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Post by Kup on Apr 26, 2010 8:04:33 GMT -5
Kup scowls at the crime scene tape and then pushes past it. He makes an attempt to leave as much of it in-tact as he can, provided he can do it without making it too obvious - there are watchers, after all. As he heads into the apartment he growls in Cybertronian, "This business just gets screwier and screwier all the time. Hey, Singe, ask Spinister if there's anything on the police net about this whole business, will you? Though I suppose it goes without saying that it's probably flagged."
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Post by Spinister on Apr 26, 2010 22:39:48 GMT -5
Spinister does not want to access the police net. He briefly considers asking Barricade to do it for him, but that would be a jerk move, even for Spinister. So he just ambles down an alley, gives it a check for bugs, and he...
...disappears.
Then, Spinister soundlessly climbs up the fire escape, to the roof, and he jumps down to another alley. Not particularly satisfied, he accesses the police net.
There's a rotating staff in place at Angels of Entropy, but that could be standard procedure. There isn't any particular mention of the earlier incident at the cafe or of anyone visiting K'ire's apartment.
There are no cops assigned to this neighbourhood. At all. Not even drive bys. The routes all stop, turn around, or go around.
There was that cop car pulling away earlier, but...
...who put up the crime scene tape here?
Singe replies, "...uh. You're not going to like this. There's no cops in this neighbourhood. There are never cops in this neighbourhood. Not even drive-bys. Just plain aren't assigned here, which means that this crime scene tape..." He shakes his head. "No mention of any cops dispatched here. No mention of the cafe incident. There's staff at Angels of Entropy, however."
Hairsplitter is in! And he has found a much unsafer method of vertical transit than Singe's nice, posh elevator. Why, this isn't even up to code! He decides to carefully head down the stairs a bit, looking for the level above the one which Singe and Kup are headed.
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Post by SceneMod on Apr 27, 2010 11:25:12 GMT -5
Sometimes, things just have to be done of the books, and just because it doesn't show up on the main band, it doesn't mean it isn't sanctioned.
It is Kup! Crime tape is no barrier to his skill and manliness!
K'ire keeps a tidy little home. For an apartment, it's of decent size, full kitchen, dining nook, living room, two bedrooms and a full bath. Even a washer and dryer unit in a hall closet.
The door opens into the living room, and while it is quite neat and orderly, the pair might notice that the balance is off just enough to show that someone has given the place a thorough once over. Vases are moved just left of their obvious wear patterns, rugs are askew, cushions are overly fluffed and don't look broken in.
There's a slightly lower than mid-range television and media player unit across from the sofa, but only a very small selection of movies, and if the pair checks, no cable hook-up. There is however a veritable wall of music, in a variety of media, and players for each of those media. Each music player is as top quality as possible.
The music is meticulously organized, which only makes what's missing stand out all the more. Either someone helped themselves, or K'ire keeps a selection with her. A few of the covers feature the reptilian lady from the cafe done up in full flapper style. Apparently she's a literal lounge lizard.
There's the requisite bookcase, full of books on musical theory, history, and artist biographies. One whole shelf is full of three-ring binders, each binder stuffed full of lyrics and music rendered in a neat, precise hand.
Other than the music, which is obviously personal, there are very few personal items in the room. A few kitschy decorations, almost guaranteed to be gifts, several potted and hanging plants, and eight-by-ten framed photo of the cafe girl in a cap and gown with her arms around another girl, a frail little avian girl with pale yellow feathers tipped in crimson, a jet black beak, and piercing green eyes that look too strong for the body they are set in. She looks quite a bit like a younger version of the headshot from the paper. The two are smiling and laughing at each other.
The second room is full of instruments and recording equipment, most of which doesn't seem to have been moved in awhile. It's all quite clean, though, no dust.
The bedroom his just as neat-but-not-quite-right as the living room, though the areas that were searched are a bit more obvious. Wardrobe doors ajar, drawers closed incorrectly, a wireless computer monitor that seems to be missing it's tower. The monitor is on, however, just in sleep mode, and the printer, mouse and keyboard are still in place.
Hairsplitter eventually makes it to floor ten, which is one floor above the one Kup and Singe are searching. The door has a push bar set at the normal mid-point for a normal Pz-Zazz citizen. The door won't open unless the bar is pushed.
If he surmounts that obstacle, Hairplitter will find himself in a non-descriptor hallway run of apartments. There's a maid at the far end of the hall, polishing a mirror.
If Spinister returns to his meter, he'll find that it's now showing as paid up again.
OOC: Apologies for the text wall, but it was easier to give you the descriptions all at once than have to give it to you piecemeal or via IM.
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Post by Kup on Apr 27, 2010 18:09:42 GMT -5
Kup switches to a different Cybertronian dialect and growls, "You're right, I don't like it." He looks back at the tape. "'Course, that don't mean that cops don't come down here. Just that they don't record it. Which is probably worse." He searches through the room, pausing to look through the music collection. He takes a moment to show Singe one of the covers featuring the familiar reptile, then opens it up, looking for an indication of record label, see who made it. Once he finds that (or lack of it) he tucks the CD into subspace - yes, Kup is stealing a CD :/ - before he continues exploring. He pauses in front of the picture, memorizing the appearance of both females in it, and then moves back to the bedroom. He frowns at the monitor, and then absently reaches forward and nudges the mouse. Not that he's expecting anything, but hey, it's worth a shot.
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Post by Spinister on Apr 27, 2010 23:36:53 GMT -5
Since has to climb on top of furniture to really look around here. When he sees the picture of the avian and the lizard, some rather bad thoughts enter his head, and when those thoughts gets to Spinister's head, Spinister scowls.
The unseen Decepticon does go back to check the mysterious self-paying parking meter. What the slag!?
Singe, shaken away from happy fantasies, does admit, in a badly mangled version of that dialect, "Or it's above my paygrade." He frowns and points out, "That's theft, although according to Subsection E of Appendix Omega..." Singe shakes himself for sounding like Hairsplitter, which is ugh, "...yeah, according to that, I'm just gonna shut my mouth now."
Hairsplitter himself, meanwhile, is trying to figure out how to open the door. He goes back up the stairs a bit, take a running leap, and attempts to smack into the push door handle.
Thank the rings for Master armour.
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Post by SceneMod on Apr 28, 2010 0:37:10 GMT -5
Poor Spinister, doomed to be cheated of his prize!
Hairsplitter succeeds in getting the door open, and it swings inward. He might note that seems counter to most building codes; shouldn't emergency doors open out?
The maid doesn't appear to hear him, but she is singing quite loudly in a language other than the common. Looks like she has earphones in, as well.
The record is produced by a small-press label called Black Dog Arts. Kup knows it's small press because it proudly displays itself as such in the fine print.
The monitor flickers to life, a glowing blue screen with all the typical icons one finds on a typical desktop. Writing programs, games, trash bin, etc. There's a shortcut to a couple of music mixing programs.
There's also a folder that's labeled Help Files: In Case of Emergency.
So obviously the missing tower isn't the computer that's hooked up to this wireless monitor. But where is it?
In the far distance, Spinister might hear the wail of a police siren, not a terribly uncommon thing, really.
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Post by Kup on Apr 28, 2010 11:00:24 GMT -5
"Yeah, you do that," Kup casually agrees with Singe shutting up about the theft. He doesn't seem to be paying the Nebulan much mind, however, as he's instead focused on the computer monitor.
"Don't suppose you got anything with a real cheap pair of speakers on ya?" he asks. "The cheaper the better. Don't want anything that's shielded."
As he talks, he moves the mouse to try and open the 'Help Files' folder.
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Post by Spinister on Apr 28, 2010 23:02:21 GMT -5
Singe starts to ask, "But why would you want-"
Then the answer is in his head. Unshielded speakers will blast static under the influence of radio waves, meaning that an unshielded speaker can be used as an impromptu radio wave detector.
Spinister knows quite a bit about sensors. Just enough to design an undetectable cloaking system.
Singe grunts, "Give me a minute." There's a speaker in Singe's helmet, for when people actually radio Singe, as opposed to radioing Spinister instead. He pulls out a small toolkit, takes off his helmet, and goes to work on unshielding the nice, military-grade speaker. he works slowly, and with stilted pauses, like he's following instructions he doesn't quite understand.
That's because he is.
When he's done, Singe holds up the now-mangled helmet. "Kay."
Spinister does not cringe at the wail of a police siren, but he does wonder if they're after him. He keeps moving, trying to get as far away from the point where he accessed the police net as he can without making it unviable for him to get back to the apartment complex with due speed.
Hairsplitter lets go of the door and lands quietly in the hallway. He does not make an obvious attempt to be sneaky. Instead, he just acts like he's supposed to be here, like he belongs on this hallway, and he starts to walk toward the apartment above the one where Kup and Singe currently are.
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Post by SceneMod on Apr 29, 2010 12:16:38 GMT -5
A few more sirens wail, from different directions. Could be cops, could be paramedics.
The maid turns to exchange her rag and spies Hairsplitter. She looks startled, then completely mortified, her mouth snapping shut mid-lyric. She quickly packs up her supplies and wheels out of sight, giving an almost apologetic half-curtsy in Hairplitter's direction as she does so.
The apartment above the one Kup and Singe is in is locked.
Singe's broken down speaker will yield some static when brought close to the monitor.
When Kup opens the Help Files Folder, he'll find several documents, mostly text and spreadsheet files. Emergency Contacts, Insurance, Action Plans- those kinds of things.
There's also one video file, with no name. Just a date.
The date is yesterday.
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Post by Kup on Apr 29, 2010 21:50:59 GMT -5
Kup looks down and nods. "Well, it works," he mutters, then looks up at the monitor. "See if you can't find where that goes." Then he frowns as he leans forward, making note of the contacts list, and then he clicks on the video file, attempting to run it.
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Post by Spinister on Apr 29, 2010 22:09:31 GMT -5
Is this headache from the crosshairs on his brow? Spinister mentally sets up a random walk generator and more or less follows the path that it suggests, with concessions made for the fact that he cannot walk through walls...
...though it would be really cool if he could...
Hairsplitter cannot help but stare as the maid packs up and leaves. Does he smell? He shakes himself and resumes acting casual, but being short is rather a hindrance. He'd rather like to get down and meet up with Kup and Singe, at this point, but opening doors or pushing buttons is rather difficult.
Singe starts a systematic walk of the apartment based off a grid pattern, radiating out from the monitor. Here lil' radio waves, come out and play...
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Post by SceneMod on Apr 30, 2010 21:47:32 GMT -5
If Hairsplitter really wants to get downstairs, he can probably mange the elevator. There's a chair next to the call panel, so if he can get up there, he ought to be able to reach the buttons.
Once Singe gets into the room full of music equipment, he should be able to narrow down another source of static. It seems to be coming from one of the large box speakers.
K'ire's emergency contact list is actually quite small and consists of but three people: Jyl'an Hale, Iris, and Da'vide Talvo. Each name is followed by a two numbers. Under that is an entry specced Rookery- Mother Theron and a number.
The video starts rather abruptly, and looks to have been taken with a low-quality webcam. It's a head and shoulder's view of the girl from the cafe, except she's wearing a black wig in a pixie cut. She also looks like she's been crying for quite some time. She swipes the back of her hand over her eyes before she starts to speak.
"So. I have no idea why I'm actually doing this, because it makes no sense. I should have called our cops, and called Father. I started to, when I got that letter, but when I picked up the phone I could hear her screaming instead of a dial tone, and...and just a cold voice that said I might want to reconsider. How was that even possible? Here of all places...."
She hugs herself, hands nervously running over her upper arms. The girl isn't really looking into the camera straight on, and her eyes are blinking obviously trying to keep more tears at bay. She's shaking slightly.
"So, I'll do what he said do, and hope, really hope, he doesn't hurt her anymore. He s-said he wouldn't...." Her expression says she doesn't have high hopes, but felt that she had to try.
She sniffs. "Chances are the person watching this is whoever that guy is I'm supposed to give that thumbdrive and my number to. You could be cops though, the wrong cops, and if so then screw you, because it's your fault, you're not family, and you could care less if Jilly is alive or not."
"Anyway, he wanted me to talk about how I know Jilly, I don't know why."
"Jilly and I, we met up when we were just kids, really, runaway girls making it work the way runaway girls do down on the line. Jilly was- is- a couple years older than me. She looked out for me, and I looked out for her." She straightens, "And we did it legal too, we got checked out and we never rolled any johns, and we paid our fees more regular than most of the old girls did. Jilly was always big on that." The girls smiles a bit, "Stars in her eyes, she always had, said we could make it, get out and away from the gutter trash."
The smiles falls, "Yeah, then I screwed up, got hooked on Blight and...I really don't know what happened to Jilly for those next few years. Hell, I can honestly say I don't know what happened to me during that time. But she found me again, and she was all cleaned up and dressed nice and had real money. She had a couple guys with her, and they literally picked me up and carried me out of that flophouse, kicking and screaming, while Jilly just cried and cried and cried."
She has started crying again, and she wipes her eyes. It takes her a few moments to start talking again.
"Good thing too- someone set the place on fire that night. Went up like tinder. Lots of folks died, most of them no great loss."
"Jilly took me to the Rookery, which is run by the Temple of Shards*. The Rookery is a help center for the street folk, and they don't make you stay or anything like that. If you want, they just feed you and give you a safe place to sleep for the night, and you walk out the next day. But the offer is always there of more help. They can get people education, real jobs...a new life, even a new identity if you need it. They just ask that you follow the tenants and you treat everyone with dignity, you pay back the help by helping others and helping out the Temple when you can."
"So, yeah, she saved me, and we're two of Father's best success stories. Jilly with her reporter gig and me with my music, we're actually well known, well, relatively. Can't get too out there; we're not supposed to get too involved with the public; too many Destroyer worshipers here. But we're open about being Rookery hatchlings, took the Family last name and everything. Most folks who take the name, they're pretty much wallflower folk. And some just take the help, and never pay it back or take the name."
"They don't tend to do so well, after awhile. Usually wind up right back with the trash."
The girl reaches over and grabs a piece of paper, looks at it. "I think...I think I've covered what it says to cover." She opens her mouth as if she was going to say more, and then she leans out of frame, but you can hear sobs.
The video stops.
*The Temple of Shards is the same temple in the phonebook ad Spinister pointed out.
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Post by Kup on May 1, 2010 18:03:14 GMT -5
Kup memorizes the emergency numbers, then narrows his optics as the video runs. He glances back to make sure Singe's search hasn't taken him out of the room yet (and checking to see if Singe is watching), then straightens up.
"I'm thinkin' we need to get out of here ASAP. If the tower attached to this thing," he gestures to the monitor, "is still in the apartment, we probably oughta take it. If it's not..." he pauses. "If it's not, it's nearby, probably inside the apartment building, and that says something, too."
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Post by Spinister on May 2, 2010 21:55:22 GMT -5
Singe does watch the video, very closely. What really gets him is the mention that the place burned down after K'ire was pulled out and that those who don't give back to the church tend to end up back in the gutter. As a firebug himself, he really has to wonder... is this Rookery itself behind the killings? Terrify the street people to get them to go to church from some solace, clean 'em up, and then they can give money back to the Church?
But that's all speculation.
He finishes his grid when the video is done, wandering into the room of boxes of musical stuff. Large speaker? With the little toolkit, he tries to pop it open to look inside.
Hairsplitter, meanwhile, climbs a chair and tries to catch the elevator.
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Post by SceneMod on May 3, 2010 19:07:43 GMT -5
After a short bit, the elevator dings and the doors open. The operator's eyes widen a bit when he spies Hairsplitter but other than that he shows no reaction. He just asks, "Which floor?" Once he has his answer, he will take Hairsplitter to his destination.
Inside the speaker is a thin tablet PC whose display mimics the display on the monitor in the bedroom. Obviously, it's connected to the monitor, mouse, and keyboard wirelessly. Some examination by the computer savvy will also show that it can be operated fully from a remote location. Some more poking will show that it was turned on about the time Kup and Singe were getting off the elevator.
So if the cops took a computer with them, and it looks like they did, they got a dummy set up for that purpose.
The sirens stop. Abruptly.
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