Nothing's Free in the Free Zone (IC), Adventure 1: Broken Star Options

[Chrome Head]

Amy and Overkill, Tasty Burger, Holly and E.56th, Commerce City, 3:07 PM, July 30th, 2075

Amy turns to Overkill, "well this shows a clear connection between the two events where this man shows up. You should prepare a picture that shows the van for when she comes back. If she ID's it, it's one more clue pointing in the same direction."

When Claire comes back, Amy says apologetically "I'm really sorry to have disturbed you by bringing back painful memories. But there's one last thing that I would like to ask you before we leave, do you think this is the van that you saw?"

[Lobo0705]

Amy and Overkill, Tasty Burger, Holly and E.56th, Commerce City, 3:10 PM, July 30th, 2075

Claire's face is red and her eyes puffy, but she looks at the image that Overkill is displaying. "I think so. The color is the same, and it seems to be the same one, yes."

[Chrome Head]

Amy and Overkill, Tasty Burger, Holly and E.56th, Commerce City, 3:12 PM, July 30th, 2075

"I guess that's all I have to ask you. Thank you so much Claire, I know this was difficult. I hope you will put this terrible incident behind you. Good bye."

Having nothing further to add, Amy and Overkill walk outside. "Well, that was pretty convincing, don't you think?"

[Always Overkill]

Amy and Overkill, Tasty Burger, Holly and E.56th, Commerce City, 3:12 PM, July 30th, 2075


"You came off as well-organized and professional," Drave replied while marking a few files on the case in his AR display. "Good follow-up questions, you covered all the points I would have asked on. Ausgezeichnete Arbeit, Meine Liebling."


"Even though we got all the verification to make the connections to the other murders, I would still like to Hack into their system and get our crew a copy of that security footage. But I would actually prefer to wait until we can bring one of Grease's cars, to give me a safe place to do my work discreetly."

[Chrome Head]

Amy and Overkill, Tasty Burger, Holly and E.56th, Commerce City, 3:13 PM, July 30th, 2075

"Good idea! And yeah we can come back later."

Considering what the next step should be, "I guess we can go towards Grease and Jack now, since we were to wait for Grease before continuing the investigation. It shouldn't be too long until they're done."

[Lobo0705]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:05 PM, July 30th, 2075

While Jack and Brandy are speaking in the living room, Grease wanders down the hallway, using the distraction to search the rest of the house. Wandering into the kitchen, he looks around, poking through the cupboards and closets.

Either the mother and child have enormous an appetite for Schlitz synthol, or this is in fact where Officer Manuel lived.

Hurriedly checking the room as he hears Jack announce he'd like to look into the kitchen, Grease sees what appears to be a paystub amid a pile of paperwork on the table. He quickly reaches for it, but his arm jolts a paper towel holder, knocking it over the knife rack, which, since it is precariously perched near the edge of the sink, falls over with a clatter - the heavier butcher's knife falling on top of a glass bowl, shattering it with a loud crash.

Wincing, Grease barely has time to glance at the "pay stub" and realize it is an invoice for their trideo service, shoving it behind his back as Brandy hurries into the room, Jack in tow.

"What happened?!?" Brandy looks at Grease questioningly, a frown on her lips.

[DrZaius]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:05 PM, July 30th, 2075

Grease's eyes widen, and he mimics a pose of complete remorse. "O. M. G. I am sooo sorry! I was trying to figure out where the garbage disposal switch was. I am so clumsy sometimes!" He laughs, shaking it off. "We can of course pay to replace the bowl. The stuff in here is so nice! Jo-Jo, did you already ask about buying the furniture?"

Using his DNI to send a message, he quickly texts Jack.

<<@JustJack [Grease]: We have to ditch this bimbo and figure out a way to talk to the widow. Maybe I go upstairs while you check out the yard/basement?>>

[Jack VII]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:05 PM, July 30th, 2075

"Of course, dear, I always ask about the furniture..." Jack replied. As he was speaking, Grease's text message popped up on his image link. Without a DNI, the ork was unable to respond via text, so he merely nodded and winked at Grease while Brandy was focused on the elf and his mess. "Our apologies for the accident, Brandy. By chance does the house have a basement?"

[Lobo0705]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:08 PM, July 30th, 2075

Brandy looks a little upset at Grease, but is mollified by his apology. "We'll see if payment is necessary, certainly if you buy the house, I'll compensate the owner for the bowl." She gives a little laugh. "If you can just leave that there, I don't want you accidentally cutting yourself on the glass."

She turns back to Jack at his question, "Yes it does, and it never takes on water. Let me show you." She moves toward a door set in the hallway, and opens it, motioning for Jack to go first. "Umm, Henry, can you come too? I think it might be easier for me to answer all your questions at once." She doesn't look like she is thrilled with the idea of letting Grease wander off on his own again.

[Jack VII]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:08 PM, July 30th, 2075

Jack picked out the ARO for the basement lights and flicked the switch. The ork headed down the stairs without waiting for Brandy, figuring Grease could be the distraction this time; he was doing a good enough job as it was. Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, Jack took a good look around, looking for signs over Officer Manuel.

[Lobo0705]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:08 PM, July 30th, 2075

The basement is partially finished, with the area immediately at the bottom of the stairs a playroom, with a tridset and console, plus a bunch of toys that have been hastily swept aside, ostensibly for your visit. Taking advantage of the distraction, Jack sneaks around to the non-finished portion, and sees a bunch of boxes marked "Jimmy"

[DrZaius]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:08 PM, July 30th, 2075

Grease recoils at the suggestion. "Down there? No thank you! All those bugs and dirt, that's Jo-Jo's area. I'll go check out the upstairs; I know what I'm looking for up there. Jo-Jo knows more about the mechanical, he can ask about the heat and whatnot." With that Jack sashays out of the room without giving Brandy a chance to respond, and heads for the stairs going up.

[Jack VII]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:08 PM, July 30th, 2075

With Brandy still at the top of the stairs, Jack took the opportunity to sub-vocalize to Grease.

<<@Grease [JustJack] Keep her occupied, find a way>>

Jack rushed over to the boxes and looked for any clarifying markings before starting to rifle through them.

[DrZaius]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:08 PM, July 30th, 2075

Stopping in his tracks and rushing back to the basement door, Grease gently grabs Brandy by the shoulder, turning her away from the Basement door. "Oh! Oh! Before I forget! I wanted to talk to you about schools! We want to make sure the home has value going forward; Jo-Jo is a bit of a handyman, and we'd hope to fix it up and sell it again after. Would you be available to do that? We aren't working with a Realtor currently..."

<<@JustJack [Grease]: Will do. Let me know when you're done by calling her down there; then I can go upstairs.>>

[Lobo0705]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:08 PM, July 30th, 2075


Relieved that Grease is not barreling around the house, potentially disturbing the owner, Brandy settles in to a well rehearsed routine. "I'm glad you asked. Schools here are very good. If you will look here..." She pulls up the relevant data from her commlink and displays it in AR for the two of them to look at.

[Jack VII]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:10 PM, July 30th, 2075

Unbuttoning his shirt sleeve, Jack twisted the cuffs to allow him to manipulate the boxes without leaving prints. He went into the finished portion of the basement and activated the trid, turning the volume down to cover any noises he might make. Quickly grabbing a box labeled Work, the ork started rifling through it. He sub-vocalized to Grease again:

<<@Grease [JustJack] Give me a head's up if she starts heading down>>

[Lobo0705]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:15 PM, July 30th, 2075

After spending a few minutes talking about the local school system, Ms. Simmons says, "Henry, we should really be checking on Jo-Jo, the basement is very clean, as I'm sure he can attest to." She beckons Grease to follow her, and starts to walk downstairs.

Mentally forming the words to his message, Grease quickly sends:

<<@Jack[Grease] Time's up, Jack - she's on her way down.>>

[Always Overkill]

Amy and Overkill, Tasty Burger, Holly and E.56th, Commerce City, 3:13 PM, July 30th, 2075


Drave checked the time, "Indeed, but lets make sure we take our time getting there, we don't want to interrupt them. I will send them a message telling them we are ready and to let us know when they have completed their tour of the house."


<<@Jack, Grease: "We have finished checking out the Hawthorne scene, and am sending you the pic one of the witnesses identified as the shooter; it would seem that Lynx is definitely our guy. I will return to retrieve a copy of the security footage when we have one of your cars available. Let us know when you have completed your inspection of the Manuel place; then we can meet up and head to the Wright murder scene.">>

Drave sends the pic along with the message, then pulls out his E-cig and patiently waits to hear back.

[Jack VII]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:15 PM, July 30th, 2075

With Grease's text message lighting up his image link, Jack quickly grabbed a folder at random and closed the last box. Tucking the folder in the small of his back, he adjusted his jacket to cover the folder and returned the box to its place. He moved back into the finished portion of the basement. buttoned his sleeves, and picked up the trid controller, flipping through the channels. As Brandy and Grease reached the basement, Jack said, "The room has a fun setup for parties. I was wondering though, do you know if there is an outlet behind those boxes over there?"

Jack pointed toward the stack of boxes in the unfinished portion of the basement that he had just gone through, figuring Grease would notice them.

[Lobo0705]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:16 PM, July 30th, 2075

Brandy looks in the direction Jack indicated. "I believe so, let me check." She walks over past the boxes, and takes a closer look. "Yes, there is one over here. Do you have any other questions about the basement? As you said, it is great for get-togethers, or as a playroom."

[Jack VII]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:16 PM, July 30th, 2075

"I don't think so. It looks very clean, not even any sign of bugs." Jack placed a strange emphasis on the last word, although whether he had a fear of them or was trying to imply something else is unclear. "What do you think, Henry?"

[DrZaius]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:16 PM, July 30th, 2075

Nodding, Grease smiles at Jack. "Yes yes, it's very clean down here. Did all the mechanicals check out to your satisfaction? I wonder if we should check out the rest of the house. I want to see what's upstairs."

<<@Jack[Grease]: If we want to talk to the widow, we need to pull the Realtor away again. We could try to interview her with the Realtor there, but it's much trickier. Can you think of any reason we'd need to talk to the owner?>>

[Jack VII]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:16 PM, July 30th, 2075

Jack frowned at Grease's text message. He, in fact, had no clue how they could manage to score an interview with the homeowner, with or without Brandy present. With that said, he decided to just go for broke.

"Brandy, how soon is the family planning to move out? I noticed the boxes marked Jimmy over there, so it looks like Mr. Manuel already has his things packed. At least, I assume it's Mr. Manuel. A few of the boxes are marked as 'Work' and judging by the toys, I assume none of the children are old enough to be employed." Jack scratched his chin for a second then continued, "To be honest with you, we would probably flip this house if we did buy, so timing becomes a major issue when our capital is tied up so much. It's one of the reasons why we would prefer to buy the furniture with the house. Most of the improvements we might make, like finishing the rest of this basement, wouldn't really impact the furniture situation too much."

"With that said, while I'm sure we could find a Realtor who could easily sell the neighborhood," the ork said with a meaningful look at the dwarf, "it would really help if we could speak with Mr. & Mrs. Manuel about any idiosyncrasies or less obvious things that might need to be addressed before we put it back on the market. The price is already well within reason, so we're not planning on nickel and diming here, but I'd rather know how much of a project I was getting into..."

[Lobo0705]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:17 PM, July 30th, 2075

Brandy looks at Jack and Henry shrewdly and says, "I'm not really supposed to bother the owner, but here's what we can do." She pulls up a e-document on her link, and slides it over to Grease's 'link.

"Let's sign this agreement, letting me represent you for the next 90 days. I'll go upstairs and talk to the owner, and persuade her to answer your questions. If this house is to your satisfaction, then we can go ahead and make the sale. If it turns out you want to go in a different direction, then I can make that happen."


She presses a few more buttons on her link, and then her name, photo, and SIN appear on the document. After several seconds, a 'Verified' stamp appears on the form next to her ID.

[Jack VII]

Manuel Residence, Leyden Street, UCAS Sector, 3:20 PM, July 30th, 2075

"That sounds reasonable to me, but Henry here gets to make those decisions. Excuse me for a moment, I need to head outside and make a call. I'd hate to get to my appointment and find out it had been cancelled or rescheduled. I'll meet you all on the first floor. Honey, can you unlock the car please?"

Jack headed back up the stairs and out the front door. Arriving at the car, he opened the door, sat down, and closed the door. Removing the folder from the small of his back, he slipped it underneath the seat. Selecting Grease's number from his AR display, he called the elf.

<<@Grease [JustJack] I grabbed a work folder with our guy's personal notes, but haven't had a chance to look through it. There were several more in the boxes, but no good way to get them out. Do you have any listening devices we could leave in the house? Maybe if we accidentally rile up the widow, she'll call someone and let some things slip. In case you haven't checked the text from OK, it looks like we have another confirmed connection between two of the incidents. Alright, go ahead and lock up the car, I'm coming in.>>

Jack exited the vehicle and walked back to the house. He typed out a quick text to Overkill.

<<@Overkill [JustJack] We're familiar with the photo since it's the one we got from our contact in the Hub, but thanks for confirming the connection. We're about to talk to the owner now, hopefully be done in a few>>

Walking back into the house, Jack spotted Brandy and Grease and said, "Are we ready?"