Transcript from chat moved for ease of reference and continuation
Agent Finch (played by Devilboy)
The Park is considered safe territory for Techie Dissidents in Manhattan... The Union Underground has a strong presence here, and even a casual practitioner of minor magicks could find some signs of reality deviance if they spent a lot of time looking. The graffiti twigs your senses pretty quickly, though a lot of it is esoteric enough that it's above your paygrade... Normal looking people doing normal looking things all around, though.
Agent Finch is on comms via an ear bead, and his voice in the background giving orders and having grouchy conversations with experts is comforting. His ability to multitask is legendary, bordering on terrifying, and you know you're not on your own, at least not entirely.
commsAlright, Cheol Ip. Just like we talked about. This place isn't exactly RD free, but these ones won't mess with a newbie, even one of ours, unless they cause trouble. We have an understanding.comms
(( Per+Alert for me? Area scan, see how freaky this is for Jade. ))
(( Also, Cheol Ip = Iron Leaf. ))
Jade Moon (played by Ailuromancy)
Jade was a bit paranoid going out into the city. She kept her hood up and would pause for extended moments from time to time, taking everything in. At the voice in the background, she pauses again, going entirely still. There was probably something she was supposed to do next, but she just became a statue for a longer moment this time around. Waiting, for she didn't know what.
(( 5 Successes ( rolled 6, 9, 7, 8, 3, 7 vs difficulty 6 )))
Agent Finch (played by Devilboy)
The sigils catch your eye, but Finch IDs them quickly, well, in his own way. commsHarmless. Vulgar. Comical. Protective. That one's about me. Rude, but not dangerous.comms People pass by, some old, some young... More young than old, really... They cart around those curious little boards with the wheels, and ride them up and down slopes of concrete with apparent pleasure.
You catch sight of something suspicious as you observe this ritual... A man in a smiling mask, concealed from view by the most careful positioning, watching everything much as you are... He is not as good as he should be. commsAnd that would be one of Comedy's little friends. Don't get spooked. They're part of the scenery around here. Keep an eye out for the young kids and the at risk ones. Low priority at best. Why don't you go see about getting a snack? There's a hotdog stand.comms
The smell was nice. And food was always worth a little trouble.
Jade Moon (played by Ailuromancy)
Having everything sink in was helpful. So much activity, so many people. It was alien, but she was comforted by the assurances Finch gave. She shifted slightly, slipping out of the statue-stance back into fluid motion again. The guy with a mask was watched as she moves toward the hotdog vendor. She digs out a grubby couple dollars, smoothing them out and organizing them all neatly in the same orientation.
"H-h-how m-m-much?" She asks the vendor, licking her lips and waving a hand at the cart, as if it weren't obvious.
Agent Finch (played by Devilboy)
The vendor is a middle aged woman, Latinx you think. It was one of those peculiarities people were very interested in, the way features and melanin expressed in epigenetics. She tilts her head, processing your speech for a moment, and then speaks. "For you, chica, call it $1 even. I know hungry, see it plenty. Got other customers who pay more so you kids don't have to. Works good." She busies herself, humming, and you think you have succeeded. Probably.
commsGood. This is just a business deal, you don't have to work too hard. She might ask if you're okay. You don't have to say anymore than you're comfortable saying, okay?comms You hear some tense words in the background... Something about clearing the Newton Creek Plant operation. Agent Finch should probably take a day off on occasion. "You want all of it, or is there anything you don't like on a dog?"
The man in the mask has vanished, next time you look... Or rather, he thinks he has. Very good. Just not good enough. Hasn't gone far. Not concerned with you as a threat. Just doesn't want attention.
Jade Moon (played by Ailuromancy)
She nods as she hands over two dollars, a hopeful expression creasing her brow. She opens her mouth to speak, but it gets caught, and she looks off to the side as she mouths the words in her native language before she turns back to the nice lady. "Can.. can I g-g-get t-two? Ju-just wh-wh-whatever, I-I like i-it all."
She glances around again, falling back into that eerie stillness while waiting on the food. She could hold off from grabbing it, but the smells only enhanced her hunger.
Agent Finch (played by Devilboy)
The vendor does look a little concerned by the stillness... Shakes, she understood. Fidgeting. Nerves. But staying still was off. Still, she makes up two dogs, loaded down with the works, and sets them up on the tray in the little cardboard containers. Napkins are provided as well. For some reason, she gives you a conspiratorial look as she digs a bottle of water from the ice compartment on the cart and passes it over.
"No good, a dog without a drink, chica. But, if you don't mind an old lady butting in, estas bien? I mean, are you alright? You a long way from home. Farther than Tia Carolina I think." The 'ee' in Carolina is curiously pleasing. The strange words in the other language fascinate. But it's hard to think of anything but the food. People on the strange wheel boards are gathering to watch one of their number perform strange maneuvers. Something like forms, only quite silly.
A stray cat wanders by, ignoring the skaters and their religion, the pedestrians, and you, in order to bump up against the hot dog vendor's legs affectionately. This creature knows what is good in life, and how to attain it.
(( Gonna have to call it for tonight. M' brain's fuzzy, which means my hair has started attacking it for anger at loss of beauty rest. ))
(( Logs saved for resumption. Will see you tomorrow. ^.^ ))
(( Missing some stuff in the middle >.< ))
Agent Finch (played by Devilboy)
You manage a ping. Broad-spectrum. Every sensory device in your suite picking up a little of that sweet, sweet current and putting it to use. Briefly. Vector mapping... Complete. Spatial scan... Complete. Radiant energy offset... Complete. Composition scans... Complete. Essential energy composition telemetry... Complete. Bioelectrical impulse data scan... Complete. Life signs cross-check... Complete.
The picture that emerges is a snapshot, but well-defined. You get your own position, that of those around you. Their active thought processes. The cat, a few dozen meters clear and finding a place to cool off after his sprint. The thrum of unrefined primary force through everything, low enough to be background noise... Motion, vectors, heat, light. Flickering through your mind and creating a composite image of breathtaking beauty... And, unfortunately... One horror.
Something glitches out in the scan for primary force, intellectual processes... A sense of dread follows, and a dozen more error messages in your mind. The image you receive after this clears is an owl, or near enough, in a flash of electrical impulses. You detect the van, the still-cooling bodies... They look like the man who vomited. Wounds are bizarre. You can't make too much out before it goes dark.
"They're gonna kill us... Kill me... I couldn't... I can't..." The young man is being soothed by your new friend, her mind a smooth and clear presence amid the turbulent throngs. The skaters are confused and terrified, and a few of them are muttering darkly about pigs...
commsWe got scans back in... The kid's name is Marcus Williams. Van registered to him is down the street. It's still there, but it's empty, and there are bodies. You have a few minutes before the local authorities show up. I'm sorry, Cheol Ip. This shouldn't have happened.comms Clearly, he means more than just the idea of things going beyond his control.
Jade Moon (played by Ailuromancy)
She was still. Too still. Processing, while in that readied stance. She had no idea what was going on, that horror was pretty much the worst thing she could have imagined in her very brief memory. Jade had to roll over the information Finch was feeding through the comms, and sort through everything she had collected in that moment.
When everything had sunk in, she fluttered. Her hands shook loose and she had to shake herself loose from the stillness. That horror was looming in her thoughts, but she couldn't just remain dumbly in that state.
Turning to look at Marcus, she speeds into action. Two long strides and she was there, bending down to help the vomiting young man to his feet. "G-get u-u-u-u-up."
She lifts her gaze to Carolina. "R-r-run." Her expression dead serious, brooking no argument and leaving no opportunity to retort as she was already turning away as she drags the youth to his feet. "Ka! KA!" (( Korean "go!" ))
Agent Finch (played by Devilboy)
commsCan you extract? I'll send a collection if you need. Stay steady, kid. Whatever just happened, it slipped my net, and I will correct that. Car is inbound. ETA 1 minute. Get the civvies clear. comms They don't need any encouragement. A pall of fear has settled in. Something is wrong, and everyone has a taste of it now. Marcus's weeping makes a bit more sense as the buzzing of radios starts to take over your hearing. Conversation, but no distinct words. Droning, endless.
The skaters scatter, with talk of pigs and raids for drugs, nervously laughing and hurrying far more than they ought to. Carolina gets to her feet and turns to flee, and Marcus is quickly yanked along behind you. The rest is a blur. Fear, fear, fear... Your own and something from outside... The buzzing radio noise. Making sharp turns down unfamiliar paths. Suddenly... You're clear. The noise has stopped. The fear falls away like a sheet of ice, allowing light and reason back in.
And most wonderful of all, a dark sedan pulls up, and four tough looking people in dark suits get out, with finch pins on their lapels... Looking ready to get to work figuring this out. Where had the masked man gone? Had he done this? What had even happened...?
Jade Moon (played by Ailuromancy)
She ran through the park toward the extraction point, occasionally glancing to the poor kid in her grasp. She didn't have the time nor inclination to ask questions, she'd already had a good idea about what he'd been running from. Not the why or how, but the what was a start. She nods to the suits and pushes past them to the sedan.
Poor Marcus. She drags him into the sedan as well. He might have answers, but he needed to be alive for that. She took a corner of her sleeve to wipe his face. "Y-you ..."
She stopped, what was she even going to say? Would he just accept that she was there to help? She was essentially kidnapping him, wasn't she?
Agent Finch (played by Devilboy)
He seems afraid of the people in suits... And you. But he's not being hurt, so... Baby steps? "Sorry... I... Uh... Oh, shit... Henry, Tavir... My friends..." The look in his eyes is... Bad. You're not sure how to describe it. It reminds you of... Something. Familiar. Bad familiar. "I... I didn't do it... You gotta believe me..." The four agents disperse, save one, who holds position on the vehicle and covers your out.
You could have told him that. Clean hands. Well... Except for some stains from smoking and self-inflicted injuries escaping, there was nothing like the kind of mess he'd have made. He might be a year younger than you. It's a strange thought. He's making a point of not resisting, and you could probably haul him in... But he's hurt. Inside. You think.
Jade Moon (played by Ailuromancy)
"Y-you..." She waves a hand and hardly seems aware of anyone around them, so focused on Marcus. "N-n-no ap-apologies..."
She sits back, breathing carefully. She needed to get herself in order. Things were too strange. So familiar. Maybe this has happened before, somewhere. She couldn't think about that now. Focusing, she puts a hand on his shoulder. "It-it-it... Not y-your f-f-fault. Wh-what were y-you d-d-doing?"
She sucked at being the calm one, the comfort. She knew exactly what he felt like, she could swear his current disjointedness was like her own not so long ago.
Jade Moon (played by Ailuromancy)
(( totally forgot! She's not calming, per se, but Spark of Life might be comforting in a weird way. ))
Agent Finch (played by Devilboy)
6 minutes ago
"I... We were... We were gonna do some tagging... I... Man I go to art school, I ain't... I ain't hood, man. This is..." He covers his mouth with his hands, rocks a little... Seems to be slowly, slowly getting some semblance of calm back. "Dude came up... He wanted ID. Shit... I need a smoke." Wordless, the black suit provides a cigarette and a light. This is definitely not the way this should work, something tells you.
The finch pin catches the light briefly. She's a handsome woman in her forties, olive skin and dark hair cut close.
"Henry tried to argue... Stupid, Henry, shit, stupid... Dammit... And when the guy grabbed him, he fought back... And there was... A knife? I think...? Lady you gotta believe me. I was in the back. He came in through a window... Fuck, man. I ran. I ran away.. They were screaming and..." He huddles inwards, and seems to be threatening to vomit again. The black suit looks off into the middle distance impassively.
"...How am I gonna tell Tavir's mom...?"
