006: Welcome to Yamaguchi Starport

[terrymixon]

When William sees Ciencia he does a double take and it applauds. He addresses Garvin and Ciencia. "Both of you well done! I doubt her father would recognize her." He looks angrily at Garvin. "What other bad habits is she going to bring home? Hopefully not eating crackers in bed." Then William laughs and clasps Garvin on the back.

"He's been telling me about alternate uses for broom closets," she said with an innocent smile. "It sounds fascinating."

William smiled. "Did he now indeed? Perhaps we can use Garvin and Aster as a control while we do our own investigation of this fascinating phenomenon?"

"Done. No take backs!"

[helvorn]

Garvin says "Stay on the link. I'll go an' cast me bread on the water an' we might get a steer on 'ow to play this pair. If they give us an openin' we can pour psi resource into it or maybe Arkar an' me can find an angle for a con. I'll need a telepath to come in an steer me while we see where we can go with this... an' just in case we can trick 'em into an interrogation. I can 'elp with psi tricks later as we switch up the roles. Let's just see if the old "prison vibe" kicks in with 'em an' they're willin' to start tradein' resources".

For the first try Garvin sets things up with three small cells in a row facing a table. The team telepath is in the middle cell (cell 2) at as short a range as we can contrive from the bad guys (who occupy cells 1 and 3). He then orders himself a big steak with a very aromatic pepper corn sauce, a pint of french fries piping hot to make their vinegar dressing volatile, some (very) garlic bread on the side and a pint of stout.

He enters the area visible from the cells puts down his meal on its trencher, adds seasoning and begins to enjoy it. He looks up to notice the prisoners and states "Save your breath. This is my steak - you're gettin' kibble. Tomorrow. An' no - you can't move next to your mate so you can grab each other through the bars. Cor, you've got plenty o' that to look forward to! Update for you. We were goin' to interview you - just for the form of it really but that Sternmetal bird's doin' all your talkin' for you. Fek me she's done you two up like a pair of kippers! Anyway this is yer welfare visit..." he smiles "... you're gettin' fek all! 'Ow d'you like them onions?"

(OOC: Happy to carve this scene up among all the possible contributors hence this being styled as a "recon". Plus we're all on the neural link).

William speaks up as they plan. "Let's do this just a little delayed from the work on Misfortune. We can feedback information from each of the interrogations. Why don't Walt and I reached take a thug and read his thoughts while you do the song and dance Garvin?"

[helvorn]

William laughed and held out his hand. "Thank you Frederick for keeping her safe physically and emotionally all these years. You and Teresa."

He shakes your hand. "I've done my best to help her be a great person. Now it's your turn to keep working on her."

William nodded and then returned to a sleeping Ciencia with a lot to think through.

Now onto the bridal suite next! I hope I'm not spamming the forum running a parallel set of actions in the past

[joertexas]

"I have a name for the place with the safe deposit box. The other thoughts are all jumbled together. Not sure if I could ever make sense of them. Maybe if we made her focus on them. Ask her how many other people she's ordered killed, Jaelah. Press her for names and details. That'll focus her thoughts. Start with a woman named Stephanie Quinn. She was a rival that she had murdered to get her current position. I caught that one pretty clear but have no frame of reference about the details."

"Tell me about Stephanie Quinn."

The woman's mouth drops open. "Wha... How do you know that name?"

"That focused her right in. She was losing to the other woman and hired dumb and dumber to kill her and make it look like a botched robbery. Only they botched that, too. Broke into her house and... well, best not to dwell on what they did besides kill her. It was horrible, and she thinks so, too, but that didn't stop her from using these two again and again. I wonder if they kept records? They haven't tried to blackmail her, but that might just be a matter of yet vs never.

"She's sure you know more than you let on. She thinks the other two are singing. She's going to scramble to get the deal before them. Here it comes."

"That was a terrible thing, but I never ordered that done," Fortune says, sounding a bit desperate. "It was all them. They're monsters. You can't believe the lies they are spinning."

"So, they accidentally killed your rival after doing... ah, terrible things to her?" Ciencia asked in her nasally tone. "Was the torture and other stuff your idea or was it only the murder?"

"What? No! I never wanted her killed! They were just supposed to scare her. It was a tragedy."

"And yet you still have them working for you. Are they blackmailing you or are they just too useful to get rid of? Couldn't you, like, hire someone else to kill them? The woman wasn't the first person you've had killed. What was the name they mentioned? Oh, yeah. The security officer that was onto them a few years back. Knifed him in an alley. Left his family in the lurch and ruined their lives. What was it they said? They thought a beating was enough, but you insisted."

Now the woman really did look panicked. "It's a lie. That's all lies. I never did that. Any of it. Did they tell you they've been turning people in security for years? They have dozens of them on the take. Even high-ranking ones. I can give you names."

"When and how did you start all of this? Go all the way back to the beginning."

[terrymixon]

"Tell me about Stephanie Quinn."

The woman's mouth drops open. "Wha... How do you know that name?"

"That focused her right in. She was losing to the other woman and hired dumb and dumber to kill her and make it look like a botched robbery. Only they botched that, too. Broke into her house and... well, best not to dwell on what they did besides kill her. It was horrible, and she thinks so, too, but that didn't stop her from using these two again and again. I wonder if they kept records? They haven't tried to blackmail her, but that might just be a matter of yet vs never.

"She's sure you know more than you let on. She thinks the other two are singing. She's going to scramble to get the deal before them. Here it comes."

"That was a terrible thing, but I never ordered that done," Fortune says, sounding a bit desperate. "It was all them. They're monsters. You can't believe the lies they are spinning."

"So, they accidentally killed your rival after doing... ah, terrible things to her?" Ciencia asked in her nasally tone. "Was the torture and other stuff your idea or was it only the murder?"

"What? No! I never wanted her killed! They were just supposed to scare her. It was a tragedy."

"And yet you still have them working for you. Are they blackmailing you or are they just too useful to get rid of? Couldn't you, like, hire someone else to kill them? The woman wasn't the first person you've had killed. What was the name they mentioned? Oh, yeah. The security officer that was onto them a few years back. Knifed him in an alley. Left his family in the lurch and ruined their lives. What was it they said? They thought a beating was enough, but you insisted."

Now the woman really did look panicked. "It's a lie. That's all lies. I never did that. Any of it. Did they tell you they've been turning people in security for years? They have dozens of them on the take. Even high-ranking ones. I can give you names."

"When and how did you start all of this? Go all the way back to the beginning."

This will spawn her spilling her guts, with the twist of putting everything on someone else. Ciencia runs out of PSI and has to hand over to Aster, who also runs out and then turns it over to Bianca who comes in. Near the end, Roscoe can keep up from outside, handing off to Metz, but you finally drain her dry and have way more than enough to hang her, her minions, and her bosses several levels up. Any time she tries to skip something, you drag her back on course. At the end, she can't imagine how you know EVERYTHING. Her bosses must have rolled on her. She cuts loose with anything she can.

It sounds like the rot at Sternmetal Horizons runs deep. Good luck proving most of that, but you have a lot of threads to tug on.

Gentlemen, the ladies have handed you a stinking pile of information to turn against the male prisoners. Now you have to convert. While you do that, they will be drinking wine and watching closely.

[joertexas]

It sounds like the rot at Sternmetal Horizons runs deep. Good luck proving most of that, but you have a lot of threads to tug on.

Jaelah instructs the guards to put her on suicide watch - scan her very carefully for any sort of suicide device, and take anything she can use to hurt herself.

Once she's gone, Jaelah turns to Aster and Ciencia. "What do we do with her now?"

[terrymixon]

It sounds like the rot at Sternmetal Horizons runs deep. Good luck proving most of that, but you have a lot of threads to tug on.

Jaelah instructs the guards to put her on suicide watch - scan her very carefully for any sort of suicide device, and take anything she can use to hurt herself.

Fredrick and Terresa decide to put her into low berth. No watch needed and she can be thawed when a decision is made about her fate.

Once she's gone, Jaelah turns to Aster and Ciencia. "What do we do with her now?"

"Space her?" Ciencia suggested, only partly kidding. "That was simultaneously the coolest--other than sex--thing I've ever experienced, and the worst. She is far worse than the duchess."

"We turn her over to the Omicron Division," Aster said. "They'll keep rolling her and get her to confess to everything cleanly. They'll promise her her life, but nothing else. There is an Imperial prison awaiting her, and many of the people she rolls on when they get picked up and rolled in turn. Thing will get very dark for that particular megacorporation in this corner of the Imperium before they get better."

She poured everyone a glass of wine. The good stuff. "I wonder if the boys even really need to do anything with the others. We already have them cold for one murder. We can feed the other crimes we know they are guilty of, but they won't cop to them. Maybe some more evidence could be found, but it won't be by us. Maybe we should turn the investigators to looking at the corruption and once they become the common link, they won't last a day in lockup. Their call. I look forward to seeing what they decide."

[Thumper]

Walt readily agrees to Garvin’s plan to read One of the prisoners in a simultaneous interrogations

”Just keep in mind, I used a smidgeon of my psi strength back at the storage unit. So get right to the big stuff first. Wish I had some psi strength boosting drug for times like this. Illegal as Hell. Maybe Spicoli can stand by to spell me when I’m drained. Who else is left with strength besides Garvin…Bianca?”

[Tiglath]

William speaks up as they plan. "Let's do this just a little delayed from the work on Misfortune. We can feedback information from each of the interrogations. Why don't Walt and I reached take a thug and read his thoughts while you do the song and dance Garvin?"

"Sounds good!"

[joertexas]

"Space her?" Ciencia suggested, only partly kidding. "That was simultaneously the coolest--other than sex--thing I've ever experienced, and the worst. She is far worse than the duchess."

"We turn her over to the Omicron Division," Aster said. "They'll keep rolling her and get her to confess to everything cleanly. They'll promise her her life, but nothing else. There is an Imperial prison awaiting her, and many of the people she rolls on when they get picked up and rolled in turn. Thing will get very dark for that particular megacorporation in this corner of the Imperium before they get better."

She poured everyone a glass of wine. The good stuff. "I wonder if the boys even really need to do anything with the others. We already have them cold for one murder. We can feed the other crimes we know they are guilty of, but they won't cop to them. Maybe some more evidence could be found, but it won't be by us. Maybe we should turn the investigators to looking at the corruption and once they become the common link, they won't last a day in lockup. Their call. I look forward to seeing what they decide."

Jaelah sits back with a sigh. "How do you and your parents stand trying to govern so many people? There's so much of this kind of thing going on that we could spend centuries and not make a dent in stopping it. My former home has poverty like you wouldn't believe, and crime worse than that woman just confessed to perpetrating. There's no fixing any of it anytime soon, and that's just a single planet on the butt end of nowhere." She closes her eyes. "It makes me want to go to my new home and just hide there."

[terrymixon]

Walt readily agrees to Garvin’s plan to read One of the prisoners in a simultaneous interrogations

”Just keep in mind, I used a smidgeon of my psi strength back at the storage unit. So get right to the big stuff first. Wish I had some psi strength boosting drug for times like this. Illegal as Hell. Maybe Spicoli can stand by to spell me when I’m drained. Who else is left with strength besides Garvin…Bianca?”

Bianca, Roscoe, and Metz used theirs with the ladies. And I’d bet Bilis could do psi drugs if anyone asked her.

[terrymixon]

"Space her?" Ciencia suggested, only partly kidding. "That was simultaneously the coolest--other than sex--thing I've ever experienced, and the worst. She is far worse than the duchess."

"We turn her over to the Omicron Division," Aster said. "They'll keep rolling her and get her to confess to everything cleanly. They'll promise her her life, but nothing else. There is an Imperial prison awaiting her, and many of the people she rolls on when they get picked up and rolled in turn. Thing will get very dark for that particular megacorporation in this corner of the Imperium before they get better."

She poured everyone a glass of wine. The good stuff. "I wonder if the boys even really need to do anything with the others. We already have them cold for one murder. We can feed the other crimes we know they are guilty of, but they won't cop to them. Maybe some more evidence could be found, but it won't be by us. Maybe we should turn the investigators to looking at the corruption and once they become the common link, they won't last a day in lockup. Their call. I look forward to seeing what they decide."

Jaelah sits back with a sigh. "How do you and your parents stand trying to govern so many people? There's so much of this kind of thing going on that we could spend centuries and not make a dent in stopping it. My former home has poverty like you wouldn't believe, and crime worse than that woman just confessed to perpetrating. There's no fixing any of it anytime soon, and that's just a single planet on the butt end of nowhere." She closes her eyes. "It makes me want to go to my new home and just hide there."

“Poorly if things are so bad. The problem is that we only rule the spaces between the worlds. Local governments can and will do as they please with min broad limits. As many of the actions of the megacorporations take place on worlds we don't directly control, that somewhat ties our hands. It would be simpler if we could run our own government, eh? Simpler, but far more difficult at the same time. I hope we can help the people of your home.”

[helvorn]

Walt readily agrees to Garvin’s plan to read One of the prisoners in a simultaneous interrogations

”Just keep in mind, I used a smidgeon of my psi strength back at the storage unit. So get right to the big stuff first. Wish I had some psi strength boosting drug for times like this. Illegal as Hell. Maybe Spicoli can stand by to spell me when I’m drained. Who else is left with strength besides Garvin…Bianca?”

Bianca, Roscoe, and Metz used theirs with the ladies. And I’d bet Bilis could do psi drugs if anyone asked her.

"It sounds like the ladies used up a lot of our psionic's but hopefully we won't need as much given that we know a lot about what they have been doing from the interrogation of Misfortune. One thing we should focus on is the corruption in the local police and government that they have used."

[Thumper]

”Sounds good William. Maybe a quick spin on the murders Mis Fortune had them commit. Possible we’ll get a hit on one she didn’t unwittingly reveal. But definitely get the list off dirty cops and administrators.

Just keep the focus on what’s needed long enough for us to get mind probes in, then dig a little deeper or move to what’s next. We’ll only get about 15 minutes on each..give or take.

[joertexas]

“Poorly if things are so bad. The problem is that we only rule the spaces between the worlds. Local governments can and will do as they please with min broad limits. As many of the actions of the megacorporations take place on worlds we don't directly control, that somewhat ties our hands. It would be simpler if we could run our own government, eh? Simpler, but far more difficult at the same time. I hope we can help the people of your home.”

Jaelah smiles at her liege. "This has been quite a bit to absorb, but I am glad to have met you, Ciencia. You are an amazing person with or without enhancements. I didn't think much of the Imperium when I signed on with Mad Dog, admittedly. You have proven me wrong about that."

[terrymixon]

“Poorly if things are so bad. The problem is that we only rule the spaces between the worlds. Local governments can and will do as they please with min broad limits. As many of the actions of the megacorporations take place on worlds we don't directly control, that somewhat ties our hands. It would be simpler if we could run our own government, eh? Simpler, but far more difficult at the same time. I hope we can help the people of your home.”

Jaelah smiles at her liege. "This has been quite a bit to absorb, but I am glad to have met you, Ciencia. You are an amazing person with or without enhancements. I didn't think much of the Imperium when I signed on with Mad Dog, admittedly. You have proven me wrong about that."

"Thank you, but I'm not the Imperium. I'm just me."

[ateno]

"It sounds like the ladies used up a lot of our psionic's but hopefully we won't need as much given that we know a lot about what they have been doing from the interrogation of Misfortune. One thing we should focus on is the corruption in the local police and government that they have used."

"We have a lot, can we wait till later to have a full clip against the other two, let them sit and stew and drop hints that the exec is dropping her guts to screw them? And might get away with it?"

Arkar

[Tiglath]

"It sounds like the ladies used up a lot of our psionic's but hopefully we won't need as much given that we know a lot about what they have been doing from the interrogation of Misfortune. One thing we should focus on is the corruption in the local police and government that they have used."

"We have a lot, can we wait till later to have a full clip against the other two, let them sit and stew and drop hints that the exec is dropping her guts to screw them? And might get away with it?"

(OOC: Already done as per my last - let's see if they rise to the bait... ).

Ref:viewtopic.php?p=726764#p726764

[joertexas]

"Thank you, but I'm not the Imperium. I'm just me."

Jaelah shakes her head. "Your family is the Imperium's avatar. The star nation made human, living and breathing. Yes, you are still just you, but the fact remains that there are millions of people sworn to protect your life with their own. I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse. Maybe it's both at the same time."

[terrymixon]

"It sounds like the ladies used up a lot of our psionic's but hopefully we won't need as much given that we know a lot about what they have been doing from the interrogation of Misfortune. One thing we should focus on is the corruption in the local police and government that they have used."

"We have a lot, can we wait till later to have a full clip against the other two, let them sit and stew and drop hints that the exec is dropping her guts to screw them? And might get away with it?"

(OOC: Already done as per my last - let's see if they rise to the bait... ).

Ref:viewtopic.php?p=726764#p726764

I was waiting to see if the others would add themselves in. Looks like it's only Garvin.