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Post by Pee-Dee on Jul 1, 2012 12:03:46 GMT -5
M7W3D6, morning. Private. Detroit PD.
Petunia flips through her case files, now and then pulling one out to read more closely. A few of those go onto her desk, most go back into the filing cabinet. There's something eluding her, niggling at the back of her mind. Something like the color of blood, or rust.
She's been thinking a lot about rust lately.
Even her action figures are in disarray. Pinkie Pie is hanging onto the top of the monitor by her forehooves, Twilight Sparkle has been knocked over by a file folder, and Rarity is on her chair.
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Post by Spinister on Jul 1, 2012 12:44:06 GMT -5
Esprit was given a life on Earth. It doesn't include a criminal record. She has never explained why she left Vegas for Detroit, though, which she finds very convenient.
She pauses by Det. Dahlia's desk, looks at her pointedly, and then looks at the door to the stairwell. Follow her?
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Post by Pee-Dee on Jul 1, 2012 13:00:16 GMT -5
Petunia picks up on Esprit's cues faster than most. She locks her filing cabinet, sweeps her files into her desk drawer, locks that, puts Rarity back on the desk, and follows her partner towards the stairwell.
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Post by Spinister on Jul 1, 2012 13:46:32 GMT -5
Esprit attempts to lead Det. Dahlia to the furnace room, where it will be both private and noisy. So it should be obvious that Esprit probably wants to discuss something private. That is what everyone uses such rooms for! Unless Det. Dahlia wants to be paranoid about it.
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Post by Pee-Dee on Jul 1, 2012 15:50:20 GMT -5
Det. Hunt could be planning to burn Petunia alive. She suspects Esprit would restrain her more first, though.
"What's up, doc?"
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Post by Spinister on Jul 2, 2012 13:40:17 GMT -5
Esprit attempts to hand Det. Dahlia a case file full of faxes from a department down in Vegas.
It's a case file for a 'Muzzle'.
Has him down as wanted for a few minor crimes. Then blackmail. Then murder. It's a classic story - a lone PI, lacking the support of brothers and sisters in uniform, slowly goes bad. None of it is, in the grand scheme of things, particularly bad. He'd never make a 'Most Wanted List'. The case was closed almost a decade ago when he was presumed dead, but a body was never found. All of the officers involved have died, one or way the other, through the years. Only Esprit's still alive, and it's not like Muzzle would have ever seen her face - she was a helicopter pilot, not a detective then. If Det. Dahalia wants to call Vegas and check it, they'll have these same files there, but no one who can discuss it with her. Besides, it's been ten years. Who would remember, anyway?
There are some physiology notes on Muzzle. They suggest that he isn't human. Not that he's metahuman, but he's just plain not human, having more in common with the arsenic bacteria in Mono Lake than he does with any chordate. They suggest he's a cyborg, too. They suggest he has a telepathic link with an ultratech car that can hear a screw drop five miles away and enhanced visual reception. None of this illegal per se.
In the grand scheme of things, it's small potatoes compared to someone like Lord Chumley, who is crazy enough to go hunting Soviet tanks and has the money and equipment to do so. Indeed, Esprit's already told Captain Fanzone, who grunted something about how he hates machines and told her she was still on the Angry Archer case and not taking this on. The Archer is a threat now. This guy was maybe a threat a decade ago. Don't worry about it yet.
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Post by Pee-Dee on Jul 2, 2012 14:08:10 GMT -5
Petunia takes the file and opens it. When her eyes land on Muzzle, she sucks in a breath. As she reads everything - and she reads everything - she somehow winds up sitting cross-legged on the floor. There's nothing on her face but the obsessive devouring of information Esprit may have seen before.
Then she finishes the file.
"We went to a bar once. The bartender wound up accidentally feeding us bleach. I was still disoriented from the hospital and didn't realize how weird it was. It didn't phase him and it didn't phase me, so how could it be a problem?"
She spreads the file on the floor, showing a picture of Nightbeat. "I recognized this car. I don't recognize jack and jill about anything, but I recognized this. And he recognized me when he knew my name."
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Post by Spinister on Jul 2, 2012 14:14:35 GMT -5
Esprit crouches down and attempts to place a hand on Det. Dahlia's shoulder. She says quietly, "You knew you were a cop." She leans in closer, trying to hover her nose just in front of Det. Dahlia's, and even more quietly, she asks, "Who knows who's the hunter?"
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Post by Pee-Dee on Jul 2, 2012 16:04:25 GMT -5
This close, those red eyes fill her entire world. It's like staring back into herself, red on red on red...
("Pee, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. But I can tell that you're you, so odds are it'll come to you in time. Cryptic enough for you?"
"It's complicated. We never actually worked on any cases together, but we worked for the same organization."
"We were uh, a secret, highly-trained task force dedicated to combating terrorist threats wherever they arose. I've been tasked to keep an eye on you until such time as you get your memories back.")
He played her!
"You can catch tomorrow, but you can't catch me." Her lips peel back to bare teeth. "Let's dance, the hunt is on.1"
1. "Fox Hunt", Seanan McGuire
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Post by Spinister on Jul 2, 2012 16:19:44 GMT -5
"Hoped he didn't recognise me," Esprit says softly, rocking back and away on the balls of her feet, which explains why she acted so strangely, "Cap'n says not to go chasing. Still on the Archer case."
Now, if this is an Autobot, she's an Autobot who either doesn't remember who she is or is an excellent actress. For now, Det. Dahlia will do more damage to the Autobots alive than dead.
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Post by Pee-Dee on Jul 2, 2012 16:35:21 GMT -5
"He said not to trust you," Petunia says quietly. "So right now, I'm not going to trust either of you. But..." She picks up the file. "I think you've got the better case."
You know, what with the evidence and all.
Wrap soon?
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Post by Spinister on Jul 2, 2012 16:37:49 GMT -5
Esprit deliberately quotes, "Ash to ash and dust to dust, there's nothing here that's safe to trust."
She's curious. Esprit implied that Muzzle was thought to be dead. Will Det. Dahlia finish the couplet? Det. Dahlia didn't finish ''Who knows who's the hunter', but her reply had the feel of a quote...
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Post by Pee-Dee on Jul 2, 2012 16:40:26 GMT -5
"What's been broken once can rise a second time to kill.1" Petunia flashes a smile that's all teeth.
1. "Silent Hill", Seanan McGuire
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