The Found Arcana - Chapter 11 [IC] Options

[Beta]

Tamarind spends a chunk of her day trying to catch up to Bobby. After his indication that he'd need wheels he ended up not needing them and changing location. She feels bad about leaving the others, but has to admit it is nice to have some quiet driving time.

Once she's at the agency she offers to drive Dennis wherever if he shows up. "I'm not the charmer that the other two ladies are, nor as intimidating as you, but maybe in this case that would be for the best? Just offer him a sympathetic ear, from someone closer to his age, and see if he relaxes at all?"

[Tecumseh]

<<Tuesday Noon - 13:44 - April 11, 2079 - Touristville - Redmond>>

Stan is grateful for the work you did. Between free work, free lunch, and pretty ladies, he's pretty pleased with how the last two days went.

Everyone makes it back to Redmond in time to discuss next steps. The burst of bad weather has passed and there's now some sun and blue sky. Puffy cotton ball clouds roll by and it starts to feel more like spring.

Just before 13:45, Dennis shows up. He's extremely skittish and wary and will refuse to come inside, but he will accept a ride to City Hall.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby decided to take on the form of Jawsey, so he could accompany the others to the mayor.

[ Spoiler ]

Body Boost: 10d6t5 2
Physical Mask F3: 17d6t5 4

Drain Resist: 13d6t5 4

No Drain

Acting (Untrained): 3d6t5 1

He shuddered under the enhanced strain of mana passing through him for the slight increase in durability of his disguise.
He answered Tamarind:
"I'm sure you'll do fine. At this point, we only have to bring him in and let the client decide if investing in him is worth it. Let's get this over with. The guy gives me a headache."

Then he strolled out to help Dennis into the car, all the while smiling and emulating Jawsey's style of walking and gesturing - as best as he could.

[Beta]

Tamarind grabs a bottle of water on the way out to meet Dennis, and perches Beauty on her shoulder. She already has the Aunties and Uncle (fly spies) rolled under her seat in the van, where they shouldn't attract attention for now. The rest of her drones she has moved out to the HQ building, giving Stitch firm instructions to keep the others out of trouble.

When she meets Dennis she does her best to relax, and introduces herself. "Hi, I go by Tamarind, because my Mom thought it would be fun to give me a first name that is hard to pronounce. You must be Dennis, thanks for coming. I'm your driver, and while I've driven people with fancier titles, none were doing anything tougher than you."

She causes the van to give a 'bloop' noise as she unlocks it, and gestures Dennis to the front passenger seat. "Come sit up front with me, where you can see things." She gestures with the water "I brought this for you, I don't know about you but I always get nervous when I'm thirsty, I mean thirsty when I'm nervous. Pfah, listen to me babble. Don't worry, I'm better with vehicles than with words." She gives him time to see that there is no hit squad in the van, but tries to get him inside fairly quickly.

Once they are in the van she asks "Like I said, I do best with vehicles. Drones are OK too. People are hard for me. How about you, what are your easy and hard spots?" She's always so much more at ease in a conversation if she can get others to do most of the actual talking, and she can mostly contribute sounds of agreement, disbelief, and so on.

[Tecumseh]

<<Tuesday Noon - 13:50 - April 11, 2079 - City Hall - Redmond>>

Dennis utterly fails to see through Bobby's disguise.

He still smells of beer and vomit. His pants don't smell great either; perhaps he messed them when Bobby shouted.

Dennis is quiet during the drive to City Hall. He stares forward with tunnel vision. He has the haunted look of a dead man walking.

"Everything's hard," he says quietly when Tamarind asks him. "I'm bad at everything."

There's a robust Knight-Errant presence at City Hall, mostly because K-E's Redmond HQ is next door. There are plenty of cops milling around outside and not really doing their job, unless their job is to stand outside, lean against their cars, laugh and joke, and soak in some spring sunshine.

Some of the officers laugh and wave to Dennis when they see him.

"Hey, come visit!" one shouts.
"Tenth night is free!" another one adds, and they laugh.
"Are you turning yourself in? That's City Hall."

When they realize that Dennis is headed into City Hall, they stop joking and start wondering what he might be doing in there.

City Hall is busier than usual since it's the middle of the weekday. The employees are a curious mix of idealistic rich kids from nicer districts and cynical old folks who are locals. They're pretty easy to tell apart by the clothes they wear and the light in their eyes (or the lack thereof). You're greeted by a security checkpoint. Tamarind gives the name of the agency and says the mayor is expecting them. The old dark-skinned guard cocks and eyebrow and gives a skeptical look, but passes along the message anyway.

After five minutes, the Mayor's elven assistant comes walking down the stairs into the lobby. She's tall, lean, pretty, and looks like she was poured into her pencil skirt. She wears glasses, which must be a fashion statement since corrective surgery and cybereyes are relatively inexpensive and widely available. "Right this way," she says with a professional smile. Her nose twitches as Dennis approaches, but her polite demeanor never falters.

Dennis still has the look of a man marching to the gallows as he follows her up the stairs. If he's surprised to be at City Hall, he doesn't show it. In fact, he gives little indication that he understands where he is or exactly what is happening.

You enter the Mayor's office. She's busy finishing something with another City Hall employee. This one holds his nose as he passes by Dennis on the way out. And, as always, there's a man in an expensive suit sitting in a chair in the corner. The light seems to dim around him, as if he's sitting in a shadow, even though there are no obstacles to block the light. His aura still suggests that he's a monstrously powerful dracoform.

"Well?" Mayor Sonja asks as the assistant closes the heavy office doors behind you. "What do we have?"

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby nodded in his disguise at the mayor and the draco long in greeting. He then put the data chip on the desk, waiting for the mayor to slot it in:

"This is Dennis McCormick, biological father of Corrine Potter.
This daughter was taken from his home at age 13.

As far as he could surmise, a not yet identified corporation identified her magical aptitude and offered to take over her education. Since then he never had any contact with her.

You'll find her DNA profile in the files as well as Dennis' match.

Dennis here can speak to the details, but he wants protection from retribution through the corporation and the Technocrats."

[Thanee]

"Sure! Sounds fun!" Rachel nods to AM.

"Let's see what the rest is up to!"

Even with two the bike still was fast enough to get back before Tamarind and Bobby were leaving, so they could ride along with them to City Hall.

* * * * *

Rachel, still in her casual clothes, as there was no time to change, shrugs off the slightly dismissive look from the assistant. "Love the glasses!" she says in appreciation.

When they are at the Mayor's office, she adds what else they have figured out so far.

"I was able to pierce Potter's magical protections, the masking of her aura, to get a glimpse of her real one. She is definitely awakened and quite capable. Not a full mage, though, an adept. There was a strong feeling of confidence. She also has, but you probably know that, a wealth of magical resources at her disposal, being accompanied and protected by numerous spirits frequently, all from different summoners. There must be someone with considerable resources backing her."

"We also went into the University's archives to see if there is any truth to her claim of having studied there before the Crash. We spent a lot of time there, thoroughly combing through everything, but there was no mentioning of her at all. I guess, this was to be expected, and unfortunately the lack of evidence isn't really proof of anything, but it does fit into the picture as a whole."

[Tecumseh]

"Very well," the Mayor nods. "That's within the realm of possibility.

"I'd like to have a private conversation with Mr. McCormick here," the Mayor says.

"It's McDermott," Dennis says softly. His expression is still the same: a hollow-eyed, vacant stare.

"Mr. McDermott then. If you can give us a few minutes, please?" She gestures to the office door to indicate that you should excuse yourselves.

[Jack_Spade]

Jawsey-Bobby shrugged: "Certainly. We'll wait outside."

He got up and looked outside for a place to sit and wait.

[Beta]

'Hurry up and wait.' Seems it is as true in the detective business as it was in the military and as it was working for smuggling consortiums. Maybe it is some universal law? Tamarind has some vague feeling that the defining feature of the real movers and shakers is that they manage to avoid the 'wait' part of things, but that has not so far been her part in life.

Leaning against a wall she strokes Beauty, and thinks sorrowful thoughts about Dennis. What he's been through, what its done to him, and how his fate is likely not getting any better for having agreed to come in.

[Gilga]

"First, Potter is awakened and masks her aura despite making everyone think she is mundane. We also know with high certainty that Howard Cannon was assassinated, and we identified the likely assassin. We have pictures of said assassin fleeing the crime scene and a sketch drawn from the descriptions of settlers who witnessed the scene. The getaway car had a spoofed license plate, which is way too sophisticated for a mad squatter. There were more witnesses - squatters who had seen the assassin. Based on their description, We formed a sketch and cross-referenced it to the Mona Lisa image recognition software. We came up with a match to a person we later identified as a known assassin. The chances of finding such a person in error when investigating a murder are very slim; there just aren't that many professional assassins in this city. Also, since Potter did not report being awakened, her testimony lacks senses that she very likely has. Also, We managed to get videos from the scene showing the assassins getting away from the scene and plotting their trajectory. These also show that the assassin is augmented due to supernatural speed. Strangely, Potter did not mention any of these facts, considering she was there and could have seen the speed or the aura. Also the videos clearly indicate a likely rigger as the getaway driver as it responds faster than we would expect a manual driver or auto pilot.



Second, there is no record of her graduating from the local university. We sifted through the old databases and reorganized things identically; many people graduated - it is not like the crush erased the data. Potter is not there, and while it could be a glitch, this is again not very likely considering the massive amount of data we found.


The Trix security of her matrix host is identical to that of Lucky Duck Phillips despite differences in style and perhaps personal rivalry. I am sure that the same person designed both hosts, and they have a unique setup that is not shared with similar members of the technocratic party. Also, the quality is a bit higher than I see on other politicians of identical rank in the technocratic party."

Finally, there is the father who raised her until she was thirteen; he testified that his decision to give her away might have been influenced by mind manipulation."

[Thanee]

Rachel nods, when the Mayor wants to talk to Dennis McDermott alone, and heads outside with the others.

[Tecumseh]

As you are leaving, the man in the corner stands. He's usually as still as a statue, other than his eyes darting back and forth. He does not return AM's warm smile; he seems to be the opposite of Urubia as far as sociability is concerned.

The man advances on Dennis, who looks up at him helplessly. As the heavy doors to the office shut, you hear a strangled cry.

The next minutes are awkward. There's the occasional gurgle or anguished groan that the solid doors can't quite contain. The elven assistant doesn't seem perturbed by it. In fact, she makes small talk with AM and Raven about their fashion choices, perhaps to cover up the background noise. She's friendly, pretty, and easy to talk to.

After five minutes or so, the assistant smiles and says, "You can go back in."

She opens up the doors. Dennis is sitting in the fetal position in his chair, rocking back and forth slightly. The silent man is back in his shadowy corner, scowling as he usually does.

"Very impressive," the Mayor says as you re-enter. "You better be careful: my expectations for you are becoming quite high.

"Yes, this is the sort of thing we were looking for. And you solved a murder as bonus. Although MonaLisa, tsk tsk." She smiles wryly; technically MonaLisa is forbidden for public use. "Although perhaps not quite so naughty as the incursion into her apartment." The Mayor's tone is a funny blend of critique and compliment. On the whole, you guess that there's more approval than disfavor.

"The additional details about her education, or lack thereof, and her Matrix security are also welcome. Piercing her aura also helps solidify the case. The murder of Howard Cannon was always suspicious, but now we can assume that it was meant to clear the way for Ms. Potter's ascent. Yes, it appears that she is not quite what she seems. I wonder if the Technocrats know?"

This is more of a rhetorical question. The Mayor considers it for a moment, shrugs, and gives a small, "Hm."

She gestures to a credstick on the desk. "As agreed, ¥100,000, including the bonus. And, should Ms. Potter win the general election, you'll be eligible for the additional ¥25,000 we discussed.

"Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. And" - she pats the credstick - "your discretion.

"We'll take care of Mr. McDermott here. Now if that will be all?"

You understand this is your cue to go.

[Gilga]

I feel like nothing, less than nothing, is a mere tool when the man does not even nod. Not because I am ignored; I am used to being ignored. It feels worse because he is visibly there. Taking the time to listen and watch. I guess I am but a pawn in a chess game; I have no perspective even to appreciate. Still, it feels bad - I wonder how Sonja put up with this thing. I'm not sure she has a choice, but it still takes mental effort, and she feels balanced.

It feels terrible outside the room, like outside a surgery room. Not knowing what happens inside, but fearing the worst. So I talked with Raven and the secretary a bit because this is what I do when nervous. "Yes, very nice outtake on the glasses... it gives good vibes." I agree with Raven. Trying to ignore the noises from the room and not let my imagination run wild.

When we enter, and I see Dennis so miserable in the fetal position, I feel bad. Not because of the man's fate; I am too cynical for that, but because I feel we tricked him into this unpleasant situation. Bobby nailed it with bringing him, and it got us paid. "I'll make him a sandwich," I recall how he replied that I'd do anything and asked for a sandwich. Classic Bobby, I guess. I wonder if he appreciates the pun. When I told Tony, "I'll do anything," it ended up with many odd jobs for his organization. People like to milk you when you are in their debt. I wonder if he appreciates the gesture.

I take the credstick and leave. "Pleasure doing business with you, Mayor Sonja." I say politely, and then. I keep silent on the way outside. "Amazing work guys" I say while outside feeling a bit high from getting paid.

[Jack_Spade]

"Pleasure doing business with you."
Bobby got up and left with the others.
Once outside, he dropped the disguise, but talked only once they were inside the car.

"We got paid and we got this done over the weekend - pretty good showing.
Don't be too sorry for Dennis. He gave up on his daughter - not because he thought it was the best for her, but because it was the path of least resistance. He isn't someone who corrects his mistakes, but runs from them and hides.

Likely why he was harassed by KE so much."

[Thanee]

Rachel is happy to talk fashion with the cute assistant. Despite her casual appearance at the moment, she clearly knows her stuff. The pencil skirt isn't something, she would personally wear, but it works perfectly well on the tall elf. The glasses, on the other hand, would totally be her choice of accessory as well, if going for the secretary look. She has certainly done that in the past, just with a much shorter skirt.

* * * * *

Rachel tips her Seattle Screamers cap towards the Mayor and the weird dragon-guy. "Ma'am. Sir."

As she turns around to leave, she mentions: "Be nice to the poor guy. He sure had a rough enough life, already."

Despite Bobby's comment, she does feel a bit sorry for Dennis and what he must have had endured in his past. Having his daughter forcibly taken from him, as it seems to be the case. And the downward spiral he was in ever since. Of course he is broken. Rachel cannot help but wonder what might have happened to herself, if her own talent hadn't been hidden by the Crash. Or if she didn't have it in the first place, considering her situation back then. Looking at the present, everything turned out pretty well. She was lucky.

[Beta]

Tamarind cuddles Beauty and drives the van, but does not interact. Over the coming days she'll figure out what she was feeling, but for now the feelings are much too intense to process. She suspects that scheduling some crying time when the others are not around would be a good idea.