010: Off to The Deeps

[joertexas]

He’ll wait patiently for you to respond, saying nothing more.

"I am a captive audience, so pray continue, Mister Advolondis."

While she awaits a response, she sends to Roscoe. "How is it that our high tech comms are jammed?"

[terrymixon]

He’ll wait patiently for you to respond, saying nothing more.

"I am a captive audience, so pray continue, Mister Advolondis."

While she awaits a response, she sends to Roscoe. "How is it that our high tech comms are jammed?"

“High tech they are, but still susceptible to high-powered jamming. The security services know that some people might have neural comms and it behooves them to block them in prisoners. Perhaps that can be overcome, but it will require work and time.”

The old man nodded. “Of course. The people I represent keep an ear to the ground looking for… oddities. When the security report came out that someone seemingly beguiled two security officers while being held at gunpoint, you could say that piqued their interest.”

He leaned forward and spoke more softly. “This room isn’t being monitored. Attorney-client privilege, you see. Also, I have my ways to be sure no one is violating those rules, so we can speak openly. As openly as you feel comfortable with, that is.”

His eyes took on a twinkle. “I’ve met a number of people like myself, and it’s always interesting to see how they handle the big reveal. You see, I know your secret. You, my dear, are a psion like me. There, now we both have skin in the game. The question is, do you want help or are you determined to make this mess you’re in with your friend worse?”

[joertexas]

“High tech they are, but still susceptible to high-powered jamming. The security services know that some people might have neural comms and it behooves them to block them in prisoners. Perhaps that can be overcome, but it will require work and time.”

"Thank you, my love. Now let's see how wily I actually am."

The old man nodded. “Of course. The people I represent keep an ear to the ground looking for… oddities. When the security report came out that someone seemingly beguiled two security officers while being held at gunpoint, you could say that piqued their interest.”

He leaned forward and spoke more softly. “This room isn’t being monitored. Attorney-client privilege, you see. Also, I have my ways to be sure no one is violating those rules, so we can speak openly. As openly as you feel comfortable with, that is.”

His eyes took on a twinkle. “I’ve met a number of people like myself, and it’s always interesting to see how they handle the big reveal. You see, I know your secret. You, my dear, are a psion like me. There, now we both have skin in the game. The question is, do you want help or are you determined to make this mess you’re in with your friend worse?”

Jaelah shakes her head. "I can only say so much about who I am. For now, my friend and I are investigating an air car crash that we believe was a murder that is being covered up by someone in the government. To answer your question, yes, we could use some help right now. Our other options are... messy... on several levels."

[terrymixon]

The old man nodded. “Of course. The people I represent keep an ear to the ground looking for… oddities. When the security report came out that someone seemingly beguiled two security officers while being held at gunpoint, you could say that piqued their interest.”

He leaned forward and spoke more softly. “This room isn’t being monitored. Attorney-client privilege, you see. Also, I have my ways to be sure no one is violating those rules, so we can speak openly. As openly as you feel comfortable with, that is.”

His eyes took on a twinkle. “I’ve met a number of people like myself, and it’s always interesting to see how they handle the big reveal. You see, I know your secret. You, my dear, are a psion like me. There, now we both have skin in the game. The question is, do you want help or are you determined to make this mess you’re in with your friend worse?”

Jaelah shakes her head. "I can only say so much about who I am. For now, my friend and I are investigating an air car crash that we believe was a murder that is being covered up by someone in the government. To answer your question, yes, we could use some help right now. Our other options are... messy... on several levels."

He nodded his head. “Indeed. Things that cannot be easily explained spawn questions that are very difficult to answer, particularly if you aren’t prepared for them. It really doesn’t matter what you weee doing at the moment. What matters now is how to extract you from this situation with the least amount of trouble.

“There are going to be hard questions asked, and if your answers are nonsensical, that could lead to detention until a magistrate decides your fate. Let me be honest. You wouldn’t like the jails here, or their occupants.”

He leaned back slightly in his seat. “If you would allow me to represent you, I may be able to subtly sway things in your favor. In return, all I ask is that you meet with the people I represent to discuss matters of mutual interest. Would that be suitable for you?”

[joertexas]

He nodded his head. “Indeed. Things that cannot be easily explained spawn questions that are very difficult to answer, particularly if you aren’t prepared for them. It really doesn’t matter what you weee doing at the moment. What matters now is how to extract you from this situation with the least amount of trouble.

“There are going to be hard questions asked, and if your answers are nonsensical, that could lead to detention until a magistrate decides your fate. Let me be honest. You wouldn’t like the jails here, or their occupants.”

He leaned back slightly in his seat. “If you would allow me to represent you, I may be able to subtly sway things in your favor. In return, all I ask is that you meet with the people I represent to discuss matters of mutual interest. Would that be suitable for you?”

"As long as you include my friend in all of this, yes."

[Thumper]

Walt and Arkar clean the table, though Bona does better this time.

When folks are taking bathroom breaks, Olga will give the two men a knowing look. “What are you folks really here for? You are pros, not casuals. Some of the best pros I’ve ever seen. Why come to a private game like mine?”

Walt gives a quirky smile: "As a younger man, I did play for a living sometimes. But, I wasn't any good at the game itself. Now that I don't need the money, I've gotten much better...lately. I play for fun, and because we're looking for players like us. A more enjoyable sort of person. Ones with, uh, specialized talents. You know..."

[ateno]

Walt and Arkar clean the table, though Bona does better this time.

When folks are taking bathroom breaks, Olga will give the two men a knowing look. “What are you folks really here for? You are pros, not casuals. Some of the best pros I’ve ever seen. Why come to a private game like mine?”

Walt gives a quirky smile: "As a younger man, I did play for a living sometimes. But, I wasn't any good at the game itself. Now that I don't need the money, I've gotten much better...lately. I play for fun, and because we're looking for players like us. A more enjoyable sort of person. Ones with, uh, specialized talents. You know..."

Arkar smiles, "As he said, we don't need the credits.

He counts off chips.

"I know you lost fair and square, but we would be happy to give your 100K back, and the rest of the expensive scotch, if you wish."

Arkar

[Tiglath]

William, Garvin, Metz, and Bianca gets the heads up that Roscoe and Jaelah have been detained by planetary security. Walt, Arkar, and Bona do not.

Garvin says to William "Looks like things might 'ave gone pear shaped for Roscoe and Jaelah. With near 'alf the team incommunicado now's definitely not the time to 'ave explain a firefight in the street... or missin' or dead people. Skip goin' to collect your winnings from the auction - we've identified the lawyers an' we're workin' up the foodchain not down so there's no need to end up tanglin' with their button men". He grins "Besides, we might 'ave to pull a jail break".

He and William will head back to the ship and await an update.

(OOC: We seem to have developed a slim lead with the lawyers but it seems we might need a tactical pause / re-group).

You two make your way out of the building.

What are you getting around in? Uber? No one mentioned taking vehicles from the ship, I think.

Garvin had intended to pass himself off as an uber or something similarly non-descript so had bought/hired a local transport. I'm not sure we detailed this but that was the idea.

And lawks the Servant is running slooow just now...

But I can confirm a helvorn sighting!

[terrymixon]

Garvin says to William "Looks like things might 'ave gone pear shaped for Roscoe and Jaelah. With near 'alf the team incommunicado now's definitely not the time to 'ave explain a firefight in the street... or missin' or dead people. Skip goin' to collect your winnings from the auction - we've identified the lawyers an' we're workin' up the foodchain not down so there's no need to end up tanglin' with their button men". He grins "Besides, we might 'ave to pull a jail break".

He and William will head back to the ship and await an update.

(OOC: We seem to have developed a slim lead with the lawyers but it seems we might need a tactical pause / re-group).

You two make your way out of the building.

What are you getting around in? Uber? No one mentioned taking vehicles from the ship, I think.

Garvin had intended to pass himself off as an uber or something similarly non-descript so had bought/hired a local transport. I'm not sure we detailed this but that was the idea.

And lawks the Servant is running slooow just now...

But I can confirm a helvorn sighting!

I’m glad. I’ll let him pick William back up then.

[terrymixon]

Walt and Arkar clean the table, though Bona does better this time.

When folks are taking bathroom breaks, Olga will give the two men a knowing look. “What are you folks really here for? You are pros, not casuals. Some of the best pros I’ve ever seen. Why come to a private game like mine?”

Walt gives a quirky smile: "As a younger man, I did play for a living sometimes. But, I wasn't any good at the game itself. Now that I don't need the money, I've gotten much better...lately. I play for fun, and because we're looking for players like us. A more enjoyable sort of person. Ones with, uh, specialized talents. You know..."

She frowned a bit. “Specialized how?”

[terrymixon]

Walt and Arkar clean the table, though Bona does better this time.

When folks are taking bathroom breaks, Olga will give the two men a knowing look. “What are you folks really here for? You are pros, not casuals. Some of the best pros I’ve ever seen. Why come to a private game like mine?”

Walt gives a quirky smile: "As a younger man, I did play for a living sometimes. But, I wasn't any good at the game itself. Now that I don't need the money, I've gotten much better...lately. I play for fun, and because we're looking for players like us. A more enjoyable sort of person. Ones with, uh, specialized talents. You know..."

Arkar smiles, "As he said, we don't need the credits.

He counts off chips.

"I know you lost fair and square, but we would be happy to give your 100K back, and the rest of the expensive scotch, if you wish."

Arkar

“Keep your winnings,” she said with a wave. “Besides, the game isn’t over yet. We still might win it all back.”

[terrymixon]

He nodded his head. “Indeed. Things that cannot be easily explained spawn questions that are very difficult to answer, particularly if you aren’t prepared for them. It really doesn’t matter what you weee doing at the moment. What matters now is how to extract you from this situation with the least amount of trouble.

“There are going to be hard questions asked, and if your answers are nonsensical, that could lead to detention until a magistrate decides your fate. Let me be honest. You wouldn’t like the jails here, or their occupants.”

He leaned back slightly in his seat. “If you would allow me to represent you, I may be able to subtly sway things in your favor. In return, all I ask is that you meet with the people I represent to discuss matters of mutual interest. Would that be suitable for you?”

"As long as you include my friend in all of this, yes."

“Of course. Now, when you are interviewed, give me a little room to intervene before answering questions. I might cut them off and divert the conversation or declare that you shouldn’t answer a question. You’ll still have to go through this, but I believe I can shape the interaction in such a way as to make things smoother. Agreed?”

Supposing you do, he’ll go the door and open it. “We’re done.”

The security officer that brought you to interview looks in. “Detectives Casper and House will be right in.”

Five minutes later, two plain clothes officers enter the room and take seats across from you. Your new friend sits next to you.

The one on the right—a grizzled professional if you’ve ever seen one—speaks. “I’m detective Reed Casper and this is Detective Lenny House. Let’s start this nice and easy. What’s your name?”

Your lawyer doesn’t try to intervene yet. If he does, I’ll let you know.

[joertexas]

The one on the right—a grizzled professional if you’ve ever seen one—speaks. “I’m detective Reed Casper and this is Detective Lenny House. Let’s start this nice and easy. What’s your name?”

Your lawyer doesn’t try to intervene yet. If he does, I’ll let you know.

"Jaelah Shugilamar." She reaches out for their surface thoughts.

[terrymixon]

The one on the right—a grizzled professional if you’ve ever seen one—speaks. “I’m detective Reed Casper and this is Detective Lenny House. Let’s start this nice and easy. What’s your name?”

Your lawyer doesn’t try to intervene yet. If he does, I’ll let you know.

"Jaelah Shugilamar." She reaches out for their surface thoughts.

Not a great roll, but enough to see that they already know who you are and have the video evidence that you were at the scene and that the people you claimed to be visiting denied knowing you. As you're an off-worlder, he knows you're up to something. Interestingly, he doesn't believe you tossed the place. It happened before you arrived. He's more interested in how you got around his people.

"Well, Madam Shugilamar, you're in a bit of hot water. You broke into an apartment under security seal and lied to security officers that reported to the scene, evading questioning. I'd like to hear your side of this affair before I make up my mind. What were you doing there and how did you befuddle my people?"

"Is there any evidence that she or her companion did anything to your officers?" Advolondis asked. "As there is video, I'm sure you already know that."

"Then how do you explain their behavior?"

Advolondis smiled. "I don't. You'd have to ask them why they did what they did."

The frustrated detective looked back at Jaelah. "What were you really doing there?"

The lawyer looks as if he's going to let you field that one.

[joertexas]

The frustrated detective looked back at Jaelah. "What were you really doing there?"

The lawyer looks as if he's going to let you field that one.

"I have reason to believe that [insert victim's name that I can't find anywhere] was murdered, and that the truth is being covered up. I am conducting my own investigation."

She sends to Rosoce. "How did we miss the video surveillance at the apartment. That was just sloppy."

[terrymixon]

The frustrated detective looked back at Jaelah. "What were you really doing there?"

The lawyer looks as if he's going to let you field that one.

"I have reason to believe that [insert victim's name that I can't find anywhere] was murdered, and that the truth is being covered up. I am conducting my own investigation."

She sends to Rosoce. "How did we miss the video surveillance at the apartment. That was just sloppy."

"I did mention that we needed to take care of the body cameras that the four security officers were wearing," he said. "You seemed to have a different plan, so I bowed to your experience."

“Doing so now. The problem I see is that we are on their body cams and the pair that entered the apartment will be asking them who we were. Even the camera feed might be looked at later. We have to clean this up better or someone will be looking for us.”

"Right, but later. We need to get on that lift."

The feed in questions should have read the recorded video and audio on the body cameras. I agree, it was sloppy, but who am I to stand in the way of a plot complication I could see coming a mile away?

"A murder? It was a drunken driving accident." You can tell from his thoughts that he thinks that's BS, but out of his hands. The "higher ups" imposed that outcome on the investigation. No names are in his thoughts. "Even if I believed that was what you were doing, you arrived in the system and seemed to jump right on this death. Why? So far as I can tell, you never met Miss Daws. Do you just randomly select supposed crimes on every world you visit?"

[joertexas]

"I did mention that we needed to take care of the body cameras that the four security officers were wearing," he said. "You seemed to have a different plan, so I bowed to your experience."

Jaelah sighs mentally. "I screwed up."

"A murder? It was a drunken driving accident." You can tell from his thoughts that he thinks that's BS, but out of his hands. The "higher ups" imposed that outcome on the investigation. No names are in his thoughts. "Even if I believed that was what you were doing, you arrived in the system and seemed to jump right on this death. Why? So far as I can tell, you never met Miss Daws. Do you just randomly select supposed crimes on every world you visit?"

Jaelah lifts an eyebrow. "I used to be in your position, and no, I'm not telling you where, except that it's nowhere near here. I happened across this case while reading about this planet's atmospheric taint, and the whole thing smells. So, I decided to check into it." Jaelah keeps listening mentally, being careful to just stick to surface thoughts.

[Thumper]

She frowned a bit. “Specialized how?”

Walt-
”Well, we’re actually not entirely sure what we’re looking for just yet. But we’ll know it when we see it. Something that’s, uh…intangible. Looking for people who can help with a business venture is all.”

He’ll signal to Arkar and Bona via psi neurolink that he’s about to press her with Telepathy.

He’ll reach out for a quick Telempathy emotion check to see if she’s shielded. If she is Telepathic, she’d feel him using it.
Psi pt: 1

[terrymixon]

"A murder? It was a drunken driving accident." You can tell from his thoughts that he thinks that's BS, but out of his hands. The "higher ups" imposed that outcome on the investigation. No names are in his thoughts. "Even if I believed that was what you were doing, you arrived in the system and seemed to jump right on this death. Why? So far as I can tell, you never met Miss Daws. Do you just randomly select supposed crimes on every world you visit?"

Jaelah lifts an eyebrow. "I used to be in your position, and no, I'm not telling you where, except that it's nowhere near here. I happened across this case while reading about this planet's atmospheric taint, and the whole thing smells. So, I decided to check into it." Jaelah keeps listening mentally, being careful to just stick to surface thoughts.

"That takes a lot of gall," he said, bristling. "You aren't in a position to be involved in any criminal investigation here and only arrogance would tell you otherwise. Visitors should keep their noses clean."

"We've wandered a bit far afield," your new friend said. "I'm told that the investigation your people are performing was about the break-in at the poor girl's apartment. Not the one you accuse my clients of, but an earlier one. As the scene was already compromised, what exactly are you hoping to pin on my clients? The original break-in happened before they arrived, so they are not involved. You have no proof they even entered the apartment, do you? Honestly, all you have are suppositions that you hope to browbeat them into confessing to. That won't happen, so let's cut to the chase. Either charge them or let them go."

"That's not how this works."

Advolondis laughed quite delightedly. "That's exactly how this works, and we both know it. If you have charges, trot them out, Detective. If not, release my clients."

The detective ground his teeth and then abruptly stood. "Fine, but if I catch one of them jaywalking, they'll be in lockup for every second I can legally hold them. And if I catch them sticking their noses into any of ther security business, they won't be leaving for a very long time."

With that, the two security officers leave.

Advolondis stood. "You'll have to be processed out, but I'll be waiting to pick you up outside. Don't discuss anything with your associate in here. The walls no doubt have ears."

The release process takes half an hour, but at the end you and Roscoe find yourselves out on the street outside and find Advolondis waiting outside a plain, somewhat worn looking groundcar. "Excellent. If the two of you are ready, we can leave now."

Once you are inside and moving, he'll raise an eyebrow at you. "I'm sure you have many questions. Feel free to ask them."

[terrymixon]

She frowned a bit. “Specialized how?”

Walt-
”Well, we’re actually not entirely sure what we’re looking for just yet. But we’ll know it when we see it. Something that’s, uh…intangible. Looking for people who can help with a business venture is all.”

He’ll signal to Arkar and Bona via psi neurolink that he’s about to press her with Telepathy.

He’ll reach out for a quick Telempathy emotion check to see if she’s shielded. If she is Telepathic, she’d feel him using it.
Psi pt: 1

Life detection will tell you if someone is shielded and you won't be detected. That's kind of a house rule that Tiglath introduced, but it's cannon now. I'll assume you use that. She's not shielded. Nor are the other two.

"I have no idea what that means," she assured you.