The Found Arcana – Chapter 6 [IC], Continuation of https://www.rpgplayroom.net/forums/topic/the-found-arc Options

[Jack_Spade]

Tim frowned: "What do you mean? Spit on it or something? No, the guy might be a creep, but stuff like that is not worth my job."
His aura showed signs of agitation, but not of deception.

[Beta]

"Someone messed with it. While it was in the fridge would be the most likely time; did you notice anyone around the kitchen who didn't belong there, or anyone in and out of the fridge who wouldn't normally need to be?"

[Jack_Spade]

Tim frowned, his tired look being replaced by concentration. "I was pretty busy. I remember Mrs. Komarova checking everything - and annoying the Chef. He was pretty close to attacking her with the rolling pin. That pulled nearly everyone's attention. Even a gorilla could have sneaked in while that was going on. Croix screamed loud enough that you must have been able to hear it from outside the kitchen.
But that smug cybord didn't flinch - just kept on sticking her metal fingers in every pot."

[Tecumseh]

Mato looks at Jawsey a little sideways. He had expected a little more tact when opening the questioning with Tim. Maybe an apology for the late hour, maybe some gentle assurances that everything was fine and we're there as friends... but no, Jawsey drops the GUILLOTINE first thing.

It's late, maybe Jawsey is tired too, Mato thinks to himself. He can get cranky without his beauty sleep.

But Tim talks all the same, and makes some good points about the distractions in the kitchen.

"What about olive oil?" Mato asks, changing directions and trying to sound more curious than accusatory. "Does anyone have a special penchant for it, guest or staff?"

[Jack_Spade]

"We use it to cook, obviously, but some of it is also used in the Spa for Roman massage. And I think the spirit uses it for its hair - whyever he needs that. Habit would be my guess.
It's definitely more of a male thing to do. Personally, I think oil goes rancid to quickly for that to be a good idea.
You have to wash and reapply practically everyday if you don't want to smell like a dumpster."
Tim replied

[Tecumseh]

Mato nods. He suspected as much but he hadn't wanted to ask Tim a leading question.

<<Does that scan?>> he comms AM and Jawsey. <<If the spirit dematerializes and then rematerializes, would the olive oil 'follow' it?>>

<<I think we have enough to ask Invictus some questions - delicately, as he's a guest - if we run into him. But let's give him the benefit of the doubt for now. He allegedly owes the Duke a big favor, and it's possible that he's acting in the Duke's interests.>>

[Beta]

"Thank you very much, Tim." Jawsey gave him a warm smile. "You've been a great help, we'll let you get to bed"

Once they had walked away he explained to the others "I was asensing him to look for emotional reaction -- why I was abrupt -- and his reaction seemed clean there. I'd say his words were his honest reaction. Invictus I could try and send a spirit to find, although I don't know how he might take that. If we don't have a lead on him right away then I'd vote that we go talk to the mercenary. Having someone of suspect state of mind being half the guard at the gate doesn't fill me with confidence."

[Gilga]

AM responds I honestly don't know... He seems to have a realistic form kind of like Trouble, and unlike the form of our common spirits, perhaps we can experiment with Trouble?"

[Tecumseh]

Mato, once again, momentarily wonders about the life choices that have led him to a discussion about dunking a spirit familiar in olive oil to experiment whether the aromatics (including alcohols, aldehydes, terpenes, esters, acids, etc.) would persist beyond the dematerialization and rematerialization of astral entities.

I could be in my underwear, watching trids, sitting on a fat bank account full of insurance money, he thinks to himself. But then I'd be watching stories about adventures instead of having them myself... How else would I beat the drek out of the daughter of a AAA CEO, then put her back together?

"Let's table that one for a moment. Let's go check in with the merc, see if we can find any trace of that drone we think plunked the camera with a looper round. And keep an eye open for Invictus while we're at it. I presume it doesn't sleep, so it may be up and about, wandering the hallways."

[Jack_Spade]

Finding the Merc was no problem - he still was outside on his post. He didn't look happy - and neither did his colleague - and it didn't look like the sandwitch waggon would come by at their post anytime soon...

[Beta]

Jawsey tells the others where the Merc is, but adds "give me a couple of minutes to flit over there astrally before we hike down to the gate. It isn't that far, but it isn't that close either."

Then he finds a place where he can lie down briefly, and sends his astral off to carefully inspect the aura of the mercs, and then to look around the gate area for anything else -- there is no reason to expect anything else there, but if the known intrusion is the thin edge of something bigger, the 'bigger' part would likely need to come through the gate.

aura reading on merc: 13d6t5 4
asensing around the gate: 11d6t5 2

[Jack_Spade]

The quick check revealed no magic in the vicinity, but the Merc had the faintest trace on his aura, revealing, that something supernatural had come in contact with it some time ago.

[Gilga]

AM asks Van der Bloom "Can I inspect your flying drone? I know it is not part of the network, and we did hear a drone sound. Perhaps your drone was accidentally around?"

[Beta]

Jawsey tells the others what his astral scouting had found, and suggests "Going down in person may be useful. We may be able to press his memory for _anything_ that could tell us when he was impacted by magic. But let's grab some warm clothes and use the Segways, no need to make this a long cold hike in the dark."

[Jack_Spade]

Van der Bloom was visibly uncomfortable at that request: "No, I don't like other people to handle my drone. But I'll take a look myself."
He unfocused his eyes for a moment and replied a few seconds later: "It doesn't look like my drone has left this room all night."

The segways stand ready and fully charged to be used.

[Gilga]

AM runs a quick double-check checking if she sees any drone before the looping of the sensor, as well as to verify what Van Der Bloom tells her.

[Jack_Spade]

None of the perimeter sensors had caught anything beyond the faint sound recording they had found earlier, AM was nearly sure about that.

[Tecumseh]

Jawsey returns from his assensing and mentions that the mercs are hungry. Mato nods at that. "To the kitchen," he says. "They're probably cold too."

There, he prepares a quick meal of melted cheese on bread, plus cups of hot chocolate. He stacks them on a silver platter, covers them with a lid to help keep them warm, and then trusts in his cyberarm to keep everything balanced.

"Quickly, now, before it gets cold," he says. Mato is likely faster than the Segways but he uses them for AM and Jawsey's comfort. He'll let them join the conversation or stay back as they see fit.

Outside, he finds the mercs looking unhappy.

"Hoi chummers," he says with faux familiarity. "Things wrapped up early inside so I'm off duty sooner than usual. Thought I could spread the holiday cheer." He shares the cheesy bread and the hot chocolates, taking the lid off the silver platter with a bit of flourish. "Merry Christmas.

"Plus I figured that you could use a pick-me-up after the tough break inside. Hamington really lost his cool. 'Huns', 'vandals', he was laying it on pretty thick. It struck me as unprofessional. I thought you were very diplomatic about it."

Mato sips some chocolate to let his false camaraderie sink in.

"What happened inside?" he asks the merc who knocked over the vase. "Was it unconscious? Did the vase seem like something else?"

[Jack_Spade]

The two men looked up, hands on their weapons, but relaxed as they recognized Mato. They became even friendly, when they spotted the food.
"Thanks Mate", the merc said, who hadn't caused the snafu.
His colleague was a bit more reserved, but the hot drink and the savory snack got him to talk:
"I really don't know what happened. It was... like a reflex. You know? When the doctor tests your knee with his little hammer. It felt like that, suddenly my arm was outstretched. The funny thing is, I even had thought that this was a particularly stupid place to put an antique and without a protective cover."

His comrade looked up at that: "Yeah, that was peculiar, especially since it was the only such piece in the room, everything else must have been removed for the party."
The merc frowned: "Now that I think about it... I was carrying the ring after we removed it from the armored transport box. And suddenly I had it open in my hand as well. I'm sure I'm going to get my ass chewed for that as well. Maybe I should get myself tested for scizophrenia, or something."

[Tecumseh]

Mato nods along sympathetically.

He doesn't want to divulge that the merc might have been under the influence of magic. It might help the man's mental state, but at this point it doesn't seem like it would advance the investigation. But maybe AM or Jawsey have a line of questioning that they'd like to pursue.

He comms AM and Jawsey:

<<I hadn't noted the placement of the vase or thought anything of it. Did anyone get a good look at it? Was there anything suspicious or unusual about it, as something that might have been placed there specifically for the purposes of being broken?>>

<<AM, are there any camera feeds about the placement of the vase? In term of whether it was moved there recently or if the placement seems intentional?>>

<<I'm still at a loss for what the goal was or what might have been accomplished by the distraction, or if it was just collateral damage, the byproduct of some other effect.>>

[Gilga]

>> checking.
AM checks the camera feeds and tries to figure out who could have exploited the opportunity to cast the spells on the ring and influence the guard.

[Jack_Spade]

The cameras didn't catch anything suspicious - which is suspicious in its own right, since Jawsey and AM saw Invictus leave the ball room incorporeal through the closed door, after he had been there, watching the test runs.
Another thing, now that she is looking for it: A lot of other valuable things from the ballroom had been transfered to other parts of the building, but apparently not the vase.

[Gilga]

AM tries to see what the Duchess' bodyguard was doing during the mayhem and tries to figure out where she is right now. AM sends Trouble to search for Invictus.
She leaves her position to look into the camera that was shot with looper round. She'll insepct the camera, and try to find evidence as to what has shot it, as well as any tracks, hints left behind.

>> I don't know what distraction it was, but I suggest we secure the assets. Pyke and Duchess make sure they are with us, and then the ring, and let's try to find Invictus. I am going to inspect the camera shot by looper round, perhaps I can find some physical tracks. If you can secure me please do.

[color=orange]>> Cunningham do you know where Pyke and the Duchess are? I am beginning to worry.

[Jack_Spade]

During the breaking of the vase, AM remembered, the bodyguard of the Duchess was right next to her, keeping an eye on things. Afterwards though, AM wasn't able to see her on the feeds. But then, Katya was able to use all kinds of cybernetic gadgets, including her Ruthenium Polymer cloaking.
Cunningham replied: <<I'm very sure, both Sir Pike and the Duchess are still in their chambers.>>

Trouble went of to search for the spirit with her power. 10 Minutes went by until she came back to AM: "I think I know where the spirit is. He is up on the roof where the big glashouse sits."

[Gilga]

[ Spoiler ]

Any love for the physical inspection of the camera shot by looper round?