experience, Gemma?
Chet> COuldn't they just have asked for their $19.95 back, like everyone else?
John> (We visited the room that she was kidnaped from, right? But we aren't there now?)
mgrasso> (Right. We left off in her office downstairs)
Gemma> I wouldn't know, Ingrid, not being from tradesmen stock.
Chet> It's a good thing you guys have tight security...or at least a camera *outside* the house...
Chet> Speaking of which, what kind of security do you have here anyway?
Ingrid> My apologies. I'd assumed you worked "customer service" as well.
Gemma> If you enjoy it, it's not work.
mgrasso> Katrina peeks in the door of the office as the five of you "discuss."
* Gemma walks around the office, picking up random things from the desk like papers and pens and paper clips
* Gemma opens a drawer and rummages around
James> so- what's the game plan from here?
Chet> Are there any financial records in that computer?
Chet> Did she owe anyone money?
Ingrid> Good question, James. As far as I can tell all we have to go on is two masked guys and a grenade.
* John is clearly trying not to look at anything embarassing.
Chet> Heavily armed ninjas don't sneak into your house at night just for kicks...well, maybe this house, but probably not.
mgrasso> James, you're still sitting near the computer. If you want to go in for another try, feel free. Wits + Computer, diff. 6.
James> !dice 9 6
* DiceWell James rolls 9d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 7 successes.
* DiceWell 8 6 6 10 4 9 8 8 2
James> oh!
* Gemma finds a framed picture. She studies it for a long while, running her finger tips over the frame and across its picture. She sighs, then purses her lips, looking a bit lost in thought.
mgrasso> James flies through the computer's non-multimedia files, looking for ledgers or financial records.
Ingrid> !dice 5 7
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 7. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 1 1 7 3 7
mgrasso> He finds some Excel files which look like ledgers, in which various bills labeled "elect." and "network acc." are paid.
James> huh.
Chet> Can you make any sense of those?
James> maybe (can I roll mike?)
mgrasso> Sure, gimme a Int + Enigmas roll, diff. 6.
James> !dice 4 6
* DiceWell James rolls 4d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 1 10 6 6
Chet> !dice 7 6
* DiceWell Chet rolls 7d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 3 2 3 8 1 8 7
mgrasso> Chet looks over James' shoulder and the two of them look for anything out of the ordinary in these various payment files.
Gemma> !dice 7 5
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 7d10 at difficulty 5. S/He gets 6 successes.
* DiceWell 7 10 7 7 8 8 4
mgrasso> Remember, the desk is cluttered with scraps of paper and receipts.
* Ingrid wanders over to take a look at the papers on the desk.
mgrasso> Chet and James see nothing that seems to suggest "payoff," "bribe," or some sort of quasi-legal money disbursement.
* Chet hands Ingrid a stack of credit card receipts.
Chet> Here's the $19.95 per month regulars...
* Ingrid starts leafin through them.
mgrasso> Ingrid: first roll, Perception + Investigation, diff. 5.
* Gemma drops the frame in the desk drawer and slams it shut
Chet> So, seriously, the whole house is wired, but you don't have a surveillance camera *outside*?
James> Gemma?
Gemma> What?
Ingrid> !dice 6 5
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 6d10 at difficulty 5. S/He gets 5 successes.
* DiceWell 6 8 9 6 9 3
James> you okay?
mgrasso> Ingrid begins sorting the piles. She pulls out an especially... "fervent" fan of mistresslivia.com.
Chet> Well, it looks like all she kept on the computer was the porn.
Gemma> I'm fucking fine. Livia is excellent. She's off in the ether, surrounded by her favorite metals. There's fire, which is so charming, and a judge. Probably Judge Wapner. He nosed around here a lot.
Ingrid> hey guys... check this out...
* Gemma paces around the office, rubbing her hands together
mgrasso> He's been re-subscribing for almost 20 months, on time, every month.
Ingrid> I think we have a fan.
mgrasso> The name on the credit card receipt is "Norman Cruz."
Gemma> Norman Cruz?
James> friend of yours?
Gemma> My real father.
Gemma> !dice 4 7
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 4d10 at difficulty 7. S/He botches the roll.
* DiceWell 2 3 1 6
James> *real* father?
Ingrid> Your... real father? A livia fan? Huh.
* John stares at Gemma, then hurriedly looks away.
Chet> Weird...
* Gemma mutters, "Jesus Cristo"
Ingrid> What do you know about him, Gemma?
Gemma> You're all such gullible...
* Gemma rolls her eyes
Ingrid> Oh, great. That's what we need. More deception.
James> you know what Gem- if you're going to be furking joking around- i see no reason why any of us should bother helpint
James> (g not t)
Gemma> Kind of like I see no reason for leading you around all the damn time, yet do it anyway.
Chet> Yeah. I want to find this chick so we can get to Tijuana.
John> Uh...look...fighting isn't going to help, okay? Does his name mean anything to you?
Gemma> No! Not a damn thing.
Chet> You're telling me that this guy has been subscribing to a porn site for $20 per month, but he has an army of stealh-terrorists ...
John> Oh.
* Gemma rubs her stomach
mgrasso> The credit card receipt gives no billing address, btw.
Gemma> Look, I don't know where she is. Maybe in prison.
Ingrid> Credit card bil... there must be a way to get this guy's address.
Chet> James...
James> fine- if youdon't care then, we'll all just go home...
Ingrid> damn it!
Chet> Can you look it up?
Gemma> All I know is that I saw something weird, it's like a prison, but they play chess.
mgrasso> (James; it's going to take some slick hacking to do this away from home and your hacking tools)
Chet> Well, if this guy has a credit card, there's electronic files on him somewhere.
Ingrid> You saw something where?
Chet> She "saw" it...she didn't see it.
Gemma> Just now.
Ingrid> Looking at that picture?
Gemma> I saw her, in iron, and something to do with chess -- I *really* don't understand it at all.
Gemma> Don't be so literal, Ingrid.
Chet> Didn't you know? She's the Wicked Witch of the South...
Ingrid> Don't be so nebulous, Gemma.
* Gemma looks agitated and stressed
Chet> Well, there's got to be a way to find Mr Norman Cruz...If he doesn't have her, he's such a fervent fan that maybe he knows where she is.
Chet> Come on Scooby Gang...let's get to work.
James> i could probablu get the info- but I'd need to go home.
Ingrid> Look, Gemma, I apologize. I'm frustrated that we have no real leads.
* Gemma hollers, "Katrina!"
Chet> I don't know that that's an option James...you can't rig something up here?
mgrasso> A few seconds later, Katrina appears quietly at the door. "Yes, ma'am?"
* Gemma strides over to Katrina
Gemma> Does NOrman Cruz sound familiar?
* Gemma gives Katrina a stern look. "And keep in mind what I told you earlier."
mgrasso> Katrina thinks for a moment, and says, "No, ma'am. I've never heard that name."
James> not really, chet- I could *maybe* give it a furking try, but I doubt it would be productive
Gemma> !dice 6 6
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 6d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 7 5 10 3 10 1
Chet> MAybe this guy has a record...if they have those things south of the border.
* Ingrid looks around the room again for something... *anything*... that might give a clue.
Chet> Anyone here on good terms with the authorities?
mgrasso> Katrina shakes silently in her slippers as Gemma stands up to her.
James> no such thing as good terms and mexican athourities- don't you read the papers
Ingrid> Do they have Channel Four down here?
Gemma> Do you know *anything* Katrina?
Gemma> Have you ever been useful in your life?
Ingrid> !dice 5 7
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 7. S/He gets 1 success.
* DiceWell 1 9 3 3 9
James> I'd stay as far away as possible from the mexican fuzz...
mgrasso> "No. No, ma'am. I am worthless." Katrina looks down at her feet as Gemma berates her.
* Gemma eyes Katrina up and down as though she agrees
Chet> Well we cant's just wander the streets shouting for "Norman Cruz" like in Westside Story...
Chet> Is there anything else with his name on it around here. A letter? Something with an address?
Ingrid> Gemma, tell us again what you saw in your vision? That seems to be our only lead.
James> if i could get home- we can't stay here forever anyway.
mgrasso> Chet: that'll take some time.
John> !dice 5 6
* DiceWell John rolls 5d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 3 successes.
* DiceWell 6 2 10 7 2
Gemma> I saw Livia in a birdcage... a chessboard where the white bishop is capturd by the black rook... um... screams and laughter...
* Gemma sighs
Gemma> There's a hearth and a judge...
mgrasso> Ingrid, Chet: Perception + Enigmas, diff. 6.
Gemma> A musket over the hearth, and someone saying that the judge will see all.
Ingrid> !dice 5 6
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 3 successes.
* DiceWell 10 4 6 3 8
Chet> !dice 7 6
* DiceWell Chet rolls 7d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 5 successes.
* DiceWell 8 9 8 6 8 1 6
John> I...uh...might know someone who can help.
* John speaks diffidently and with some embarassment.
Ingrid> Oh really?
Chet> Well I know *you're* not talking about the cops...Good.
* Ingrid looks at John with a raised eyebrow.
* John looks at the floor.
* Gemma goes over to John, sticking her face between his gaze and the floor
Gemma> What? Who?
John> There's...this guy I've done business with. Bought stuff from. He lives in Nogales. I could ask him.
Chet> By all means...please do.
Ingrid> I think maybe we should all head into Nogales. It seems as though the bad guys have gotten all they need from this place. I doubt they'll be back.
John> It's about 40 minutes from here.
James> one second every one- I'm gonna try somehting
Ingrid> And I, for one, could use a change of scenery.
Ingrid> Okay, James.
James> !dice 6 9
* DiceWell James rolls 6d10 at difficulty 9. S/He gets 1 success.
* DiceWell 2 3 3 2 10 8
mgrasso> James hits a couple of websites and downloads some hackers' essentials.
mgrasso> He tries to get onto a couple of credit card hubs using backdoor security bypasses and makes it on!
mgrasso> Now it's a matter of finding the info in enough time: Wits + Hacking, diff. 8
James> !dice8 8
James> oops!
James> !dice 8 8
* DiceWell James rolls 8d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 5 10 3 4 5 8 4 6
* Chet talks quietly with Gemma in the corner.
mgrasso> James looks for a Norman Cruz, Visa card, and is still hacking. Another roll, James. Same roll.
James> dice 8 8
*** Gemma sets mode: -o Chet
James> oops again
*** Gemma sets mode: +o Chet
Gemma> sorry.
James> !dice 8 8
* DiceWell James rolls 8d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 5 successes.
mgrasso> (heh)
* DiceWell 9 10 4 10 4 8 9 6
Gemma> (macros)
mgrasso> Holy crap!
James> (rock on me)
mgrasso> The info flies across the screen, as it refers to a post office box in Nogales, on the U.S. side.
mgrasso> Nogales, Arizona.
mgrasso> There's also some stats as well, James: looks like a very good credit rating, but no transactions older than Feb 1999.
mgrasso> Before that, Norman Cruz had no bank accounts, no credit cards, and no bills.
James> well laidies and gents, looks like Norman Cruz might have a dob in february, 99
Ingrid> He's a young one to be so into B&D.
* John says, "Not really" and then realises he spoke out loud and flushes.
mgrasso> (heh)
mgrasso> So, Ingrid, give me a Wits + Invest, diff 6
Ingrid> !dice 6 6
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 6d10 at difficulty 6. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 1 7 4 3 4 3
Ingrid> WP
James> !dice 6 9
* DiceWell James rolls 6d10 at difficulty 9. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 1 7 6 9 2 8
mgrasso> James tries to enter a new system, the USPS, but is stymied at the gate. Damn advanced postal service computers. :)
James> furkin postoffice...
mgrasso> You could try again, at diff. 10, James. :)
James> sure
James> !dice 6 10
* DiceWell James rolls 6d10 at difficulty 10. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 6 3 1 7 8 10
James> grrr
mgrasso> Nah, you just can't hack it.
* James "grrr's" loudly at the computer screen
mgrasso> If it ain't broke, don't "Fix-it" :)
James> (tisk.)
mgrasso> Well, if he unleashed the swears, who knows what would happen to the computer. :)
James> (kaboom...)
mgrasso> Well, James sort of throws up his hands in defeat. Ingrid and John are over near him, and Chet and Gemma are in the corner talking amongst themselves.
James> well- lets go talk to johns guy- and there's a po box I would like to have a chat with
mgrasso> (hee! Cool. :) )
* John nods and starts to walk to my Harley.
Ingrid> Gemma, Chet? You two up for a trip to Nogales?
mgrasso> John walks toward the door to the cul-de-sac outside.
mgrasso> He passes by Katrina on the way there.
* Chet looks up startled.
Chet> What?
* Gemma is in a thoughtful daze
* Gemma looks up when Chet does
Chet> Did you say something?
Ingrid> !dice 5 5
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 5. S/He gets 3 successes.
* DiceWell 1 5 6 7 6
Ingrid> I said, are you ready to go to Nogales?
Gemma> I guess.
Ingrid> Apparently we've found everything we can here.
James> If they're not interested we could go home
Chet> Sure...whatever.
* James says hopefully
* Gemma glares at James
Chet> Did you figure something out, or are we still wandering blindly?
mgrasso> Who's riding with whom this time? Chet with Gemma and James with Ingrid?
Chet> Yes.
Ingrid> Well, Nogales *is* on the way back, James.
Ingrid> If you like, we can all take my car. I think we could all fit.
Gemma> Let's go. We'll drop James off in Nogie, and he can take the Crucero home.
John> Nah. They know my hog.
mgrasso> (Crucero?)
Gemma> (mexico's version of greyhound.. it runs from nogales to tucson on regular intervals)
Chet> Five people in that car? With this big guy?
James> listen Gemma- if you had been paying attention the past ten minutes- you'd see why the furk I'm exhasperated
Ingrid> Good point, John. Okay. Gemma, James, care to ride in luxury?
James> don't leave anyones car in mexico
Ingrid> Well, if John were to ride someone would need to sit on a lap... but I'd think you'd be happy to do that, Chet.
Gemma> And if *you* paid attention to anything beyond my tits, *you'd* see why the hell I'm so damn ...
* Ingrid smiles at Chet.
* Gemma breaks off to grunt in frustration
Chet> Gemma, where are you going?
Chet> I'd be more than happy to sit on his lap, but I think he'd be less than thrilled to have me there.
Chet> Besides, it looks like it'd be a bumpy ride.
Gemma> With whomever. I'll follow whoever knows where they're going.
Gemma> Or ride with whomever. I don't care.
Ingrid> That would apparently be John.
John> I know where I'm going. Ingrid, you follow me?
mgrasso> All right, so, the plan again?
mgrasso> (I need it explained to me :) )
Chet> Did you say you can't take your bike John?
John> No. They know my bike, so I'm taking it. You'll follow.
Gemma> Fine! We'll do that.
James> Well- we're going to take all three vehicles- John has a guy he needs to talk to , I have a po bx to investigte, and apparently gemma has some more bitching to do.
John> brb
mgrasso> So, John's on the bike, in the lead. And we're taking both cars as well.
Chet> Yes.
Gemma> !dice 4 6
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 4d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 10 10 1 8
Chet> I'm riding with Gemma.
James> speaking of which- john, will your guy be cool with ALL of us there?
Ingrid> Fine, let's go. All this iron gives me the creeps.
mgrasso> And Ingrid's driving James and Gemma's driving Chet.
James> Ingrid-
Chet> Or will they just start blasting at us again?
* James puts out his hand
James> lemme drive
Ingrid> What, James?
Chet> You know last time I went anywhere with you, I got shot.
* Chet rolls up his sleeve to show the scar again.
Ingrid> What makes you think I would let you drive my car?
James> because you have before
James> and I'm a way better driver than you
Ingrid> After what you did to it? No. I'll drive.
Chet> Can someone just *please* freaking drive...I'm getting stir crazy here.
James> I did to it? not my fault you can stop in time
James> can't
James> furking shit
Ingrid> Look, it's my car, I'm driving it. If you dn't like it ride with Gemma and Chet.
James> John? room for one more?
Gemma> James! Just ride in my car, okay? Please?
* Chet starts heading for the door.
Gemma> Or drive it for all I care.
James> okay-
* Gemma holds out her keys to him
* James grabs the keys
* Gemma follows Chet out
mgrasso> All right. I'm sorry, I just thought people wanted to continue their conversations.
Chet> (We do)
mgrasso> Didn't mean to make it into a federal project.
Chet> (HA!)
James> :)
mgrasso> All right. James driving Gemma and Chet in Gemma's car. Ingrid riding alone, John riding alone, leading us.
Chet> (Are we staying here?)
mgrasso> Um, do the three of you want to talk? I can make a new room.
Chet> (I want to talk, at least)
mgrasso> #gemmacar
mgrasso> James, Gemma, and Chet, join.
Gemma> leave here?
mgrasso> Don't have to. Ingrid and John can't talk. :)
Gemma> okau
* Ingrid gets in her car, starts it up, and puts in Vivaldi, blasting it.
John> (back now--sorry about the delay)
Scene Two: Gemma's Car
* Gemma slides into the passenger side
mgrasso> (All right guys. Make it fast and good)
Chet> What was this deal with your uncle?
Gemma> I wish I had a clue. Maybe it's not even him we should be thinking about, but Bishop Javier.
Chet> Who's that
Gemma> Salvadore Javier, obispo de -- um, bishop of Sonora.
Chet> And what would he have against you, or Livia?
Chet> Does it have something to do with who you are?
Chet> And how does Livia know?
Gemma> I only met him, what? A few times?
mgrasso> (Two, in fact, at the convent)
* Gemma glances at James
Gemma> Twice, and both times it wasn't what you'd call aprivate audience.
* Chet is leaning over the middle of the back seat to talk to Gemma.
Gemma> How would Livia know what?
Chet> Well, what would you call it?>
Gemma> A general inspecting his troups.
James> maybe you two otta fill me in- I mean, I don't like working without all the facts.
Chet> I don't get the feeling that he's "the bisho" though...do you think?
Gemma> You don't?
Gemma> Who else could it be? Not my tio.
Chet> I odn't know. I mean it doesn't make sense to me...he's not the one missing. Is he?
Gemma> No, that bitch who made me is.
* James clenches his teeth
Chet> There's something I'm not getting here. Either you're holding back, or we just don't have all the pieces of the puzzle yet.
James> F-a-c-t-s
* Gemma scrapes her hair back from her face
Gemma> I just don't know what to tell you!
Gemma> My uncle is the bishop over the Tucson diocese. Salvadore Javier is the one over Sonora.
James> and?
Gemma> And what? WHAT? I don't get any of this. What of the rook? What the hell is the rook going to mean?
Gemma> Stupid little castle...
* Gemma looks ready to burst
James> and what makes you think the bishop is litteral?
Gemma> The hearth. The judge. The musket... The birdcage... this is like an Allende story.
Gemma> A leader, then? A government official?
James> !dice 6 8
Chet> Well, maybe this new guy can shed some light on the situation...Norman whatshisname...
mgrasso> Okay, we're at John's friends'.
Scene Three: Tomas' Auto Body
mgrasso> All right. John, Ingrid, and Gemma taking up the rear.
mgrasso> dum dee dee de dee. hooah hooah.
Ingrid> (hee :)
John> (aw, but I always take it up the rear! No, wait...)
John> (that was for you, Erica)
mgrasso> Sorry, guys.
Ingrid> that's ok.
John> I'm keeping myself occupied :-)
mgrasso> Well, I'm thinking, maybe we do John meeting his buddies, and Ingrid can be his assistant, that way we can give both scenes the quality they deserve?
mgrasso> Or, we can wait for Chet, Gemma, and James.
John> I think we should wait for them. 's only fair.
mgrasso> All right, no problem.
John> (of course, you could nudge them to hurry up (-: )
Ingrid> Whichever. I can catch up on email.
James> !dice 6 8
* DiceWell James rolls 6d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 1 success.
* DiceWell 2 6 7 2 7 10
John> !dice 24 2
* DiceWell John rolls 24d10 at difficulty 2. S/He gets 20 successes.
* DiceWell 3 2 8 2 6 8 10 10 1 5 10 6 10 2 3 8 10 4 3 4 4 1 8 9
John> (there. I've used up all my good rolls for one evening)
Gemma> (ha!)
mgrasso> All right. John roars into this gas station/garage, with Ingrid and Gemma's cars right behind.
mgrasso> It's pretty rundown. The sign out front states in Spanish that cigarettes and beer can be found inside.
* James bumps gemmas car lightly- not enough to damage it.
James> I mean ingrids
James> with gemmas
John> I get off the hog, make sure that my big wrench is loose in my pocket where I can get at it, and gesture at the others. "Stay here."
* Ingrid reluctantly turns down her music and gets out of the \car, much calmer.
mgrasso> There's a slimy-looking guy standing near the pumps in a sleeveless T-shirt.
mgrasso> He sees John ride up and looks at him with moderate interest.
Chet> Me gets out of the car and stands with it between him and the building.
John> "'Ey, ese, is Tomas here?"
Chet> No way am I getting stuck inside the damn car again...
mgrasso> This guy in the T looks at John getting off his bike. "Yeah, he's inside. Who are you?"
John> I'm John. I've done business with him. Tell him I wanna talk to him.
mgrasso> (John, Man + Intim, diff. 4)
* John makes the fingers-rubbing-against-thumb gesture. Money money money
John> !dice 5 4
* DiceWell John rolls 5d10 at difficulty 4. S/He gets 1 success.
* DiceWell 3 1 4 2 9
mgrasso> He takes slow steps towards the front office of the garage. Inside, you can see a table fan lazily blowing over the occupants of the office (three guys, sitting around, drinking and smoking).
Chet> So, Ingrid...enjoy the ride?
Gemma> (is it just john in there, or are we all there?)
mgrasso> Our T-shirt guy goes inside, and you see him having a conversation with the three men. They share a laugh, and an young guy in a silk shirt and grubby jeans walks out. This is Tomas.
* John offers him his hand in a prison handshake.
mgrasso> Tomas looks at the five people cluttering up his gas station, laughing and sipping his beer as he looks at Ingrid.
Ingrid> Yeah, I did actually. It was nice to be alone.
* Chet leans against the car and lights a cigartette.
mgrasso> He walks up to John and returns the shake. "'Sup? What you doin' here?"
Ingrid> How about you? How were the Unseelie Twins?
Chet> Quite refreshing, actually.
Chet> Although now my brain hurts...
John> "Me and my friends were down here, and someone we know..."
mgrasso> "Who's this one?" he says, nodding at Ingrid, who is talking to Chet. "Hey, how you doin', baby?"
Ingrid> You should try some Vivaldi. Does wonders for an aching brain.
* John lowers my voice.
mgrasso> Tomas leers at Ingrid.
John> "Someone we know got snatched, and I was kinda hopin' you might could give me some information."
mgrasso> He sips his beer, looking at her the whole time.
* Ingrid looks up at Tomas.
John> "Ey, she's just this girl, y'know."
mgrasso> "Kidnapped, you mean?" Tomas considers this. "Who is it, someone from the States?"
John> Yeah. Friend of that one.
* John gestures at Gemma.
mgrasso> Tomas' gaze is sliding up and down Ingrid.
* Chet fumbles around in his bag.
* Gemma is talking to James
mgrasso> "Well, what do you want me to do? Who was it you think did it?"
* Chet slides out a new pair of flip-up sunglasses and replaces the sunglasses on his face with the new ones.
John> All we have is a name. Norman Cruz. Ring any bells?
Ingrid> !dice 4 7
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 4d10 at difficulty 7. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 6 7 10 3
mgrasso> "Nah. No idea."
Ingrid> oops. I'll roll one more
Ingrid> !dice 1 7
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 1d10 at difficulty 7. S/He fails the roll!
* DiceWell 2
* John mutters, "*&#!"
mgrasso> "What kinda kidnapping was this? For money? Political?"
* Ingrid looks Tomas up and down coolly.
John> We don't know. We think maybe for sex. This guy was hot for her."
John> Couldn't get any like a man, so he had to take her by force.
mgrasso> "Oh, man, you mean some kind of sex maniac? Jesus."
* Chet continues smoking and surveys the area.
Ingrid> Gemma, do you have a picture of Livia you can show this guy?
John> Yeah, we think so.
Chet> I don't think it was a sex maniac...otherwise he would've stayed at the house.
* Gemma looks glances over at INgrid
Gemma> I don't know.
* John shoots Chet a "Shut up, white boy" glare.
mgrasso> "Well, I tell you, police won't do nothing for you here. We can keep our eyes open for this guy. It'll cost you, though." Tomas looks at John.
* Gemma gets her purse and digs around, looking everywhere and in her wallet
* John pulls out his wallet. "Name it."
* Chet takes another long drag on his cigarette and cooly gazes just past John.
* Ingrid leans nonchalantly against her car, looking relaxed.
mgrasso> Tomas says, "Come into my office, we'll talk there."
John> Right.
mgrasso> As Tomas leads John away, he does one of those sleazy tongue things to Ingrid.
Gemma> Ingrid!
Gemma> Here!
* John follows Tomas, trying not to notice the tongue thing.
Gemma> Here, girl! Come here -- er, here's a picture.
John> !dice 5 5
* DiceWell John rolls 5d10 at difficulty 5. S/He gets 4 successes.
* DiceWell 6 3 7 6 5
Ingrid> Hey, Mister Tongue. We have a picture of the girl if you'd like to see who we're looking for.
* Gemma hands it over to Ingrid
* Chet mutters, "What a guy...the old troll would've made him *eat* that tongue"
* Ingrid saunters over to hand it to Tomas.
mgrasso> No problem. He's got the picture and goes to the office with John. Five minutes later, John comes out, without Tomas. John?
mgrasso> (You guys will have to hurry if you want to get to the P.O. Box before closing time)
John> It's done. He'll watch for us and let me know if he hears anything.
Chet> Anything besides the rumbling in his shorts...
Ingrid> All right, let's get to he PO Box. I assume I can drive alone again?
Chet> Let's get out of here.
mgrasso> Heh, Ingrid's all psyched to drive alone. :)
mgrasso> All right. It's over to Nogales to check out the P.O. box.
Scene Four: Nogales Post Office
mgrasso> Nogales, Arizona. You guys drive across the border and find the main post office. It's about 4 pm at this point.
mgrasso> You find box #4726.
mgrasso> The box of one "Norman Cruz."
Chet> Well, there it is.
* Gemma lightly nudges James
mgrasso> The box's door is solid, no window, so you can't tell if there's anything inside right now.
* James turns around in a circle infront of the box three times and says "bloody mary, bloody mary, bloody mary"
Chet> Are we going to stake out the box, or what?
Gemma> Better than that, Chet.
mgrasso> James gets some weird glances from some of the other post office patrons after doing that.
* Gemma watches James, a faint smile on her lips
James> !dice 6 6
* DiceWell James rolls 6d10 at difficulty 6. S/He gets 3 successes.
* DiceWell 9 5 3 7 7 3
mgrasso> hold on one moment everyone.
* Ingrid nonchalantly pulls a compact from her purse as James turns in his circles and powders her nose carefiully.
Ingrid> !dice 6 7
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 6d10 at difficulty 7. S/He botches the roll.
* DiceWell 6 1 1 1 7 4
Ingrid> gah! Wp
mgrasso> Ingrid: not going to matter. That's a double botch.
Ingrid> Oh hell.
mgrasso> James kneels down and starts whispering to the box.
mgrasso> (Hey, at least nothing really bad happens with a botch1)
Ingrid> (thanki goodness for that.)
Chet> (Except she gets lipstick on her teeth)
mgrasso> (heh)
Gemma> (::cackles::)
Ingrid> (*snortle*)
* Ingrid looks at her broken lipstick, wipes it off her teeth, and tosses it in the trash, hoping no one saw that.
* Gemma smirks at Ingrid
Ingrid> It wasn't my color anyway.
mgrasso> (more blackmail! heh)
* James whispers to all of you
James> anything you want me to ask him?
mgrasso> You notice one of the postal service people looking at James and the rest of you. She strides over, full of self-importance, and, you can sense immediately, Banality.
Gemma> What have you asked it already?
Ingrid> Other than where to find Cruz? Not that I can think of.
James> take care of that one ingrid!
mgrasso> "Excuse me, sir, can I help you?" She's kinda fat, and dumpy, and very very... indeterminately angry, the way that postal employees seem to be.
John> (I'm going to try to loom over the postal employee in an intimidating way)
James> just a few more minutes is all I need.
John> "No. You can't."
mgrasso> First thing I need is everyone to make Glamour rolls, diff. 8.
Chet> !dice 4 8
* DiceWell Chet rolls 4d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 1 success.
* DiceWell 5 8 4 2
John> !dice 3 8
* DiceWell John rolls 3d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 9 4 10
James> !dice 4 8
* DiceWell James rolls 4d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 9 6 9 5
Ingrid> !dice 5 8
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 4 successes.
* DiceWell 8 8 3 9 8
Gemma> !dice 5 8
* DiceWell Gemma rolls 5d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 2 successes.
* DiceWell 9 6 9 6 6
Ingrid> Figures Gemma would get 69s! :D
Gemma> (damn right >:D )
* James stands up
mgrasso> The postal worker says, "Sir, are you all right?" to James.
* Chet pales slightly and steps back hesitantly.
James> excuse me ma'm
* Chet walks over and grabs a change of address form and a couple of other forms.
Chet> Excuse me ma'am, do you have a pen?
mgrasso> "Sir, I believe I saw you..." she's at a loss for words, "*talking* to that box? I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
James> on what grounds?
James> is it mail tampering? am I disturbing the peace?
* John begins to sort of sidle around behind her.
James> Just because I think outside of your furking little box
mgrasso> She looks at James' appearance and says, "Please, sir, we don't want any trouble." It looks like she thinks you're insane.
James> in your furking little numbnutz going postal world
mgrasso> The postal worker is ignoring Chet and concentrating on James.
mgrasso> "Please, sir, again, if you'd please make your way to the exit."
James> you'll what?
* Ingrid says to the woman, "You may just want to leave him be, ma'am. He's almost done."
James> have I indicated any wish to harm you?
James> oh no, this is a post office- public property untill it closes
James> and I can stand here all damn day if I want
James> as long as I don't break any of your little "rules"
James> and I don't think talking to mailboxes is against the law
mgrasso> She sighs in exasperation and says, "Sir, I will go get the police now. If you're not gone by the time I get back, I'll have them escort you off the property."
Ingrid> He gets quite angry when he's interrupted, and we will be out of your way shortly.
* Chet fumbles around for an eraser.
James> you've got no grounds to escort me off
James> you wish you did
mgrasso> You see a little crowd of patrons looking at this show out of the corners of their eyes in a strange "look at the freak" sort of way.
James> we obviously upsett you-
mgrasso> The woman stomps off, obviously in search of security.
* Chet follows her..."Ma'am"?
Ingrid> James, finish quickly.
Ingrid> Ask where Cruz is and let's go.
* Ingrid looks tired.
James> Too late- I lost it, with her furking banal attitude- I think I might have enough though...
James> ingrid- he sees hands, he can't read, he wouldn't know that
Gemma> So what does he know?
John> Maybe we should talk about this elsewhere?
* Chet flips his sunglasses down.
James> later-
mgrasso> Chet follows the woman back to the long, long, Banal post office lines at the front of the post office.
Ingrid> Good idea, John. Come on, guys. Let's go. We can wait for Chet outside.
James> we should either get out of here or do something 9like enchant/ravage the lousy bitch)
Chet> Hold on...
Ingrid> James, she's doing her job. There;s no need to ravage her.
Chet> !dice 8 8
* DiceWell Chet rolls 8d10 at difficulty 8. S/He gets 1 success.
* DiceWell 2 1 10 5 2 10 4 3
Chet> Are you done or not?
James> she's banal- reason enough... *if* there was any glamour in her at all, which I furking severely doubt
mgrasso> Everyone suddenly stops looking at you all.
Chet> Well?
Ingrid> It's not worth it, James. Let's go.
mgrasso> They go about their business, satisfied that you all are somebody else's problem.
James> chet? are you mr security gaurd now?
Ingrid> (SEP field cantrip! :D)
mgrasso> (heh)
mgrasso> (damn geeks)
Chet> I just want to know if you're done with what we came to do. Any jacking off you want to do on your own time is fine with me.
mgrasso> tick tock tick tock tick tock
Ingrid> I'll be outside.
James> I'm all set- I'll come back some day with a package and enchant her.
* Ingrid heads for the entrance.
Chet> You've got a little time. Very little...
* Chet heads for the door.
* Gemma follows Chet
* Chet mutters "jackass.."
* John walks out.
mgrasso> All righty. You're all standing outside in the late day heat.
mgrasso> The five of you breathe deeply, away from the Banality of the post office.
Ingrid> Is anyone else hunry? What do you say we get some food and plan our next move?
Ingrid> hungry.
James> i could eat
Ingrid> (heh!)
mgrasso> Yeah, might be a good idea to end here and go back to Tucson for some food at Senor Rudy's.
John> (sounds good to me)
James> sure
Ingrid> Banality like that makes me long for Senor Rudy's!
mgrasso> Guys, keep your WP/Glamour/Banality totals please?
Chet> I need to go home.
* Chet looks sick to his stomach.
Gemma> I can take you home, Chet.
mgrasso> Actually, can you msg your present temp. WP/Glam/Banality totals to me?
* Gemma doesn't look all that great herself
mgrasso> (aw, you wusses! a little Banality and you're all sick to your little fairy stomachs :D)
Gemma> (you call that a *little*? pfft)
Chet> I need to go home and get some food in me...
mgrasso> Well, okay, we make our next move at Senor Rudy's.
Ingrid> Home or Rudy's? I prefer to be waited on.
Chet> What time is it?
mgrasso> It'a about 4:45 pm. We can be back in Tucson by 6:30 or 7.
James> we'll go to rudys I'll tell you what I gotta tell you all, and then I'll go work for a few hours.
mgrasso> Barring Banal rush hour traffic.
Chet> I need to get home
* Ingrid hands both Chet and Gemma a piece of gum.
Ingrid> Here, have some of this. It'll make you feel better.
Gemma> What am I, a cow?
Ingrid> Just take it.
* Ingrid looks frustrated.
Chet> Can't we just meet in the morning...breakfast or something.
Gemma> I don't chew gum.
James> welll, barring the fact that I might have some information...
Ingrid> I assure you, you will like this.
Ingrid> Just take the damned gum! Geez!
Gemma> FINE!
* Chet takes a stick of gum...
* Gemma snatches the gum, unwraps it, and pops it in her mouth, muttering, "It better not be cinnamon."
James> if we're just going to sit here and whine, I'd much rather head home so I can get to work.
Chet> YEs... can you do that and meet us in the morning?
Ingrid> James, can you drive Gemma's car?
James> only if i may
* Gemma gives a husky little sigh
Gemma> Hey, you sure can.
mgrasso> All right, let's wrap up.
Ingrid> I think it's really important for us to talk about this as soon as piossible, over food at Rudy's.
Ingrid> Before we sleep on it and forget details.
mgrasso> Ingrid, Manipulation + Leadership, diff. 7
* James gets in the car starts it, and waits
Ingrid> Chet, you can ride with me and nap.
Ingrid> !dice 5 7
* DiceWell Ingrid rolls 5d10 at difficulty 7. S/He gets 3 successes.
* DiceWell 7 3 2 10 10
Chet> whatever...
* Gemma gets in the car and kisses James on the cheek
mgrasso> Ingrid's REALLY convincing. :)
Ingrid> heh. :)
Chet> I am so gonna blow chunks on your new interior...
mgrasso> In fact, so much so that if you want to NOT go to Rudy's, you need to spend a pt of WP.
Ingrid> That's okay. I figured I'd need barf bags when I started chauffeuring people around, so I have some in the glovebox.
mgrasso> All right, folks, let's wrap up.
mgrasso> I thought that ended very well, what with the random wandering monster encounter at the post office. :)
John> :-)
mgrasso> I had no plans to do such a thing, but c'mon! Is there a more Banal place in the world than the post office? Maybe the DMV...
Ingrid> It was nice to let a human get away unscathed for a change. :D
mgrasso> Hah!