Sleuthing Like Rose
| Sleuthing Like Rose | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Factions Involved | |||||||||
|
ShadowHaven Boron Jewels | Unfriendly Neighborhood Vampire | ||||||||
| Field Mouse | |||||||||
| Mouse's First Initiation | |||||||||
Summary
Field Mouse is recruited by Rose of Sharon Howlett to track down locals who had been kidnapped, fearing a possible infected killing spree. Mouse met many future friends along the way, and managed to save one young person from impending drainy doom.
Background
Field Mouse once tracked the aura of Cry through communing with spirits and convincedRose of Sharon Howlett to rescue her. As such, he owes Rose at least several favors.
The Phone Call
Rose of Sharon Howlett contacted Field Mouse on his crime phone, which is his normal phone because god bless him, he is the smartest idiot you know. Denied the option of leaving early, Mouse hurriedly graded papers while pouring over the dossiers Rose provided looking for patterns. He then ran quick matrix searches on all five targets: Reva Nigel, Amanda Acardi, Pierce Kegan, Ulrich O'Kane, and Darcy Bryce.
Mouse's Notes
OKAY SO, like, Rose contacts me and I'm like AHH! WHY WOULD YOU NEED MY HELP YOU'RE A PROFESSIONAL INFECTED HUNTER?! But, there was also something SUPER neat about someone like Rose even thinking of me! I think Rose has some respect for me because I tracked down...something a while back that she helped me with.
SO! I was going to go look for these people right away, but my professor was like "NO MR. MOUSE, I SHOULD HAVE GRADED STUFF BEFORE BUT I SAT ON MY BIG OL' BUTT AND NOW YOU NEED TO GET THEM DONE TODAY!" Which--that was mean and I shouldn't do impressions and I'm sorry but also it's kind of true that's how he's acting!
The nice thing about being on campus is that their terminals are so much better than my commlink! So I got to look up information about all the people who had gone missing. It was SUPER SAD but also I got an idea of who they were! Reva and Amanda were doctoral students. They had regular ware stuff...like metabolic stuff and data jacks. One had cerebral boosters to make themselves smarter WHICH IS CHEATING I MIGHT ADD! AHH! They were both dead, and they had found the bodies dumped in Puyallup. That was really sad and I felt like maybe I shouldn't be upset about the boosters because now they're dead and THAT MADE ME A HUGE JERK I'M SO SORRY, AMANDA! I know we'd have been friends.
There was ALSO a professor who went missing named Pierce Kegan. That's really scary! Why didn't campus lock down?! He had a cyberarm and a cyberleg, I think from an accident, but maybe because they LOOK SUPER AWESOME! He was dead, too. But, after three dead people on campus, no vigils and no shutting down campus. Were they covering it up or is this normal?!?!?
There were two others, who I hoped were still alive:
First, Ulrich O'Kane. He had a name that sounded like a super villain from a trideo, and was doing like EVERY job. He was a security guard, and worked other stuff to try to pay for his college! His commcode didn't ring anywhere, maybe disconnected, but he lived in the student housing! He didn't have any ware from what I could see, which isn't super common for people in college! A lot of us use datajacks unless you're awakened like me! THAT WAS A CLUE, I figured...but I couldn't call and ask him anything because like he was already gone.
If he didn't have any ware, that might make him a good target for a vampire, but it could also mean he WAS a vampire! He seemed to work at night a lot!
Also, there was Darcy Bryce. Darcy was a 30-year old Horizon Corp kid who came to U-Wash after their family lost their sins. They were studying media technologies. They were harder to track down!
Campus
Field Mouse managed to talk his way past the student life's staff and into Ulrich's room. There he spoke with Ulrich's roommate, a young man by the name of Tim Vaughn, and learned more about Ulrich's behavior and social life. With new information, he managed to convince the staff to let him borrow the dorm furniture master key to unlock Ulrich's desk. There he found a calendar and a pen, which happened to be a qi focus. He used the pen to study Ulrich's aura.
Mouse's Notes
So, like, I found where Ulrich was staying and headed over that way! I was already on campus, so it was a pretty easy bike ride over there! The people at the desk were SO NICE AND THEY LET ME THROUGH! I told them I was investigating Ulrich's disappearance and they were like "are you the cops" and I was like "no, I'm a future friend" and they were like "what is a future friend" but I had my student ID so I just showed them that instead of explaining that future friends are people that you know will be your friends in the future IT'S RIGHT IN THE NAME!
So, I got to the room and I met Tim who was super nice and helped me learn a lot about Ulrich! He seemed like he had a lot going on and he worked a lot and had classes and had a girlfriend and like all sorts of stuff like that! He wrote in planners instead of in his commlink, so I went back to the front office and asked REALLY REALLY nicely and they let me borrow a key to get into Ulrich's desk; there was a pen there that was REALLY A QI FOCUS so I found out he was an adept, and it was for languages, so that was super neat! And then I looked through his planner and found the initials MM. Tim and I, now basically best friends, went through all the pictures Tim had. Ulrich had a crush on this girl from the cafeteria for a while who was named Mary, but EVENTUALLY we found neat pictures from a party with this pretty girl who as it turns out was an ACTRESS! And like--kind of a real actress...even though she hasn't really been in movies. So, like, commercials and ads, but STILL! NEAT!
I memorized the aura, and I realized that almost NO PICTURES of Ulrich in the last year were in the sunlight. BUT, this lady Miranda Macabre ALSO was never in the sun. I started rubbing my VERY masculine, stubble-covered chin and said "one of these people could be a VAMPIRE!"
This is where--if you can--you should say "dun dun DUNNNNN!" in your most startling voice!
The Taxi Ride
Field Mouse employed John Baptise to drive across town to where the previous bodies were found. He visited a diner where Ulrich and his girlfriend, Miranda Macabre, ate lunch recently. He reviewed the footage to see Ulrich walk outside, but Miranda did not. En route, Field Mouse called both Miranda Macabre and Ulrich's grandmother after discovering through Ms. Macabre that Ulrich was spending a lot of time helping her while she was ill.
Mouse's Notes
So, I called Mr. Baptise for a ride, and talked to Miranda on the phone! She told me about the last time she spent time with Ulrich, and how they had gone to a restaurant. She was very nice, which is how I imagine some vampires are, but she also told me about Ulrich's grandmother, who had cancer and was very sick, then she was well again! Which is great and exciting but also super like--it's super rare. So, I asked John to take a detour AND HE WAS SO NICE ABOUT IT SO WE STOPPED AT THE COFFEE SHOP where the date was! I was nice to the waitstaff and told them that I was trying to save someone and make sure they were safe and they let me see their tapes as long as the employee was there with me, so we watched Miranda and Ulrich's date together!
It sort of felt like spying, which felt mean but also neat because I'd make THE BEST SPY, NOBODY WOULD SUSPECT THE LITTLE GUY, but then we watched them talk and what we heard made sense with what Miranda told me. Then at the end, Ulrich got up and WALKED OUT INTO THE SUN so he was probably not a vampire! Miranda followed after, but really hurried into a car, so that was super suspicious, but also she seemed nice and did tell me the truth.
On the way to Puyallup, I found the number for Ulrich's grandma, and I called her and she answered! She told me that Ulrich was super nice and then there was some other stuff, but it didn't really make a lot of sense and she said she was still tired and liked to nap during the day which was SUPER SUSPICIOUS but she's also really old so I figured that Ulrich probably wasn't the vampire BUT might be connected to the vampire!
The Barrens
Field Mouse summoned a spirit of man and, utilizing the search power, the spirit named Boron tracked down Ulrich's aura. Field Mouse found an alleyway empty but for a single Cutter. He introduced himself, gave the man chips, and talked to him for a while, explaining that he'd need to astrally project. He asked his new friend to watch his body, and the Cutter--utterly confused--agrees.
Mouse discovered that the shack where the spirit pointed him had both Ulrich and Darcy; while Darcy was near death, Ulrich seemed fine. The trio of new friends, (Boron the spirit of man, Jewels the Cutter, and Field Mouse the little one,) broke into the shack and persuaded Ulrich to let Darcy go. Ulrich had been kidnapping people to help his grandmother--a newly turned vampire--feed.
Ulrich is confronted outside by an armed Miranda Macabre, who ultimately decides not to fire upon anyone in the group.
Mouse's Notes
So, Mr. Baptise, WHO WAS LIKE SO NICE REALLY! He drove me to the area where the bodies were found which was SUPER SKETCHY AND SCARY and I summoned a friend, and we talked a little bit. His name was Boron, and he was a spirit of man, and he was super neat and told me about his plane, and then we talked about mysteries, and then he agreed to help me investigate the mystery WHICH WAS SUPER NICE OF HIM, so I told him all about Ulrich's aura and he started looking for me. It wasn't long before Boron came back! He had found Ulrich's aura which is neat--BUT he was in a scary shack and that seemed bad. SO, it was really busy outside, and I knew I needed to do this SUPER COOL THING CALLED PROJECTION WHERE YOU LEAVE YOUR BODY BEHIND, but I didn't want to get stabbed and killed because someone thought I wasn't using the body, you know?
So, I found an alleyway with just one big person with a knife, and I went into my secret bag and pulled out my secret weapon: A party sized bag of potato chips!
I introduced myself to the big person with a knife and offered him some chips and explained that I was going to leave my body and kind of become a ghost and my buddy Boron was going to watch my body but I wondered if he would, too! His name was Jewels, and he said he'd stab anyone who tried to mess with my body! It was super nice, but also scary! So I said thank you to Jewels, propped myself sitting up against a wall, and projected into the building!
SO, Mx. Boron was right! Ulrich was there, and next to him was someone who was super hurt and I needed to get help to them! So I came back to my buddies Boron and Jewels, and we decided to break in and stage a rescue! I was scared, so Mr. Jewels handed me a gun. Which--for what it's worth--was WAY SCARIER! But, I held it to look tough just in case, and I kicked in the door! Sure Jewels helped and probably opened it, but I kicked it, too!
And we run in and there's Ulrich and he's like "NO YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM MY GRANDMA NEEDS TO EAT THEM!" And I'm all like "BUT THAT'S REALLY MEAN YOU CAN'T EAT PEOPLE THAT'S NOT NICE" and Ulrich was like "You right" and I'm like "Yeah I mean I know!"
He was thinking about hurting me and running, or trying to save the person long enough for his grandma to kill, but I was like "My friend Jewels is a professional people stabber, so maybe talking is better!" and we slowly convinced Ulrich that his grandma lived a good life, but that killing people to live isn't worth keeping you alive after you've had a good life!
Oh yeah, and then Miranda was there, and SHE had a gun! And I was like "WAIT IS SHE THE VAMPIRE" but it turns out she was just mad at Ulrich for lying, which makes sense! We picked up Darcy and got them to a hospital, and I let Rose know where the vampire was. I also gave everyone my commcode in case they needed me!
Including Ulrich's grandmother, come to think of it. WOW, I hope Ms. Rose took care of that vampire or at least broke her commlink!
The end!!!
Aftermath
- Darcy Bryce is taken to a hospital.
- Miranda and Ulrich have some serious relationship issues to work out.
- Boron returns to his home plane.
- Mouse and Jewels become friends!
- Mouse passes Ulrich's grandmother's information along to Rose of Sharon Howlett; he does not hide this from Ulrich.
- It is currently unknown about the physical or mental health of any other subjects, nor whether or not criminal charges were ever filed.
Rewards
- Initiation Grade 1 Discount
- 5 Karma (5 RVP)
- Jewels (2/3 Professional People Stabber) (4 RVP)
- 2 CDP