Dopplegangers

GM: Orpheus(GM) Players: Page, Slinger Synopsis: Page and Slinger are told about a mysterious string of murders where the victims eyeballs are removed. Date: March 11th, 2070 It's a blustery evening, snow falling.. Ect ect. Simply put, Orpheus has hooked you two up with a little job that needed doing. He couldn't be here for this one though, as he was actually off in some.. magical.. meditating… Astral… .. Thing.. and it will take longer than can be spared! Yeah, thats my excuse for not being here. So anyways.. Without many frills or extravagence, you are to meet an old acquaintence of Orpheus'. He's going to be in a fairly low-key restauraunt right near the Aztlan and CAS border. The man in question is also Aztlan.. A border patrol guard, as you've been informed.. Orpheus seems complacent that you won't have any issues with the man though, and impored you hear whats wrong. It was rare for Orpheus to have friends or acquaintences outside the few you know of(that being yourselves and one or two Saints members.. Also an emotionless gunsmith and a crazed wannabe cat shaman but whatever). You've been given a time and place, and a picture of the guy. Typical rent-a-cop looking guy. Buzzcut hair. Obviously hispanic. Fairly nice build though. Not obese and donut-consuming. Page eyes the thing. "Yeah… trap?" he wonders, looking over at Slinger. Slinger glances at the picture, then back at his young friend — who is currently zonked and projecting, thanks to Jasmine. He lets out a slow chuckle. "Well, he's not as cute as Orpheus." A small pang of longing; Slinger already misses him. "Meta quests take too fraggin' long," Slinger mutters. He draws on his cigarette, then nods to Page. "Got time? If so, vehicle's outside. And my SIN'll get us into Aztlan. Though, we oughtta be careful about foci. Put 'em in the box," he suggests. "In some yogurt or somethin'." Already he's making preparations, but fortunately, most of his gear is in the SUV. It doesn't take him long to prepare. Page shakes his head. "Don't have that much I need," he says. "Just Ourrez - and he can stay here for the moment. I'll need him to mind the store." "Right. So let's get packing." He finishes gathering gear, makes sure he has some extra smokes — and snags a couple of packs of Orpheus's Guerreras. Aztlan smokes, which will help him blend in if that becomes necessary. "Pay you back later," he tells his lover, then bends over to kiss the other boy's lifeless lips. Then, he heads out to the SUV. "Always creepy, kissing him when he's like that. Was it creepy tattooing me?" he asks Page, as he climbs into the vehicle, checks how much gas he has, and, once everything is set, gets underway toward the Aztlan sector. "Nah," Page replies. "Was a lot like tattooing the dead cows they have you practice on when you're starting out. Just warmer." He manages to keep a straight face on that for about ten seconds before grinning, closing the SUV's door and going along. Slinger snerks, and snorts fizzycoke. "I'm not a cow," the elf points out. He considers which SIN to use. Probably best to use the Kelvin Steele one. Ute and Aztlan don't probably cross-pollinate their databases, most of the time. The elf lights up one of the Guerreras, casually using Physical Mask to adjust his appearance to match his SIN. And, of course, he makes sure the vehicle's appearance and plates and transponder code all jive with that SIN. Everything's normal, officer, of course! This, while he approaches the checkpoint, then drives through it. Slinger checks his wrist chrono. Pretty close to the appointed time. He tosses his butt out the window, then tucks the pack into his shirt pocket, as he drives. It doesn't take him long to head toward the restaurant in question, not far from the border. "So what's it say about this guy we're meeting?" he asks. He left Page with the dossier. When you arrive.. It's a mexican-type restauraunt. Not Taco-Hell, mind, but decent food. The place is fairly quiet though. A slight mix of native Aztlaner's and a few border-crossers who are interested in consuming a few enchiladas. When you go in, finding the guy in question isn't hard.. He looks a little shaken, maybe kinda tired. Grave, even.. He's in a secluded corner of restauraunt in any case, waiting for you to show up as his acquaintence Orpheus had promised. Long time since hes really seen the kid in person… You paged Page with 'Asides from physical appearance, Orpheus told you the guy was notorious for knowing various people skilled at circumventing border-checks. Smuggling. That kinda thing. He's in his job for the wages only, and any fringe benefits he gets from 'extorting' those who he should probably be busting, the better.'. Page eyes the place. He's no Azzie, but when in Rome… he heads in, notes the guy. And wanders over in that direction. He's going to let Slinger take point on this part - he knows Orpheus better than the enchanter does. Slinger approaches the table with a friendly smile. "Sorry we're late," he says, in Spanish, apologetically, for the benefit of anyone who might be listening. He sits down in the chair opposite of Juan. "Should we speak Spanish? Or English?" He indicates Page. "I'm not sure how good his Spanish is." "Hola," Juan regards as you approach. Orpheus told him to expect you, though not what you look like. He assumes you are the ones, though. "My English is not so bad," Juan answers. Hes certainly not 'fluent', but neither is it hard to understand him. It's just a fairly strong accent. "Everyone elses English maybe not so good here. Maybe better off that way, eh? Sit, please.." Jaun indicates the seats in front of him. He seems a little pensive. Not leery.. Just tense. A bit of a tired look on his face. Page has himself a seat, eying the guy some more. He gives him an astral once over, then glances over the rest of the place, just to see if there's anything 'unusual' around. Neither of you notices anything out of the ordinary around you. Everyone is just sorta doing their thing, muching down some buritos and quesadillas and other similar stereotypical Mexican foods. Juan, as you assence, is completely Mundane. He is completely unaugmented as well. He's in moderate health and.. well. He's actually just REALLY average and normal, as far as it goes. Nothing remarkable about him. Substance abuse seems minor. Maybe some alcohol. Slinger nods agreement, both hands on the table where they are visible. "Good thought," he agrees. "I understand we have a mutual friend." He's not sure by what name this guy will know his lover — or what details he will know. So right now, Slinger is keeping it vague. He reaches into his pocket to pull out the pack of stolen Guerreras, pulls one from the pack, then offers it to Juan. "The food's good here?" he asks casually. Page murmurs under his breath to Slinger, "There's no smoking in businesses in the Azzie sector." If Slinger looks disbelieving at him, he'll nod. "New law. Went through last week." Slinger blinks, scowling as he eyes the pack, then Page, just to see if his leg is being pulled. Then, he looks at the table, for an ashtray. He doesn't want to create a scene and jeopardize the mission, but he also doesn't want to go without nicotine. "Didn't hear a damned thing about it," the elf asserts, as he pulls out his lighter. "There's over a hundred thousand news items posted every day," Page replies to Slinger with a light smile. "Can't expect you to see every one." Then he looks back to Juan there. "So what're we here for? Food, relaxation, or something a little more urgent?" "Chico?" Jaun returns. You seem to recall Orpheus mentioning everyone he used to know called him that. It basically means 'scrawny/small kid'. Fitting, perhaps.. but boy does it piss him off. "Funny kid.. Little weird, you know. He sent you? So you must be good.. Chico always had weird, mysterious contacts. Good though." At comment of the cigarettes. Jaun just scoffs and pulls out his badge, setting it on the edge of the table where anyone could see it. "Please." He then reaches over for one of the offered cigarettes. "Good brand," he notes, and gets it lit. He pauses a moment, in thought… "Look, I'll make this easy.. Theres .. someone. Been commiting murders around the region here. Not just Aztlan.. CAS too. Suspect he works in the CAS though." Theres a haunted look in the guys face.. Slinger nods and lights up as well, adding a swirl of addictive smoke to the light haze in the place. At the sight of the badge, though, Slinger definitely is intrigued - and not just because of the situation. He wants this guy as a contact, definitely. "He sent us, yeah. And I like to think I'm good." The elf listens attentively, adding swirls of smoke to the air, pleased at the compliment about the brand. And then he waits while the server arrives and takes the order. Enchiladas sound good, as does a fizzycoke. He's not much for beer, despite what the server might think he should be drinking. Once the server departs, though, Slinger nods once. "But these aren't ordinary murders, are they?" he asks. If they were, he wouldn't have been sent. Page quirks his mouth slightly, but doesn't make further comment. "No," Jaun agrees. He orders a simple dish himself. Nothing major.. He seems wholly consumed by the moment, actually.. "Around here, they are called the 'Sightless' murders.. Basically.. Every person killed had their eyes removed. Haven't been found. Fucked up. Shitty thing is.. B'cus we think the person works in the CAS, is very hard for Aztlan to do anything about it. It's pissin' ME off because he's getting through MY border gates." Irony here, obviously. YOU got in, after all. "Long story short, I want you to find this asshole and off him.. or turn him in. I don't care.. some of my friends have family that have been killed over this shit.." Slinger nods thoughtfully. "Hard part will be finding the guy. Things we could use… if we could know where some of them happened, that could help. Any information would be good." He has a friendly smile, definitely, though inside his head he is going over all of the things that could go wrong with this — and all the difficult places to start looking. "I assume the police have looked into it. The authorities." Page adds, "If you have any DNA samples, this could be very simple indeed. Blood from a crime scene, hair fibers, that sort of thing. A photo would also be helpful." Jaun tosses a manilla folder accross the table toward you both. In it are police records of the case. You see a great many in here, and thats only the Aztlan files. There was a good chance if this person worked out of CAS, then there would be more from the CAS police. "DNA.. DNA everywhere. If you want victim DNA. Murderer DNA? None. Person is quite good at removing the eyes 'surgically'. Or so it appears.. Very clean. Precise. Eyes aren't how they die though. That won't kill you. Usually they die from blood loss. You don' wanna fuckin' know where he cuts them to bleed 'em." The file is rife with all pertinent details of the victims anyway. Slinger looks over the details of where the guy cuts them. "Is it the groin?" Slinger asks, taking a quick stab at the question. He glances to Page, then back to Juan. "If it's the groin, then we're dealing with somebody with medical training. That narrows our field quite a bit." He flicks through the files, briefly, gathering what information he can. "Any motive, other than sheer twisted delight?" He's also looking for patterns among the victims as well. Juan nods to you. "Nice. Nice. Chico was right to send you it seems. You know your shit.. Good.. I hope you can nail this worthless scab of society. I really. You do this.. This is a big favour for me.. I want this done. I'm just powerless to do anythin' out of my jurisdiction, you understand.. That file has everything I know and we know about the killer.. Not sure if I can help any further than that, I am sad to admit. But you call me if you have questions." Indeed. Slinger notes the groin as a very prominent incision. The cuts look to be from a VERY sharp impliment. Not just your standard combat knife or shiv. Scalpels produce this quality of cut. "Motive? Not sure. Maybe black market. Trades for eyes popular for people who can't afford clones.. But then, there is a lot more valuable organs in body left untouched.. Could simply be sociopath too." "Or could be something magical. The eyes have strong associations when it comes to magic." He flicks through the file, though he will peruse the rest when he doesn't have food coming. Right now, he's very much hoping it doesn't have any olives. He's looking at the victims, mostly, looking for some pattern. Male/female, eye color, hair color — which is difficult among Aztlanners. "Definitely give us your contact information, if you would," Slinger encourages. "But eyes," Page comments thoughtfully, "small. Easy to chill, easy to hide. Don't need a full cyrosuite, just a flask." He nods to Slinger's thought as well. "Don't suppose they have any similarities - or differences - in eye color, particularly? Or blood types?" Jaun explains that the pattern in eye types seems random, with one exception.. Of the few cases of those with cybernetic eyes, those were often left behind. Simply blood-letted and the eyes removed and set on the victims chest. Though one or two cases of cybernetic replacements did go missing. Male, female.. it didn't seem to matter. You do note a specific propensity for Type O bloodwork, though by no means was that the only blood type on display. Additionally, Jaun also says, "I can get you in one one crime scene, if you want. Jus' one, and only for a while. Not sure if you want to go that rout.. we searched pretty good I think though." Slinger considers that for a moment. Blood types. Slinger thinks about the offer for a moment. "How long ago did it happen? The fresher, the better. Signatures fade fast." Jaun shivers a bit. Considering his generally addled termperment since you met him. You guess not long ago. He must have seen it. You would have guessed right! "Earlier this morning.. Body is still there.. It's disgustin'. I'm not cut out for bagging and tagging work.. Keep me on the border, y'know.. Shit.." Slinger nods firmly. "Then we should go, as soon as possible." He won't get to try out the enchiladas. That's the sad part. "Unless there's time for us to eat. But the sooner, the better. Otherwise, the signatures can fade." Page nods slightly. "Work first. Eat later." He then grins. "You know, it takes several weeks to actually starve to death." The elf grumbles. "Elves have faster metabolism," he points out. "Maybe it's a lot less for us!" But even so, he nods to Juan, and pulls out his credstick to pay the tab, with apologies to the server once he can find her. "You have a vehicle, or should we take mine?" Slinger wonders. Jaun indicates he can show you the way there, but doesn't want you driving around in his squad car. For understandable reasons. He gives directions and says you can trail after him and meet up with you at the place in question. No worries on the tab though.. The waitress(a pretty young hispanic girl) gladly shuttles the food away to be recycled into someone elses dish. With a smile! On second thought, Slinger might not be eating here later. He smiles, though, and then leaves at least somewhat of a tip on the table. Then, he heads to his vehicle and prepares to follow along, carefully, tracing the route and making sure not to get too close to Juan's squad car. Meanwhile, he places another call, to a contact of his own. Slinger waits until he has Sergeant Norman on the line. "Sorry to bother you," Slinger says swiftly. "But I want to check something. Maybe get some information. And maybe deal with a problem you're having — with you having the chance to potentially get some of the credit, if we do it right. Have you had a situation with murders in the CAS sector, where the eyes have gone missing?" While Slinger calls around, he hooks up with his contact Bill Normal. After a bit of conversing he tells you what he knows. Indeed, he's been hearing about the murders, and there are unmistakably similar in scope. Eyes missing. Blood sometimes missing or simply drained everywhere. "A real sick bastard," Normal explains in a grumpy tone. "Do you know something about this?" he wants to know. During the course of the convo, he also mentions concrete evidence that the CAS inspectors had learned.. That being it supported your earlier assumptions.. The person doing this wasn't just good.. They were professional. "Maybe even a ripperdoc.." he adds in an inflected tone. He waits for any other questions or comments. "That's what I was thinking. Not sure why just the eyes," the youth comments. "We're… working with a contact in another sector, where the same thing is happening. If we catch this sick fuck, we get first dibs on stuff, but as long as you can guarantee me he'll get put away where he can't harm anybody… I'll do everything I can to make sure you get him. Should help you out a bit." Slinger lights up a cigarette as he drives. "If you could get me the files on those, that'd be good. Give us a little more evidence to work with." Page just rides along for the moment, relaxing. Heaven knows that he may not have much longer for this pesky mortal life, so he's getting it in where he can. Norman pipes you a decent bit of info regarding the murders, on the condition that you hand the murderer over to HIM when the time comes. Should you catch him or her. "I don't care what you do with his 'stuff'.. As long as we have sufficient evidence. We want this sick fuck." You get the impression this person is very unpopular. Very very unpopular. As for why only eyes.. Norman offers no other insights. There was clear patterns here.. Yet strange motives. Slinger nods, glances to Page. "Might check in with Lapida, see if she knows of anything underground involving real eyes. Might be magical goods… not something she'd deal in, but she might have heard something?" Meanwhile, he'll shoot a quick query to his own Talismonger as well. Page weighs what Lapida might think versus the information they might get… he gives a little sigh. "Oh, alright." He gives Lapida a quick call, letting her know he has /nothing/ to do with this and they're just trying to hunt the guy down before asking her about the eyeball trade. Lapida. "Oh, hello Page!" smiles smiles happy happy goodtimes. My old friend! Yadda yadda! Feel like an ass maybe? Anyways, you don't get A LOT from her, but she does offer two interesting tidbits of information.. "Well.. You can use eyes in certain magical enchantments or rituals.. Though, most of them tend to be of the darker variety.." She thinks on it.. "Yeah, actually, I seem to recall hearing about certain forms of blood magic and rituals used eyes." Brrrr.. "You don't have anything to do with all these 'Sightless' murders I heard about, HUH? HUH? Oh, what? You don't? Well okay…" Page sighs, rubbing his forehead. "We're just trying to track down the guy doing them," he tells Lapida. "You haven't heard anything else about them?" "No, sorry hon.. Haven't heard anything more about it. But if it is some kinda dark magic.. Just. Be careful, okay?" You know I worry about you and.. Why don't you come visit more often and.. You know if you need anything! and.. Ect ect ect. Page resists the temptation to say 'Yes mom', and instead just says, "Don't worry about me - you've got enough trouble. I'll catch up with you later." Then he looks over at Slinger, hanging up. "Ok, then." Slinger continues driving, following the Aztlan detective. Right now, being where he is, in the middle of Aztlan turf, isn't the happiest place for him. But at the very least, he wants this guy as a contact. Slinger lights up one of Orpheus's brand of cancer sticks and takes a deep draw, while he follows the guy to the scene of the crime. "Dunno what we'll find that the cops didn't, but you never know." After about ten minutes of driving you arrive in a somewhat low-lifestyle section of housing. Some of the less wealthy live here. It's not squatter status, however. But some of the citizenry openly carry weapons around here and in general it's not a fun place to be. Juan steps out of his fleet car and throws a glance in your direction, then steps up toward the apartments. Once you follow inside, he'll inevitably lead you up to the apartment in question where outside the yellow-taped apartment door stands a watchman. They talk for a moment, and the watchman wanders off for the moment, giving both of you a rather untrusting glare. "This is far as I go.. You have ten minute in there and then you need to leave. I have to return to post now. Lunch break over." He pauses.. "You take good care of this for us, I hope." With that, he turns to leave you. Page nods to the man, then looks to Slinger. "Well. Guess we'll get started then, shall we?" He steps into the apartment carefully, hesitating only slightly before bracing himself and giving the apartment an astral once-over. Slinger nods in comprehension, then steps into the apartment, ducking under the tape. Immediately, he switches his attention into the astral, warily. The last time he investigated a crime scene and went astral, he woke up later with a busted-up body, some of his magic gone, and one hell of a headache. Even so, Slinger turns around carefully, surveying everything around him. He has heard of those who can get impressions from crime scenes and the like. But that's a technique he never actually learned. Well, the apartment, despite its low-lifestyle nature, seems rather nice actually. It's very homey and well-lived in.. probably the woman — at you guess female from the look of decor — has lived here a very long time. There is a great accumulation of keepsakes and trinkets and the like. The main room is marked on the floor as where the womans body was found. Everyone looks relatively untouched however.. Adjecent to that room is a small, tidy bedroom. The room has absolutely no windows, strangely, and is quite dark without the lights on. It's in this room, even more than the room where the body was that the strongest impressions of the act of violence can still be seen lingering on the astral plane. There is a rather disquieting, almost swirreling vortex here, consisting of red and black hues.. Slinger looks through the room carefully, taking in the impression of the violent death. Something happened here, definitely. But that is normal for this sort of scene. He pads through the rooms carefully, avoiding disturbing anything — until he encounters that drawer. Frowning, the elf examines it more closely. "Hey, Page? Take a gander at this." Orpheus pages: You notice something curious. you almost missed it, but you swear you are seeing the presence of a ward in the bedroom, actually affixed to the womans dresser drawer. (To Slinger) Slinger is in the bedroom, staring at the dresser, waiting for Page to arrive. "Assense that, let me know if you see what I see." He takes another look at the warded drawer, longer and harder. Page quirks an eyebrow at Slinger and then eyes the the dresser a bit with his third eye. THIRD EYE! Yes, if he had one. The drawer in question, no more threatening or amazing than any other of it's kind, does have one very unusual, distinguishing factor.. It has a ward erected around it. A polarized ward in fact. You almost missed it, but you are now certain it is there. Consequntly, anything magically tainted inside you wouldn't be able to see. At least without removing it or peeking 'through' it. You don't note any other magical effects in the womans house. You can't find any reason to thing SHE was magically active. "Curiouser and curiouser," Slinger murmurs, his gaze on the ward. "I think I'm gonna project and poke my head in, see what's inside. Guard me?" he suggests. The last thing he wants to do is actually set off the ward in question by, say, opening the drawer. Until he knows more about what's within. Page drops his astral vision and resides himself purely in the physical. "Okie," he replies. He does glance around the physical as well. You never know, there might be some clues there - footprints in blood, handprints, secret cameras. One never knows. Slinger nods once, then lies back on the floor, hands down at his sides — gloved, of course — and detaches from his body. Then, he slowly approaches the ward. This one isn't cute and fluffy, like that adorable little Fifth Circle one that he bumped into last week. No, this one is a little angrier. Even so, Slinger synchronizes his aura to this ward, working to match up with it, then pokes just his head in through it for a peek. You have to remove one of the drawers to get a space where you can peek your head in, but the moment you poke your head through it, the overwhelming, almost nausiating feeling of emotion tied to something in the drawer is.. a little disturbing. There is SOMETHING in here.. You cann't really see what it is as your still looking through solid objects, but there is a distinct, black imprint of something. Possibly in one of the drawers. Anyway, ehile Slinger is poking around in the drawer, messing with the hastily erected Ward, Page hears the sound of a womans voice.. "Beth?! Beth?!? You in there? Oh god, Beth..!" It's coming from the living room, you notice. Page watches Slinger closly as he starts being all weird… then he hears a voice. Nani?! He looks over towards the living room. Ahhh…. a friend. He can't just leave Slinger laying here, though. He calls out to her in a friendly voice, "Door's open." Slinger pushes his astral face further through the ward, trying to see what's inside here without obstructions. Unless the drawer is just plain full of stuff, anyway. Whatever is in here is /bad/… and that draws the elf's attention. Her voice takes many moments to return.. Still in Spanish mind you. "W-Who is that?!" She sounds suddenly a bit frightened. "Dez? Is that you? Please god be you Dez.." her voice is getting closer as she braves her way into the apartment further. You'll probably have to deal with her soon either way. Meanwhile, it takes you a little probing, but you eventually determine the source of the taint.. It's here, in a little secret comparment in one of the drawers.. an extra little space hidden by a piece of wood frame at the back of the drawer.. in it, you can't exactly make out what the tainted object is, but it's absolutely saturated with an impression like the rest of the room.. Oh, and there is an astral signature on it. Perfect. Slinger takes a moment to memorize that Astral Signature, and has no idea that there is someone else here. Nope. He's taking his time, learning the layout of the drawer. And checking the ward itself, to see if it matches that signature. Page glances at Slinger, making sure he's not flailing in terror or anything, and then looks back to the front room, waiting patiently. Well, after about twenty seconds, a woman finall pokes into the room, her footfalls trepid.. Shes pretty attractive. Has beautiful, flowing, raven hair, full lips.. olive-coloured skin. The moment she steps into the room and spots two unfamiliar men.. one laying down on the ground. She freezes just a moment in sudden fright. Her hand then reaches down into her purse, rapidly fumbling around for something as she stares wide-eyed at Page.. Back in the drawer, Slinger finishes assensing the object and recording the signature to memory. Nothing much more you can see inside the ward other than the tainted object in the back of the drawer. Very well. Slinger starts to disengage from the ward, taking his time. After all, there's no need to rush this. At least, that he knows of. Page, on catching sight of her fumbling at her pulse, lets out a pulse of calm and goodwill through a subtle spell. "We're friends," he says to her calmly. The woman grabs some pepper punch and raises it menacingly with intent to make Page very uncomfortable and unhappy.. Her voice is a bit timultuous, "W-Who are you?" she asks, distrust in her voice. She keeps the pepper punch raised, however.. "No English," she tells him in horribly broken English. She obviously only knows the language well enough to speak those two words.. She returns to Spanish. "What are you doing in Beths room?!" Slinger should be able to return to his body by now. About this time, Slinger manages to get back to his body, feeling strangely calm and relaxed. He stretches on the floor, yawns inoffensively, and then opens his eyes — to see a woman with pepper spray in the room. "Whoa!" the elf says, raising his hands to show they're empty. He slowly gets up, moving very carefully and gradually to show he means no harm. Page says quite calmly, looking to Slinger, "I don't speak Spanish. Tell her we're supposed to be here. Find out who she is and what she knows." The woman, though calmed fairly considerably, is still scared all the same. Calm. Yet scared. A rather disquieting feeling. She isn't trembling anymore though. She looks more confused and sad than anything. "Who are you?" she repeats.. "A-Are you friends of Dyne?" she asks. Slinger smiles, inclines his head to the woman, considering the best approach for this. Whoever this Dyne is, he might be important. And he can always erase the poor woman's memory. "Dyne? Of course we are. He asked us to come by and look into some things for him. He had some concerns." He considers. "We haven't been able to get a hold of him, though. You have a good phone number for him?" Page waits patiently, looking all…. well. Calm and stuff. He's just the mage. And he doesn't speak Spanish. Especially with this spell he's having to sustain. The womans expression changes again to fear and distrust. She quavers a bit, and yet shes so.. calm.. at peace. WEIRD. Never the less, she quickly raises the pepper punch again, this time obviously intend to use it without reservationg, despite the disquietingly calm feelings within her at the moment.. "Liars!" Yeah, that was a guess Slinger made, and it turned out he was wrong. Zot. Naptime! The elf hasn't had time to activate Filtering, but even so, zotting her shouldn't be a problem. Once that's done, Slinger glances back to Page, and considers. "Need to wipe her memory a little," the kid admits. "Then we need to figure out how the frag to explain how she got in here to Mr. Officer." Slinger leaves Page to that. He'll take care of erasing signatures afterward, while Page takes care of the woman's mind. Wouldn't do to have too many people knowing who we are. That done, he moves carefully toward the drawer. The question is how to actually open it without disrupting the ward. Page does the Mind Rape Tango all over this lady's head, fetching any relevant information - hey! She attacked US! And we're saving lives! So that's all preserving free will and morality, so there! And then he spends just a little bit judiciously editing her memory up a bit. She got drunk, ended up in this apartment complex somehow, and doesn't remember how exactly she got here. And then he plops her outside with Levitate, making sure there's nobody outside to see first. Slinger slowly pulls the drawer open. Wards have the advantage of being invisible, at least in the physical world. He peers into the drawer, then reaches into synchronize with the ward. Once the thing, whatever it is, is in his hand, perhaps he can pull it out without disturbing the ward. While Page rifes through the girls mind and learns about the rather emo punk looking Dyne chick, Page is rifing through the girls underwear. Her panties are very silky and her choice of dress is odd.. odd in that the wardrobe gives the impression of a double lifestyle. On one side you see traditional working-class girl, and on the other you see thrash metal club-hopping partier. In any case, when you reach your hand into the little secret compartment, you feel something with a slick, cakey sort of texture. It's round like a marble. You feel two of them. Yes. You suspect they are eyeballs. Eyeballs. Page finishes up with the somen after a couple of minutes, moving her outside after altering her memory. "Find anything useful?" he asks Slinger. "Oh, Gods," Slinger mutters, shuddering. No, he won't be touching those again. Instead, he grabs one of the sets of underwear — which are only slightly less icky — and uses those to grab when he suspects he'll find. Eyeballs. He carefully picks those up, then just as cautiously begins to bring them out through the ward, trying to use his own Masking to conceal them from the ward… Congratulations. You now have in your inventory a pair of dry, though still somewhat bloody and cakey eyeballs wrapped in a girls panties. They are brown eyes, with the fainted hint of green outlining the iris. In any case, the woman still lays unconscious for now, and you figure you have used up about all of your 'alloted' 10 minutes. The officer will probably be back soon and you figure he won't be happy if you are still here when he gets back.. Not to mention, with a woman in tow. Even so, Slinger has some potential options. He carefully wraps the items up and stows them carefully, then puts everything back as he found it. "Let's go," the elf says. "I'll levitate her, and keep her invisible, then you can clean up our signatures." Slinger doesn't want the room actually /Cleansed/, since that might well look suspicious. Page shrugs his shoulders. "Alright," he says. "You carry her." He turns back, focusing his attention on the astral again, and starts wiping the signatures clean quickly. Slinger carries the woman back out toward the SUV, carefully checking the astral. "Where should we leave her?" he asks Page, keeping his voice very low. People speaking from midair, disembodied voices, tend to unnerve passers-by. Page says to Slinger, "Oh, anywhere is fine. She thinks she got drunk and forgot how she ended up wherever she ends up." He glances back at Slinger's invisible form. "Never happened to you?" Slinger carries the woman back out toward the SUV, carefully checking the astral. "Where should we leave her?" he asks Page, keeping his voice very low. Nobody needs to overhear what we are talking about, after all. Slinger smirks. "There's a reason I don't drink," the elf comments. He casually walks a couple of blocks away, then leaves the woman in an alleyway. This isn't /that/ bad of a part of town, and she should wake up pretty soon. That done, Slinger heads back toward the SUV with Page and climbs inside. "Okay. Now things are weird," he says. "Whoever it was cut out her eyes and stashed them in the dresser drawer." He considers. "Wait a sec. Just for fun, check the victim's eye color?" "Huh," Slinger says quietly. "Can we do anything with ritual sorcery?" he asks, as he leans back and lights a smoke, placing the eyes into a sealed bag. "Wish Zoey didn't have her shop packed up. Might be something she could tell us about what happened. So my question might be… what the frag are these doing there, and why are they in the drawer, surrounded by a ward? If she's takin them for some purpose, then you would think she would take them with her. "Huh," Slinger says quietly. "Can we do anything with ritual sorcery?" he asks, as he leans back and lights a smoke, placing the eyes into a sealed bag. "Wish Zoey didn't have her shop packed up. Might be something she could tell us about what happened. So my question might be… what the frag are these doing there, and why are they in the drawer, surrounded by a ward? They aren't the victim's eyes. Which means, either the victim put them there, or this Dyne chick." He carefully looks at the eyes again. Looking for any evidence they are cybernetic. Page thinks on that. "We can use ritual sorcery to link the eyes to their victim… very easily…" he says. "If we don't know whose they are…" The mage actually looks a little squeamish, but he asks, "Can we… scan their retinas… or something? See if they're registered?" "Finding the victims won't help us a bit. I think this Dyne, whoever she is, did it," Slinger says firmly. "I mean, it sounds like it, anyway. Might be a good idea to ask around about that name, do a little legwork." He peers at the eyes a little more, then sighs and drags hard on his cigarette, before he starts up the SUV and prepares to do some driving. Page contemplates. "Why don't we head over to this hangout of theirs. Maybe we can find our killer by investigating his hunting grounds." He tries not to think about loose eyeballs rattling around in the car and stepping on one accidentally. Ugh! That won't happen, because Slinger stashes the things in the secret compartment. "We could," Slinger says thoughtfully. "I'm interested in finding out more about this Dyne person. Or about the victim. Could have my decker see if he can pull the victim's phone records. Whoever she called the most is probably Dyne." Slinger pulls out his phone to contact Remi, reaching for the datachip, slotting it into his pocket secretary. He waits for the decker to pick up. Remi answers you with a traditional 'Yo'. Maybe the sound of munching cheesy poofs in the background or whatever. Slinger smiles. "Heya. I need you to see if you could pull some phone records." He gives the information he has — might be too much to ask if Beth's phone number is listed. But he'll give whatever SIN is on file for her. "Find her phone… and see who she's been calling recently. Especially in the evenings, nice long conversations. I'm looking for a girlfriend, lover." He details what we know. "Name of Dyne." Slinger grins. "I know you can pull it off," he adds. Page waits for Remi to say 'a few hours', which he'll mouth along with the decker. Mwah Mwah Mwah 'Few hours' Mwah Mwah 'Hate this kinda boring legwork' Mwah Mwah crunch crunch munch. Hang up. Remi goes off to do the legwork with profuse mumbling involved. You figure he'll call you back in 20-30 minutes at the worst, really. Leaves you some time to fuck around or go do something else. Slinger chuckles. He'll toss Remi some cash. Maybe find a shiny piece of tech to send to him with a bow attached, something nifty. That's something Slinger's always looking for. Slinger chuckles. "It'll take him a while. Anyway… you wanna scope out this place? Where is it? CAS or Aztlan here?" The drive to the hangout isn't long from where you are. IT's literally right next to the border.. You can see the very border gate you came through from the front of the club. The club itself is one of those trendy types.. the ones that rise and fall every month. It's simple called 'Demente', which Sligner should be able to roughly translate to 'Demented'. The pounding techno assaults your eardrums even from the parking lot.. Looks like no waiting line that you can note. Slinger glances to Page. "Will need directions to the place," the elf comments. He grins. "Got something appropriate for the occasion to wear? Or should we just use PhysMask?" the elf asks, as he starts to program the autonav. Which, despite being emo as hell, is as good a driver as he is, basically. Slinger sits back while the car drives itself there, smoking a cigarette. These smokes aren't bad — a tiny bit bitter for his taste, compared to the tobacco he usually enjoys. But the Aztecs always had a thing for bitter concoctions. The elf glances to Page, then grins — and transforms, becoming a little less like himself, and dressed… well, completely differently. He's still wearing his trenchcoat, but it's as if it isn't there, instead with him covered in something see-through that lets some of his tattoos show. He adds a few more piercings as well. Page … looks like Page. Apparently he's counting on his natural charm and charisma. He eyes Slinger with an arched eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not an exhibitionist?" he wonders. Slinger grins. "I never get to show off my tats," the elf complains. "Too much risk in letting people know where they are. Today…" He grins, and his appearance alters, becoming a little more dark-complected, with his hair turning from blond to black in color, his eyes staying the same brown. He could easily pass for Aztlan, if he speaks the language. "Let's go." He lights up a cigarette and steps out of the SUV, then starts to walk toward the place, imitating the walk of some of the gangers he's seen. He's badass, he's tough, fraggin' A! Once the two of you head inside, you of course get waived in and inside its even louder. The music doesn't just assault you, it rapes your inner ear. Lots of strobing lights, and the vaguely writhing shapes of dances amidst the strobing lights of the dance floor and elsewhere. Looks like standard club faire. Theres bars and the dance floor and loud music and private booths and probably spanish hookers somewhere if you were so inclined. It's a busy place though. Definitely the current 'in' place at the moment. The theme here seems to be 'freak'. You see a lot of weird clothing styles, haircuts, and the like. You find a few true 'freaks' as well.. Furry's, girls with biomods to look like demons, ect ect. Slinger is suddenly /very/ happy that he had those dampeners installed. He likes loud music, but this is earsplitting! Fortunately, his cyberware dials it back to a more enjoyable volume, while still letting him feel the beat. He grins at Page. /He/ blends in. Page is freakish only by being so very… dignified. Slinger starts moving to the beat while he surveys the people inside, grinning broadly. Probably some hot guys to ogle, too. Page glances around the place. Yeah, fucking furries. Well, he's going to need a drink. He heads for the bar and orders himself a Long Island Ice Tea. Well, when Page goes up to order his Long Island Ice Tea, there is an amazingly large trog as the bartender. IT's a little comical actually to watch him mix drinks.. His gargantuaun hands handle the small shotglasses and drinking glasses as though they were tiny toys, easily mangled in his strong, firm hands. "Uhn.." He responds to the request from Page.. Despite his lumbering size, he mixes drinks quite professionally, and presents you with the alcoholic coke mixture. Some looks are given to Slinger. A few flirtateous looks.. To Page, also looks.. LEss flirtatious though. More WTF. Slinger draws on his cigarette, polluting the air around him with dark tobacco smoke from his rough-and-tumble choice of cancer sticks. He leans against the bar while he glances to Page, curling his lips upward at the other mage's choice of beverage. "Grab me somethin', huh?" he suggests to Page, with a wave of his hand. Slinger returns the flirtatious looks. Might be a way to find somebody who knows something. Sometimes gay boys know dyke girls. Slinger adds, before signing off, "Oh, and bring any heavy wither gear you have. Cold snap expected!" Page eyes the drink. Not exactly how he recalls it going. But it's close enough. He spits lightly at it, turning and glancing over the rest of the bar thoughtfully. Hmmm. If I were an evil killer… he assenses. Well a good five minutes pass.. Eventually someone does approach Slinger, who is very hot. It's not a guy though it's a girl. She sits down next to you and smiles brightly. She is a freak of the normal variety. That is to say that she didnt have mods but her hair and makeup and pericings are fairly wild. "Wow! Cute tats mano! I've never seen you around here before!" she exclims. Oh look and someone comes to give Page company.. it's an guy about his age. More normal compaired to some of the freaks around here.. He sits close to you and after a bit of a puse he asks you. "Your pretty hot, wanna go fuck?" This is in Spanish of course. Page eyes this person up and down, giving them a glance in the astral. After a second he says reasonably, "Well, I don't know - do you speak English?" Slinger gives the woman a smile, positively beaming from the attention. He likes attention. "Thanks. Had 'em for a while," he says absently, in Spanish, with a good accent. He draws on his cigarette, exhales a plume of smoke upward. He glances over to Page, and can't help but grin. Why does Page get all the luck? He grins back to the young woman. "This's my first time. Heard about the place from a gal I met, name of Dyne. Bumped into her last week. Think she's around?" He cranes his neck, looking. Nothing remarkable in the astral or his aura. He sort of blinks at you a few times.. your English 'accent' seems to intrigue him. From the sounds, you are a native speaker. "English is not good," he explains to Page. "You fuck?" he asks, smiling. To Slinger, the girl is bubbly, and bouncy, and thinking for a moment while her green and red and blue hair highlights bristle.. "Ohh, yeah! I know that chica! She has a cute English accent like you! She hangs around the club scene a lot. Kinda has the same hair as me?" She asks you.. From the description Page gave you, you would know it is. "I call her revolving door! She is always with new girls and guys all the time! Haha!" She leans in to Slinger now, whispering a bit… "Don' tell anyone I said this but I think she must be a total whore!" "Total whore?" Slinger says, incredulously. "Man, I'm glad I didn't have time to go back to her place with her when she asked! Who knows what I would have caught!" He's having to talk louder, but he has little trouble making out the girl's words, his cybernetic hearing kicking in to tune out the background of the music. Another deep drag of smoke, and he inhales a cloud of his own. "She likes girls, too, huh? Can't blame her for that, I guess." He shoots the girl a wink. "So who's she with, now? Girl or guy?" Page takes a second glance at the guy, considering that very thoughtfully. "I don't know," he says after a moment, a bit of an amused grin appearing on his face. Not quite a smirk, but close. "How good do you kiss?" "Reeely good!" replies the man to Page. "I show?" he asks, leaning in toward Page a bit. He smells faintly of booze, but not overly so. He seems mostly sober.. Slingers conversation is headed in a more informational direction however.. "Oh, jeez.. Hmm," the girl says, wondering for a moment.. Her fingr scratching her head.. Shes very emotive with her body language.. very exaggerated and excitable. "Weeeell. There was this cute guy a few months ago! Not seen him in a while.. Recent there was this nice girl. She seems reeeeeel quiet, ya know? Like not a real partier! Kinda bookish! But very cute! I can't remember her name though! She was really into Dyne though WOW! She followed Dyne everywhere! Personally I think.." And she goes on and on and on and on and on like this, her arms flailing excitedly as she speaks non-stop. Slinger nods, grinning thoughtfully, though his eyes roam the surrounding people as well. "Cute guy, huh? Any idea what his name was?" Slinger asks, pretending obvious interest there. Well, perhaps not pretending. Slinger tends to like cute guys. And it shows. Which might subtly give the signal of what he's really looking for. "If he still comes around, maybe you could introduce me. Assuming he's still single." Page isn't entirely sure just how the Azzies swing as far as public affection, so he follows the guy's lead for the moment, whether it's a kiss there or heading off into a darker corner. You never know - guy might know something useful. Meanwhile, for the others… Joe's Dropoff is a classic. Honest. The noir films of the 1930s were a branching out for society, as they turned from the optimism of old and began to recognize real life as a source of entertainment. Antiheros in the forms of Sam Spade, Rick Blaine, Humphrey Bogart, and Sydney Greenstreet hit the scene, changing the entertainment industry and the cultural heritage of North America all at once. This entire establishment is a tribute to this century-old era, the entire decor done up in blacks, whites, and shades of grey. Stepping into it one would almost expect all color to vanish and to exist in a world of duotone, with a man in a white suit in the corner playing the dulcet tones of the piano. Surprisingly enough, the piano is located in the corner of the establishment, although the player is nowhere to be seen. The Duotone is rather accentuated though, as even the employees' skin has had various cosmetics applied to it to remove as much color as possible, drawing toward that grey shade of old. Slinger is seated at a table, with a cigarette burning in his fingers, a drink in front of him, and a rather ridiculous-looking hat perched on his head. Above him is a picture of Bogart as Sam Spade, complete with a similar cigarette, hat, and drink. It's an interesting picture, but the booth is out of the way, and near enough to the piano — which is playing on automatic — to make us hard to eavesdrop on. There is plenty of room at the table, and even room of a troll to pull up a chair. The girl goes on another minute-long tyrade, telling you about two or three guys actually.. all the names are first name only, a few are obvious pseudonyms as well. One name matches one of the first names of one of the victims in the rreport file that Juan gave you, however.. "… and anyway, I've not seen Dyne in a few days though! Wonder where she is? Also, why…" About now your phone rings. It's Remi. As for Page.. the guy sort of gets you to follow him.. There ssome nice places here where couples can go to be a little more alone. Though you see several are being openly sexual.. Once you arrive, the guy is immediately onto you, kissing and fondling and ect, ect. He's apparently quite attracted to you and extremely horny. You know this because it's firm against his jeans. "Excuse me," Slinger says to the woman, apologetically. Hrm. A trap-door spider. Interesting. Slinger holds up a finger apologetically. "I've got to take this." He pulls out his pocket secretary and then answers his phone. "Yo!" he says. He stands up and turns away, just enough to make himself hard to overhear in the din of the place. Suffice it to go that Page and the guy go sufficiently far for his comfort. Somewhere in there Page breaks off the kissing to look at the guy with a grin. "You're pretty good… want to try my way?" The chica just watches. Oooo! How mysterious! Cute elf boy who 'has to take this'! It's like you are some kinda of double secret agent guy or something, or a corporate exec with a taste for underculture or something. She just watches. "Hey.. Got some infos for ya.. The name you gave me doesn't pull up much actually. Based on what you could tell me, It's some kinda chick that hangs around the underworld culture a lot. It's a pseudonym though. Not her real name.. Couldn't find the real one. Took some digging, but I learned she has a fake Aztlan SIN, under that name. I can't tell you where she actually lives though. None of this info leads there.. Can tell you that she passes through the CAS/Aztlan border a LOT though." Back to Page, the guy is thoroughly enjoying himself and getting into the moment.. Already thinking about taking you back to his apartment someplace else in Aztlan and having a wild screw.. When the kissing breaks he is reulctant but asks, "What way?" His English is so cutely broken. He assaults your lips again even before you answer though.. Slinger considers that, then nods. "Right. You think you can flag that SIN, let me know when and if she goes through that border?" the elf asks. "Bonus points if you can find out what she's driving at the time. Unless she's on foot, but that tells us something, too. Send me that SIN on your pocsec." The elf thinks for a moment. "Might see if there are any phones registered to that SIN. It's a long shot, but you never know." Page grins at the guy and hmms. How to explain. "Well…. it's kind of a secret," he says with a playful smile. Remi acknowledges and hangs up. When you seem unbusy, the chica resumes her bubbly on you. "Oh hey! Who was that? A friend? Oh! By the way! I remember now I know this dude who dated Dyne one time, real cute guy ya know? Anyway I think hes into novacoke or something but hes so like normal and stuff OH MY GOD like you wouldn't know hes totally this rocker dude. I know right? RIGHT! Oh hey! I think your friend went with him though, hes usually into guys ya know? So I was totally shocked when he went out with Dyne but I guess it didn't work out.. and that was your friend you came in with wasnt it? I think they went to the personal boothes over there. You wanna go there with me and ya know, chill out? I got some hot chips you know! Or if you arent.." On and on and on and on and on and on and on and on….. Page is having fun with the guy she just mentioned to you though. Apparently. He seems enraptured, stradling himself against Page, smiling, happy. Tispy. "Oh, Secret fun! Tell!" Slinger grins and looks sheepish. "Well… I kinda might, if you were… you know, a little more male," he says apologetically. Time to let her down as gently as he could. "Though I'm a little tempted." Even so, apparently Page had some success — the guy Page is with might very well know something. "So the guy he's with dated Dyne? Damn. I oughtta warn him… I don't want him to catch something!" Page chuckles at the guy. "Can't tell," he teases. "Secret. …. could show though. If you want. Long as you don't tell anybody!" He eyes the guy playfully. "You want to?" The guy grins, leaning in close and smiles. "Yes. You show." Grind grind, smilesmile happy. Always nice to have hot Spanish guys molesting you right? Emopunkgirl frowns and whines. "Awwww! why are all the cute interesting ones always GAY! GOSH! I should totally get a sex change or something! UNG.. Like that one girl Romani. She was nova hot! Wow.. And she.." This will go on and on until the moment you get up the leave though, which she will watch you go mournfully. She was hoping you'd take her home for fun. SHAME, that! Slinger grins apologetically. "I gotta warn my friend," Slinger says again, and then skitters toward the booths. He has no idea how to find Page, is the problem. Oh! Yes, he does. He conjures a Watcher spirit casually, then sends it on a mission. Search inside this building here, find Page, then come back and tell me where he is and what he's doing. Useful! Only takes seconds for the watcher to find Page, and directs you toward the secret booth where the guy is sitting on Pages lap, blinking groggily, rubbing his head a bit. "Uw.. Uwah?" He has all these.. memories now. Like, WOW. Amazing sex with Page. He yawns a bit, looks at Page curiously. "Hey, how here?" he asks.. Pause.. thinks… "Sex GOOD," he says, blinking a bit. "Wanna fuck again," he tells Page. After all, just because he altered the mans memory doesn't mean he isnt horny anymore. MORESO perhaps, as Page is that much more alluring now. "You very hot.." Grind grind.. Kisskiss. You are back to where you started. Slinger grins. There! That makes it easy. Slinger concentrates, and sends a simple Mindlink spell to Page. ~Dude. That guy you're with? Apparently he dated Dyne, and lived to tell about it. You could grab info from his memories, or maybe just ask him.~ Page grins at the guy. "Maybe. Want to see if my friend still here?" His grin turns downright mischevious. "He's even hotter." He gets up, then tugs the guy along, looking for Slinger. Slinger, as it turns out, is actually pretty easy to find. He's lighting up another Guerrera, drawing hard on it while he abuses his lungs with the chosen cancer of soldiers. As Page comes out of the booth, though, Slinger smirks. "That didn't take long," comments the elf, in English. Which he makes sure to accent heavily. The guy leers along after Page, and once Slinger shows up and begins to the talk, the guy is hot for him as well. "Ohhhh, you friend. SO HOT. FUCK.." Now hes imagining both of you in bed with him right now.. and if the amazingly vivid sex he never had is any indication, it's going to be the most amazing night of his life. "We have fun?" he asks you both quizzically. Slinger hears the accent, and switches to Spanish, where he still does retain a bit of accent. "Mmm. Indeed… we can have lots of fun," Slinger shoots back, reaching out to clasp the other man on the shoulder. "So tell me about yourself, hmm?" He slips in next to the other male, affectionately sliding an arm around his male body, then grins at Page. "Back to the booth?" he suggests. Page grins at the guy and then notes to Slinger, "His Spanish is better than mine." And yes, he's still grinning. Widely. With a quirk of eyebrows that suggests to the elf that he's been up to… no good, whatsoever. The guy grins and laughs and wraps an arm around both of you as you head back to the booth. Soon hes fawning over both of you and you highly suspect in his tipsy, horny state he probably WOULD be willing to have fun with you. If, you know.. you weren't in the middle of a murder investigation. Probably hard to have sexytimes when you think about disembodied eyeballs laying restlessly in the trunk of your SUV, too. Nice imagery. "Your friend is also very hot," the guy says in Spanish, to Slinger. "And so are you.. He is very amazing in bed.. You two together as well? We should go back to my place and have some fun!" Slinger licks his lips. "No. I am not his type, sadly," he says, tossing a glance over to Page. "And he likes girls too much for my taste. Guys, too. He met this girl yesterday." A scowl to Page, and then he smirks, knowing Page cannot understand him. "She seemed like a total bitch, but I think he got a thing for her. Said her name was 'Dyne'." He gives a brief physical description of her, with a hint of contempt in his voice. Slinger adds, giving the guy's shoulders a squeeze. "I think she's bad news. But I dunno how to talk him out of it." He snorts. Page watches. Smirks. Says nothing. Tries not to giggle. The guy nods, "Oh, yeah.. You met her? Stay away from that one. She's loco. Seriously.. Shes into some crazy dark stuff, or something.. Really 'emo', ya know? I mean, shes cute an' all, but FUCK man.. You do well to steer your friend away from her." he warns. Slinger exhales, taking a drag from his Guerrera. He smiles and pulls out the pack, offers it to the other man in a friendly way. "What happened?" he asks. "Sounds like you know her." He lowers his voice, glances around, then adds, "I think she already did mess with him, a little. I got some suspicions. He had some money go missing, and he won't listen to me. You… know where I could find this slitch?" He asks that after he hears the guy's story, of course. Page nods affirmatively, looking over at the guy. Yep. He's gonna have to learn Translate. Or Spanish, and Chinese, and .. a few thousand other languages. Yep. Translate it is. The man nods.. "Knew her.. Went out with her for a little while. Shes.. got a very alluring personality. You kinda want to be around her, ya know? Like shes fun and.. Dunno, hard to explain.. Might sound wild, but I don't know where she lives actually. I found out where she works though," he says, leaning in close.. whispering now.. like this information might be his own undoing.. "Some place in the CAS. I saw some ID in her stuff.. not under her name though.. Under some name called 'Sherry Fletcher'." He shivers a bit. "Something weird about that one omae.. I like your friend.. hes a nice guy. You talk him out of it.." The guy looks over to Page then. "You no Dyne," he says, nodding somberly. Wow is he tispy.. and a little happiness returns to his cheeks and he fondles both of you. "So.. We go have some fun now?" smilesmile. Slinger glances over to Page, nodding once. He got what he needed. ~He's cute. If we weren't busy, I might take him up on this. But we got work to do. He gave me a name that we might be able to follow up with. In the CAS sector. Sherry Fletcher was the fake ID. And he may know where she works, if you can pull that info from him.~ Slinger gently massages the guy in return, slipping a hand under the man's shirt. He's not quite as cute as Orpheus, but… Page lets out a little sigh and a smile, looking over at the guy. "We have to go," he says with a reluctant tone in his voice. And then grins mischeviously. "Phone number?" Slinger nudges Page. ~Can't you scan his mind, see if you can get him to remember more? Like… where she works, anything on that ID?~ Page looks over at Slinger. "If you can talk him into it," he says with amusement. Slinger grins and leans back. "Hey," he murmurs, in Spanish. "You ever been hypnotized? My friend here" — he indicates Page — "he's real good at it. And I wanna know where this Dyne works… he could help you remember." Slinger reaches over and lightly, playfully nudges the guy. "I bet we could get him to stick around a little longer if you were to let him!" Well.. The guy is a little taken back by your proposal. He narrows his eyes a little at you both. This is the first time you mentioned anything like this. "What? C'mon, forget that slitch.. She isn't worth your time.. Why don't we just go have some fun? The three of us.. It'll be nice." You get the idea he isn't terribly big on the idea. At least not without some very persuasive reasoning. Page chuckles softly and leans back. "I think you're going to have to be… /more convincing/." He looks at the elf, grinning widely. "You can be more convincing than that, can't you?" Slinger can't help but grin. "Okay. Here's the thing… it's not my friend here who's getting involved with her. But instead… somebody else we know. And we think she's dangerous as hell. I… don't wanna scare you by going into specifics." He leans in, and whispers into the guy's ear, affectionately. "We'll make it worth your while," he promises. Orpheus will forgive him. And the guy is somewhat cute… Page nods and then breaks in. "He'll kiss you if you say yes." The guy steps back a bit, looking at you both. Hypnotism. Dangerous Dyne. 'Make it worth your while'. Now hes not just a little surprised, hes actually becoming a little leery of you both. "What is this?" he asks. "I don't want nothing to do with this shit.. I'm just here to get laid, comprende? Dyne is /trouble/.. Trouble I don't want anything to do with, understand? That woman is like a … demon!" Something then dawns on him.. "People who go near her.. You don't see them again or hear from them again! She's a witch! She.." The guy stumbles back a bit, his tipsiness making him a bit clumsy as he knocks over a chair from one of the boothes along with an empty beer glass. It shatters.. a sound that is rather uneventful in the commotion of the club.. It's peircing melody is enough to snap him alter again though. "Fuck Dyne, and fuck you both! Get away from me.." Now he turns to quickly move away. He seems. Very shaken suddenly. Unnaturally so.. Slinger shakes his head, trying to murmur something reassuring, but it's too little, too late. He glances to Page, then back to the man. Nto sure what to do right now. But his inaction is going to let the guy get away if he isn't careful. He glances to Page again, pleading. Page has those awesome abilities to manipulate people… Page glances back at Slinger and shakes his head. "We'll find something else," he says. "And maybe we can find him later again, too. For now… do what people always do in bars." He grins at Slinger. "Ask the bartender where we can find Dyne." Slinger chuckles. "That could work." He watches the direction the guy departed, and lets out a slow sigh. "I feel sorry for him. I shouldn't, though." He gets to his feet, then and slowly wanders toward the bar, gravitating that way, making sure Page stays with him. On the way, Slinger sends a quick trixmail to Remi with the false name that he found, along with some company in the CAS sector. It's not much to go on, but it might generate a lucky hit. "Nah," Page says. "You should. He's missing out." He glances over at the elf speculatively. "We should go clubbing more often." The guy is soon out of sight. Whatever rambling horrors may have been besetting him are no longer your concern. Remi begrudgingly accepts this new informational tidbit. Sherry Fletcher. "Fuck me.." he whines.. and sets to the task now at hand. Now then.. once you both approach the bar, the troll bartender regards you both with his stoic, unmoving gaze. You dont see the hyperactive punk girl now though. She must have wandered off elsewhere into the party all around you to nag someone elses ear off. "Hola," Slinger greets the bartender. "We were hopin' to meet somebody we bumped into a few days ago. Name of Dyne," he calls. He reaches into a pocket, pulls out about ten yen worth of CAS scrip. Not a huge amount, but enough for a casual tip, out of politeness. Page lets out a little amused sigh, and then looks around the bar thoughtfully. Well…. a /little/ mind probe couldn't hurt? It's not like he's denying people freel will, is it? If he just limits it to surface thoughts, right? Let's see… he picks out some cute girls of the right 'make and model' to be targets, and starts running fingers lightly over minds, trying to be as subtle as possible as he listens for a hunter. The massive trog, handling the glassware like a gorilla would handle a small kitten.. When you lay down the scrip though, a little wirey Elf girl also behind the bar counter swoops in and takes the scrip. The trog just makes this 'Ungf' grunting sound as he stares impassively at you. "Dyne?" the small elf girl asks you, giggling. "Not seen Dyne in a few days, right Blasko?" she asks up to the trog. Trog stares down at Elf. "Mnnh.." Elf smiles. "Blasko doesn't say much but he knows damn near about every drink and mixer that ever existed." The Wirey Elf girl, quite attractive herself, slides in conspiratorially toward Slinger, eyes narrowing. "Why ya wanna know about Dyne?" Seems Dyne is infamous to everyone around here. Meanwhile, while Page probes peoples minds.. Well.. You get a general impression of what people are feeling. Lots of inebriation here. Lots of people wanting to get laid. Lots of people thinking about drugs. Twice as many thinking about sex. A few thinking about going to their office job tomorrow.. Basically lots of useless junk information. Slinger grins. "Well… she was kinda hot. And I got this friend who… well." He laughs. "She was flirting with him. Wanted me to get her number, maybe, but he's too shy to actually come here and ask. So he sticks me with the dirty work." The elf rolls his eyes, leaning against the bar with that 'you know how it goes' look. Page continues to sweep the bar. The feeling he's looking for… more of an emotion than a thought, perhaps. And certainly not of the same flavor as all this regular emotional dross. His eyes half-close over as he filters out the noise, the lights, searching through minds. The wirey Elfgirl chuckles. "Dynes number?" She looks up at the large slab of troll. "Blasko do we know Dynes number?" "Mrfh." "Ah, Blasko says he might remember, but his memory needs some jogging," She slides in, smiling at Slinger, rolling her eyes in that 'you know how it goes' look. "Hmmnf." Well, page rifes and rifes.. Searches and searches.. Finally you hit upon something similar to what you are looking for.. You get a feeling. Just a touch.. A name. Dynes name.. Someone is thinking it.. They have a feeling of.. fear. Slinger chuckles, seems to think about it. "How 'bout I order myself a drink?" the elf asks. "How 'bout a rum and fizzycoke." Sure, Slinger'll risk actually having himself a drink. He glances to the surface of the bar, then slots a credstick, casually. And leaves a 100 yen tip for the bartender. "He's gonna owe me for this," the elf grumbles. Page pauses. Lingers. Listens…. he doesn't know Spanish, that is true, but he opens his eyes, looking across the bar for the face that matches the mind. Elfie girl giggles and takes your tab scrip and the offered tip and pockets it away. She looks up at Blasko and nods. "Well, go on then, Blasko!" she says. The trog stares impassively down at the small elf girl, who is probably about a sixth his mass. Maybe and eighth. Elfie gets a piece of loose napkin and a pen and hands it to the Trog. The pen in the trogs fingers looks so tiny and out of place.. it's a little amusing. The trog writes.. Then reaches back for his next mixer. "Rhh.." The Elg girl places your ordered drink on top of the napkin and slides it over toward you. "It's amazing. It's like how they say an Elephant never forgets?! Hahah!" Huh. Apparently Blasko really WAS the one who knew the number. How this small Elf girl communicates with him is a mystery indeed. Anyway, the person Page is probing.. Is several meters away sitting by herself in a small booth made for two. You can't see her too well from here, but she looks like shes trying to be alone somewhat. Slinger grins and takes his drink. "Thanks," the elf says, lifting it to his lips to take a sip. The napkin goes into his pocket, after a brief glance at the number. Of course, with a mnemonic enhancer, Slinger is already working to commit it to memory. That done, he takes the first opportunity to slip away. Like, say, a cute guy who catches his eye. Page taps Slinger's forearm to get his attention, watching the girl. And then he points subtlely at the woman sitting by herself, giving a slight nod. Words.. seem unnecessary to the mage just now. Slinger sighs. Why can't there be hot guys to flirt with? Who aren't vapid? But… he'll give this a try. Slinger has his drink, and he casually slips over to the table, leaning against the booth next to it, staring out into the crowd. Though at the same time, he sneaks a glance or two to the woman, trying to get a good read on her emotional state. And he cheats; astral sight is good for that. Slinger discreetly sends Remi a trixmail with that phone numbe. Now we're getting somewhere. Page doesn't follow along, just watches from his spot at the bar. And he's still nursing his original drink. It's a bit watered down by now. The woman has the scent of fear about her. She's reasonably healthy, but her aura carries a distinct darkness about it. Not from cyber or bio or even drug abuse, though. There is just this unexplainable darkness that hangs over her like an ominous thundercloud.. You can't quite place it, but there is.. just something /off/ about her. You also know she had soycakes for breakfast and is presently, repeatedly thinking 'see the pain. See the pain'. The sound of her voice echoes in your head, reapeating those three words over and over.. It's actually a little.. maddening. Slinger maintained the Mindlink with Page, without too much difficulty. Centering is a wonderful thing, and over the years Slinger has learned to be able to find his center through meditation in a heartbeat. The elf turns his gaze toward the woman, considering how to approach her. Goth-elf? The elfin youth lights a cigarette, draws on it slowly, inhaling deeply, then lets the smoke drift toward the woman in question. Perhaps a way to distract her from her obsessive thoughts. Perhaps a way to get her attention. Page drops the spell after a few more moments, rubbing at his forehead. He's strong-willed - he's also not stupid. He eyes Slinger, watching, just in case his skills abruptly become needed. Slinger draws on his cigarette, then finally turns to glance at the young woman in the booth. "You look like you could use a drink," the elfin youth finally says, his tone friendly, perhaps a bit sympathetic. Then, he tries a line he heard. "Whatever it is. It can't be that bad." He doesn't try to kiss her forehead, though. The womans lips are slowly moving as she chants her little mantra. 'See the pain.. See the pain..'.. Her lips stop moving as Slinger approaches and speaks to her suddenly. She turns her head just enough to look at him out of the corner of her eye.. She does have a goth sorta thing going on in her looks.. In her hands, she is obsessively flipping, turning, tapping, and playing with an object. Looks like an.. amulet maybe. Or something similar. "What you want?" she asks in a quiet voice. "If you are intenting to chat me up in an attempt to establish a raport in the hope of taking me to your residence and having intercourse with me, it's not going to happen." Well. Now that we got THAT out of the way.. Slinger actually can't help but laugh. "I'm gay," Slinger admits. "But the last three guys I talked to were all so… stupid." He shakes his head. "They were shallower than a springtime puddle." He shakes his head, draws on his cigarette. "You looked upset. And you looked more interesting than anyone else here." He glances at the amulet with a hint of curiosity — it didn't register to his astral sight… did it? Page sips at his drink, watching this exchange. The girl turns her gaze away a bit at that. "Statement: I am not interested in an exchange of pleasantries. Pressing Request: Please leave me alone." Ah, that amulet. You suddenly realize something.. Although it's not magically active or remarkable in anyway, there is an astral signature on the thing. You know this astral signature. It matches the one on the eyes you found. "Re-iteration: Now." She grips the item a little more closely to herself and broods ever deeper than before.. Slinger eyes the amulet, then the woman. "As you wish," he murmurs. He thinks for a moment, but there is no way to continue the conversation from here. Not after a dismissal like that. "I hope they catch the one who did that to your friend," Slinger says, with a quiet smile. Then does his best to depart, slipping away. He'll see what happens, if that gets any kind of reaction at all. The girl starts.. laughing? It's far too maniachal and empty to be real laughter though.. She just clutches her trinket and looks unreachable. Something happened to her. It's eerily similar to the other guy you ran into. Like those exposed to Dyne just.. end up like this. Bout now, two young men approach Page, one tapping him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, essae," one says. The other remains silent. Both are wearing visible armor, and one is visibly armed as well. They look professional. Club bouncers maybe? Or something similar. "Yeah, you," he repeats, to make himself clear. Page glances at the two, and then does a once-over of their auras. "Everything all right, gentlemen?" he wonders, toying lightly with his drink. Slinger glances back in time to see the bouncers approach Page. If, indeed, that is what they are. Slinger drops the Mindlink spell, and in response… simply fades from view, doing his best to slip momentarily into shadow. With the lights in here, the music, it's unlikely anybody will notice. He hopes. At a glance, you notice one is awakened. Probably a hermetic. The other is a physad with a little minor modification to his body. The one who addressed you narrows his eyes at you a bit.. Then nods to the one next to him. The other one speaks now, in decent English. "Care to explain why your signature is all over the club? Most folk, even though they don't notice, probably don't like having people fucking with them." he explains dryly. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave, before I fucking break your legs," says the adept. Yeah, we probably pushed it a little far. Slinger is already slipping toward the exit. His aura is carefully adjusted to mundane, and he casually wipes his astral signature from the spell he just cast — before he slips toward the exit of the club. Time to skedaddle. We got what we came for. Page has … some issues with authority. Namely, that he believes that he /is/ the authority. He gives a measured look back to the adept. "I'll do both. But first, you should know it's against my beliefs to mess with people that don't want it. Second… I'm looking for someone that /is/ messing with people. Your people. Taking your customers away - permanently. Though I imagine that doesn't change your mind, does it?" He takes a measured breath, letting it out in a sigh. "It never does. So if you'll excuse me - I'll be on my way." He sets his drink down, fishing out a tip for the bartender. The bouncer just flashes atoothy smile. "Door is that way, brother." The one with him just grins. The wirey elfie girl swipes up your offered tip and looks a little crossly at the two bouncers, and a little worriedly at Page. After all, near as SHE could tell, Page hadn't done anything wrong, aside from offering a generous tip. Blasko just grunts a bit tiredly and continues mixing drinks.. Once outside, Slingers cellphone goes off. IT's Remi. When he picks up, Remi explains to you.. "Yo.. Finally getting somewhere with all this.. I've had a ball sifting through about two dozen databases but I finally traced back this 'Sherry Fletcher' to her place of work.. seems shes set up in like a sort of holistic clinic. No cyber and stuff like that, just natural, magical stuff and the like.." Remi gives you the address. "This one goes deep. Good fake SIN. Watch your back." You now have the street address of Dynes business. Slinger waits outside for Page, answers his phone. "Great work, mano," Slingers says. "One question. Her SIN, the one that got used for border crossings. Was the last one into the CAS, or into Aztlan?" he wonders. He climbs back into the SUV after quickly checking it for bugs and other devices, then starts up the engine. Page walks back out to the exit - almost, he pauses for one moment, glancing back for a few seconds at the lady Slinger was talking with. And while he's there, CLEANSES the entire place. Outside with Slinger, glancing at Slinger. "So," he says. "What'd you find out from the lady there? Anything useful?" He hops up into the SUV. Slinger nods, waits up for Page to get back. Then contacts our border-crossing contact to make arrangements for us to get back home. "We've got some leads, and we're following up on them," Slinger says carefully. "Some pretty good leads, but I don't want to actually say anything. I don't want to create any false hopes." He glances to Page once he gets in, and once he gets off the phone with our friend. "Remi found an address for Dyne," he says. "She runs or helps run a holistic clinic in the CAS. I think it might be time to pay her a visit." You see the Adept and his Hermetic buddy quickly step out of the Clubs main front doors after you do your thing. They look pissed off. The Adept is holding an assault rifle and points it in your direction once he locates your signature again. You get the impression you aren't welcome at 'Demente' anymore. Page nods slightly to Slinger's comments. "Holistic?" he says with a cynical look on his face. Then shakes his head. "Let's pay her a visit. I never liked this sector, anyway." Yeah, it's about time to drive. Slinger takes off, heading down the street away from the place — and making sure the morphing license plate quickly morphs to something else once we're away from the area. "Right. They didn't care much for that," the elf observes. "Anything else we want to do in the Azzie sector?" he asks. "I got passage for us back home to good old CAS turf." Page mutters as they leave, "I did them a favor." "Yeah. And they don't appreciate it. Welcome to Aztlan." The elf smirks, then sets a course for the CAS sector. He glances at his wrist chrono. "I think I want to meet this Dyne character. And maybe, just maybe, deliver her to Lone Star. Unless I'm totally misreading the situation, the world would be a better place without her." Page says levelly, "Then why trouble Lone Star?" He looks over at Slinger levelly. "Because," Slinger says, "It'd be something I could do to help out somebody. Be a good mark for his career. But if we have to kill her ourselves, so be it." The elf considers for a moment, then smiles. "We'll deal with it when we get there." He pulls up to the border checkpoint, and amazingly enough, the guy there just passes him through, with a faint smile. Apparently, he had instructions from Juan. That done, the elf sets a course for the address in question. "Think we oughtta go in astral, scope it out first?" Page checks over his things, touching his wrists thoughtfully. "Not both at once," he says. "You go. I'll watch your body. Don't take any chances. Alright?" Slinger nods. He drives toward the place, then passes in front of it along the street. Nothing conspicuous, just another car travelling past. But while he drives, he gets a look at the place, and at the lay of the land around it. That done, he travels a few blocks away and parks the car, leaving the engine running and the doors locked. He tosses his cigarette ou the window, then projects from his body — and approaches the place warily, watching for wards, spirits, and other nasty things. Slinger stays low, using the cover of other buildings to sneak toward the target building. Page holds fast in the car, extending his perceptions a bit, glancing around on the astral, but keeping a level eye out on the physical. Having us both astral would leave us too vulnerable. Even in this car… it'd be a simple matter to break a window and shoot the mages dead. As you do a drive-by, you note nothing out of the ordinary. The place is located on it's own sorta lonely driveway off one of the main roads into a somewhat enclosed space. The outside of the building is pretty unassuming, really. Nice looking place anyways.. Now, once Slinger projects and approaches astrally, the first thing he spots is an Earth Elemental on the astral, milling around in the fair sizes landscaping in front of the small clinic. There is also a watcher spirit buzzing around the premises in a mindless circle, oblivious to any sort of intrusion. Slinger has avoided detection so far, but that doesn't mean he's in the clear. Seeing the two things there makes a stealthy intrusion relatively difficult. And that means we need to potentially hit hard and fast. Slinger /hates/ doing that without recon. But sometimes, that's the way it needs to be. The elemental on the other hand, notices the skulking form of Slinger. It just continues milling around on the grounds. It seems to be doing something to the ground or somesuch. Hm. Must just be doing some gardening or something. It pays you absolutely no mind what-so-ever and just carries on with what it's doing. Slinger has avoided detection so far, but that doesn't mean he's in the clear. Seeing the two things there makes a stealthy intrusion relatively difficult. And that means we need to potentially hit hard and fast. Slinger /hates/ doing that without recon. But sometimes, that's the way it needs to be. But then, the elemental sees him and… does nothing. That's intriguing. It's not there for security. Fascinating. So Slinger tries to time slipping up toward the clinic with the movements of the watcher spirit, taking advantage of natural cover as best he can. If there is no ward present, then Slinger slips past the exterior of the building, ready to synchronize with any ward he encounters… Once inside the small clinical holistic shop.. you see all sorts of magical McGuffins on display.. also technological ones. This is a practical hoslitic Clinic. It has a reception area and a triage and all that good stuff.. though there is the split wing where you see magical goodies for sale. The first most obvious thing you notice is a dual-natured creature thats on one side of the reception area. It doesn't spot you in the astral however and just looks boredly out into the currently empty triage and trinket ailes. If you had to describe the creature, it reminds you of Henkou's mom. This is a very real creature though. Perhaps an inhabiting spirit. It's actually.. Reading a book. IF you can believe that. You don't notice anyone else immediately. Slinger takes a long look at the creature. Puzzled, the youth finds a spot to hide if possible — and actually assense it, trying to learn more. A free spirit? The resemblance to Henkou's mother is… eerie, to say the least. Page continues to keep watch in the car outside. He occasionally glances at the clinic as well, pondering to himself. Well, a good several minutes has passed with Page out in the car, uneventfully. Uneventful at least until a a Lone Star patrol car goes creeeeeeeeping slowly by you. In that slow 'im checking you out' way in the small lot you parked in. It creeeeeps further up and begins to do a slow U-Turn. Back inside the Clinic, Slingers Assensing shows him this is not a free spirit. In fact, you suspect it is an Ally Spirit. Albeit a seemingly intellectual one and a little bored. The resemblence to Henkou's mother is only transient though, extending only to some physical features. This creature is more well-dressed. It does appear to be inhabiting, however. Obvious the inhabitation twisted the physical appearance of the original host to this. The creature suddenly perks up and looks elsewhere into the Clinic into a room you can't see from where you are. Slinger takes advantage of that moment of distraction to slip elsewhere in the building. Curiouser and curiouser. He has no idea what's going on with the Lone Star patrol vehicle. No, instead, Slinger is exploring. And his physical form is utterly, completely zonked as he drifts into the rear room, staying up near the ceiling and, he hopes, out of the way of prying eyes. Page glances over the Lone Star car. He tries to look 'uninteresting'. After all, this car has nooothing to do with the car that was outside that club - it's got entirely different plates and transponders. All right. Slinger just about hit that ward. It's time to back up and head out of here. The elf slips out through the wall, retraces his steps, and does his best to avoid the watcher spirit — before he shoots back to his body, shaking his head to clear it. "Holy frag," the elf whispers. "Yeah, this is gonna be tough." As Slinger floats about, he notices a woman stepping out of one of the back rooms into the main reception area with the other creature. The Ward prevents you from slipping through without being risky.. The winged creature meanders on into the back and out of your sight just as you turn to head back to your body. You arrive back in time to see the Lone Star patrol car just creeping around the lot you are in. It's not really harassing you or anything. After another minute of this is finally gets bored and wanders off. After all, your vehicle is perfectly 'OK'. But a car just idling in the middle of a street for more than several minutes does look a little odd. Slinger watches the patrol car for a moment, trying to think up a story. We're waiting for somebody. Yeah, that's the ticket. Somebody's about to get off work, and we're her ride, and…" The elf turns to Page. "All right. Watcher spirit may mention our presence. There's an ally spirit in the front lobby area… and one helluva ward protecting the back. This is gonna be hard to do with stealth. But there's something… weird. This isn't what I expected," he admits. "So we may have to play it by ear." Page contemplates thoughtfully. "What exactly is 'weird' about it?" he asks. Then he adds, "And did you ever have time to pick up that Spirit Barrier spell you were talking about?" Slinger shakes his head. "It's on my list. In my copious free time," the elf adds, with a hint of sarcasm. He lights up a cigarette and draws hard on it, thinking. "It was so… cozy. And homey. And… I wasn't getting any bad vibes. I mean, we know this is Dyne, but something doesn't seem to fit. I'm not sure how this nice scene with the ally spirit reading a nice book in a nice peaceful little clinic squares with the Destroyer of Men's Souls and what-not." The elf adds, "Part of me is just tempted to go in there for a nice chat… and see what happens." This draws a longer silence from the human mage. At length, Page says, "Well, we need to make sure that Dyne is in there. But if we're not careful, she'll escape. Waltzing in and just talking…?" He shrugs. "Did you see her?" Slinger shakes his head. "Nope. Major-ass ward protecting the back. Looks like twelfth circle or so. No way I can slip through that. Could try to zot it, but that's unlikely to work, and would definitely sound the alarm." Slinger considers. "You could go in, and I could wait outside to see if she skitters?" Slinger adds, "The spirit was talking to somebody in the back room, though. Dunno what they said. But there was somebody back there. Probably Dyne, is my guess." Page nods a bit. "Well, then… I guess I might as well. You just keep a mind link with me as long as you can, eh? I'll go knock on the door." He reaches down, gives Ourrez a thoughtful pat. "You're coming with me. Invis yourself up." Slinger nods thoughtfully, and proceeds to slowly power up, carefully, just in case he's needed. That done, the elf casts a Mindlink spell onto Page, sustaining it. That'll cost him a little effort, but he can drop it if things get nasty. The elf finishes his cigarette, takes the time to dress in his armor, checks the astral carefully, and then proceeds to get out behind Page, floating up into the air to perform overwatch. And so Page hops out of the car with an invisible tiger, walking over to this… retail shop. Presuming the door is open, he goes over to it to head inside. Page walks the two blocks to the Retail store, Ourrez close behind him, and mutters to the ally spirit on the way, "Keep your eyes open on the astral, and if anything looks alarmed or alarming, let me know." Slinger activates his improved invisibility, levitate, and armor spells, all into the foci. And finally activates Mindlink with Page. The elf circles upward to do overwatch, and listen. Then, he seems to think better of it. He returns to the SUV, digs in the secret compartment, and tosses Page a nice concealable transmitter. "Put this on," he tells the other mage. "Nice and hidden. I wanna listen in that way. These are mages — they'll see the spell, but might not notice the radio." Slinger eyes the Watcher spirit, though, as he perches on a nearby building. Watching for a reaction, this time — there's no way he's going to be able to stay hidden from it. Well, the place looks similar in the real as it does in astral space. Fairly nice looking place.. the building itself is a bit off the beaten path from the main road. You can only catch a glimpse of it from there in fact. The place has a rather large 'garden' area in front. 'Large' in the case of Denver is fairly modest in fact, but all the same.. there is a nice mix of botanicals. You think you notice something like a greenhose toward the back. The front of the building greets you with a gold plaque reading 'Sherry Fletcher, Botanist, Thaumaturgy, Herbalist, Physician' You note a sign also assuring you there is a special on Aloe Vera right now. IT's 25% off. Hmm, Aloe Vera… Page pauses to think. Yeah, he's short on herbals right now. He might just have to ask. Anyway, he heads on inside, sniffing the air cautiously. Well, inside it's like Slinger described.. A reception area/triage just immediately to your left. JUST as you enter, the receptionist/clerk steps up and greets you.. A pretty looking woman with.. odd eyes. You can't quite place it. something about the colour maybe.. "Hello! My, aren't you…" She pauses, looks at right where Ourrez is padding and freezes a moment. "Uwahhhh! OH MY GOSH! Sherry Says /no pets/ are allowed OH THIS IS AWEFUL!" she dramatizes.. Her arms flail around in the most hyper overdramatic scene you may have ever seen, with the woman wooing left to right, placing her hand up to her forhead in a mock 'fainting' gesture. "Oh myyyy… Sherrryyyy!" She calls.. She obviously enjoys what shes doing. There is a glint in her eyes.. Page looks at the receptionist for half a moment and then replies, "I shall have you know that this is /not/ a pet." He pauses. "He is a /cat/." He then glances back towards the back door, where apparently the spirit was calling towards. Sherry Fletcher, AKA Dyne, steps out from the back with a somewhat irate look. "What, what is it Lil'," she asks. When she steps in, she quickly peeps in astral and notices Ourrez looking large.. and catty. She blinks, looks between Page and Ourrez. "Er, I'm sorry.. Mr..?" She waits for a name… Then, "We don't usually allow pets in the store.." She considers, "But then, I guess this is no mere pet, hmmm?" Dyne looks similar to what you saw of her in your mental image. Shes dressed nicer though.. more like a shop owner. Nice clothes.. Her hair is still stylized a bit with various colored hilights though.. and she sports a few piercings as well, and a touch of black maskara around her eyes. "What can I do for you?" she asks, voice just a touch guarded. "Page," the hermetic replies aimiably. "I won't take up too much of your time - I'm low on elemental summoning materials, and short on time. I could use some herbal radicals as well, if you've got them." He certainly doesn't beat around the bush much. Dyne nods a bit slowly. "Oh, well sure.. We have some things you can look at right over here.." She nods toward the area Slinger noted before where all the herbal supplements in little jars are, and of course a decent selection of legal magical materials. Nothing of a crazy force here or anything. At least not openly on display near as you can see.. "Lil, could you show him to what he needs?" asks Dyne to the Ally apirit, which looks at her with this massively overdramatized mopey look. "Awww.." The ally spirit comes out from around the reception area toward Page.. Up on his rooftop perch, Slinger eyes the building beneath, and the Watcher spirit, considering his options. Listening in — right now, Page appears to just be buying something. Which in and of itself just sounds normal. Page isn't in trouble or anything — but on the other hand, if Dyne makes it back into that secret little room of hers things could get interesting. The elf bides his time, waiting, tensing just a little… Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "You doin' okay?" Page contemplates as he looks over the selection. "Is this all you have?" he wonders. "I'll need some hundred kilos of summoning materials." That's about 40 units. The ally spirit Lil shows Page to the summoning materials. Once again, all legal force stuff.. Dyne narrows her eyes a bit.. "I'm.. Sorry, but we don't usually sell in bulk. I could order you some if you need them.." offers Dyne in a somewhat hushed tone. The Ally spirit is leering at Ourrez at the moment, leaning in toward the kitty and staring at him intently. Ally spirit meets Ally spirit. "Kitty Kitty Kat Kat," hums the somewhat eccentric ally spirit. "Pretty kitty!" The ally Spirit reaches her hand out to touch Orrez.. An action which warrents scolding from Dyne. "Lil! Stop harassing the customer.." All in all. This seems disturbingly. Normal. "Okay… Hmm. How long do you think that would take?" Page glances back at Dyne speculatively, flicking his oen Perceptions into the astral for a moment. Ourrez eyes the other ally spirit with that speculative, introspective look that all cats give to prey. It does not put into mind pleasant questions. In the astral, Dyne looks rather plain as mages go. Awakened, yes, but not even initiated or anything. Her aura overall looks normal as well. A cascading mixture of greens, blues, and purples make up the colors of it. Dyne clears her throat. Loudly. "Yes, of course, the delivery would arrive by next Friday, when we get our other things.. I'll just need to fill out some simple paperwork for that," she says… ".. Was there anything else you needed LIL! Please come back over here.." The ally spirit frowns, as she was about to reach out for Orrez again.. it slumps and walks back to where Dyne is again. Page smiles faintly. "Does she always act like this?" he wonders of Dyne, curious. "Mine's only been unruly with me a few times." He leans on the counter thoughtfully, looking at the spirit as well. "Not always.." Dyne replies. She mage gestures with her hand and the masking spell on the Ally spirit drops, revealing its true self again.. that unusual winged looking woman. Actually rather human overall, save for those wings and a curious little pointed canine sticking out from her upper lip habitually. "Apologies. Lilith sometimes.. frightens the sleepers.. So I sometimes keep her appearance masked.. For their benefit." Dyne then looks between you and Ourrez a bit intently.. Perhaps implying with the look that 'Okay I showed you my ally spirit, so let me see yours'. "Yeah, I know how that goes," Page says sympathetically, and gives Ourrez a nod. The tiger shimmers back into existence. "I don't know why, he's just a bit softie, really," Page says, ruffling the tiger's neckscruff. Ourrez looks… put upon. Then the enchanter looks back to Dyne with a chuckle. "Honestly! Last week I caught him trying to sneak out. Apparently he was stalking a pigeon." Lilith grins broadly at the story, and it draws a faint chuckle from Dyne. "Lil does not chase birds…" she says simply. You might guess from the appearance the creature chases other things entirelly.. The demon-looking spirit rests its chin on its arms and stares at Orrez, smiling. Then waves her hand at the kitty, her grin showing her sharp canine teeth nicely. Dyne shoots the ally spirit a quick look, then adds quietly. "Actually, Lilith is quite affectionate." The ally spirit licks its teeth and lips when Dyne says this, renewing her toothy grin. Dyne ponders a moment.. "I must admit, we don't get a lot of.. Well.. Highly respectable awakened customers. Many of our services are fully appreciated by the sleepies, actually.." The woman pauses.. "What do you do, Mr. Page?" Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "I'm starting to wonder if her ally spirit is the one who killed those people, and she's covering it up. Huh." Page looks at her, nonplussed. "I'm … /Page/," he says, as if that should let her know everything she needs. At her (probably) blank look, his expression goes a touch more dour. "The enchanter?" The woman looks intent for a moment.. "Oh.. You mean.. Owner of High Arcana?" Dyne asks a bit perplexed.. "Goodness.. I'm sorry I didn't realize you were the /same/ Page. I hear about your wonderful services all the time, actually.." She thinks a moment.. "I'm a little surprised.. What could -you- possibly need from -me-?" she wonders.. Lilith smiles, adds, "Maybe he wants to come sweep you away Sherry! Sweep you away AWAY off your feet." The ally spirit looks at Page. "Take her to Dinner?" It asks, then leans in over accross the counter toward Page. "PSSSSST," she 'whispers' loudly. ".. Sherry really likes mexican food!" Dyne goes to object to her ally's behaviour, but just sighs a bit.. Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "Is it just me, or are you being seduced?" Page *eyes* the other Ally spirit. Then looks back at Dyne. "Like I said. Time and trouble. Can't be everywhere at once, and some things just aren't worth making myself." He crouches down and scritches Ourrez again, glancing up at the other two thoughtfully, measuring distances. "And - no offense? You're not really my type." He smiles faintly. "I rather like my eyes right where they are. In my head." Yup. That's torn it. Slinger lifts off from the surface of the roof, eyeing that watcher spirit as he does so, and starts to move toward the building. Fast. Just in case drek does go down. He's already preparing a spell if that Watcher spirit tries to move to warn its owner. Dyne says nothing in response for a good ten seconds or so.. There is no 'worry' on her face, so much as a sudden draining of her energy.. her vitality. "I'm sorry but.. I don't.. I don't understand what you are getting at and.. I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you are going.. to be rude," she says in a hushed tone. The ally spirit brow-raises, looking between its master and Page, then its eyes narrow at Page a bit menacingly. It doesn't fling accross the counter or anything though. "MEANIE! Sherry is very senstive you know! GOSH! This is aweful.. terrible!" It says, pining intensely in its melodramatic style.. Page pets Ourrez good-naturedly. "Well, it's either you or your ally spirit," he says. "The astral signature was really quite distinctive, and all roads lead here. Really, this is me being polite." He pauses slightly, then adds in a humorous tone, "You wouldn't want to see me… rude." Commlink-Mindlink> Page says, "And that would be that her spirit did it. And she knows it." Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "Yeah. Gimme the signal, and I'm in there. Don't stand near the door." Dyne looks away from you a bit. "You don't understand what you are saying.." The Ally spirit.. Still menacing at you, but not about to lunge at you if her master doesn't will it. "I know what you are getting at but it would be in your best interest… to put it out of your mind and go back home, Mr. Page.." Dyne doesn't look like shes going to flinch on this subject, one way or the other. Page nods thoughtfully. "Well… there is one question I have left on my mind. I hope you don't think it'll be too prying to ask." He looks over at Dyne directly. "Do you think ally spirits are separate entities? Or do you think that they're reflections of our subconscious - the people we /could/ be if we threw our shackles and blinders off?" Dyne considers this thoughtfully. Then shoots Page a quick look… "We walk with the spirits, Mr. Page. And they walk with us…" Dyne pauses.. Looks at Ourrez. "Your cat seems very fond of you. I should hope.. That never changes. Now, if you'll excuse me.. Mr. Page.." Dyne then turns away from you and begins to head into the back areas of her shop.. The ally spirit perks up and dons a.. surprisingly sympathetic look on its face and quickly comes to Dynes side. "Sherry.. Sherry! I still love you Sherry, my Sherry!" it says, quickly going into hug the other womans arm before the two just about vanish around the corner.. giving you a chance to throw any comments. Or spells. If you like. Out of all the offensive spells Page could cast… well, to be honest, he only knows one. And casting it would kill everyone in the room, himself included. Instead, the enchanter draws on an old standby. Page's shoulder focus pulses with energy as he draws on the energies of the most verstile spell he knows - Levitate! With steely bands of iron force, he takes relentless hold of Dyne's ally spirit and FLINGS her out the store windows. Moving at a pretty good clip, too! That'd be 151 meters per combat turn - enough to serious injure anyone in a car crash. Hey, look, a car! *SMOOSH* Slinger sees the spirit fly out of the place. It takes him only a moment to recognize it, and once it comes to a halt, the elf sense his spell toward it in a fierce arc of energy. The spirit is at least partially guilty in what happened, in what happened to those people, and the elf's energy lashes out into the creature. Whatever it is, it isn't a nice spirit. Not nice at all. Any remorse he might feel vanishes when he remembers the violence in that apartment. The spirit continues onwards after Slinger's spell, smashing into the car across the street with a cry of tortured glass and metal. One might almost feel sorry for the car. After the car buckles and crunches from the force of the spirit being SMASHED into the vehicle.. the first thing that happens is the cars alarm goes off. You hear a woman in the distance scream. Also, you note that while the spirit vanishes, it WAS inhabiting and the vessel it was inhabiting(now only a husk) is still very much physically here. Mangled inside the new crevice in the side of the old Americar. Lone Star probably won't be long in getting here, you figure. In any case, Dyne turns around the moment her Ally spirit is picked up and LAUNCHED through the window of hr shop. She just stands there in utter shock and horror, watching her friend and companion obliterated against the car accross the street. Her shock is so great, she doesn't even take an action against you just yet. Just stares, gaping. Page eyes the car - more, the vessel - and turns, his fingertips trailing light from the magical energies he was wielding as the spell fades. "So talk to me, Dyne, about how much that spirit means to you." He flicks his fingers, shaking off the light and calling up a small flickering flame inside his palm. "About how much of your own spirit was invested in it." Slinger heads toward the front door of the place, pushing the door open without hesitation. Invisible mage, who is now Shielding himself, Page, and Ourrez. "Justice has arrived," Slinger says, his voice dark and firm. "There will be no more killing of innocents." The elf's voice comes from midair, but it would be easy to see through the illusion and see him on the Astral. Slinger is masking his foci… but at the same time, the elf drops some of the Masking, letting the full power of his Awakened, Initiated aura shine through. Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "Need to call my contact at Lone Star. Let him be part of the arrest…" Dyne, finally finding her voice, looks at Slinger as he enters. She can see him astrally.. See how powerful Aura.. More than anything though, his words seem to hurt her on a deep level. "Wh… WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT THEN!?" she screams, pointing in the direction Page flung her ally spirit. "Lilith never did anything to anyone! YOU PRESUMPTUOUS FOOLS! ILL KILL YOU!" she rages. There is a hurt and pain in the womans Aura that transcends mere fear of being 'caught' or hurt of losing a valuable tool. This is genuine, cutting hurt. You figure, based on her actions, absolutely nothing was going to persuade her to talk any further. She immediately prepares to fight you both to the death.. You note however, that she is stepping back behind her ward.. For now, Dyne ducks around behind a desk in her reception area, taking some cover. Shes also behind her rather powerful ward at the moment. She doesn't cast a spell at the both of you just right now, but she definitely did SOMETHING magical, you note from her aura. You imagine she just commanded spirits or elementals nearby. You recall there was that Earth Elemental from before milling around in the garden area, which you note has indeed materialized during the confusion.. A rather mossy and tree-like looking earth elemental actually. Slinger watches the woman ducking behind the desk… but that doesn't stop him from quickly drawing his weapon and sending a pair of shots toward her… The lumbering Earth elemental crashes on through the front door, it's mossy limbs quickly preparing to pound on the intruders, but quickly finds itself on the defensive from a lunging Kitty. The Earth elemental.. proves UNCANNILY resilient and manages to dodge the lunge and counters by bringing one of it's gnarled tree-like limbs crashing down on Ourrez, who proves equally resislient at fending off the attack. "Mrhghgmmmmmfff…" the elemental groans in a dry, crackly.. voice? Ourrez looks disconcertingly perplexed at the sheer liquidity of the elemental. But only for a moment. Then he gets just plain angry, turning and lashing out with his claws and a roar. This time he finds his mark, and shreds the elemental in twain, sends bits of earth flying before they dissipate into nothingness. Slinger shakes his head, and gestures with the gun. "You aren't going to survive another attack," Slinger tells the woman. "Come out here, and you'll live," he says flatly. Meanwhile, swiftly, he sends the code to his phone to dial Lone Star Detective Bill Norman. The woman watches her spell completely fizzle against Slingers aura.. She had given it everything she had and it wasnt enough. Whats more, it was completely ineffectual. She knows doing that again won't serve any purpose.. and yet there was such an unbridled rage in her, she can't simply give up.. The pain wracking in her chest was already more than she could handle though.. she had never really be shot like this before.. She saw the blood dripping down from the small hole in her shoulder, flowing red like crimson. "I'll…. I'll make you.. Pay for doing this.." she promises. She makes no overt move just now though.. Slinger glances to Page, nods once. "Search the place. Figure out what's in here. Tranq patches in my backpack." Slinger looks back to the woman and shakes his head. "We are justice. You killed people. Murdered them in cold blood. Now you'll pay the price." Slinger tells Norman quickly what's going on, promises they will find the perpetrator, unconscious, with plenty of evidence. This is all done silently. "Get up. Come in here. It's nap-time." He has her covered with the pistol as well. Page nods just slightly and starts with… the counter and register! In this room. He's not feeling real idealistic about waltzing through a force 12 ward just yet. He'll get around to that in a minute. Besides, there very well could be useful stuff in the register or whatnot. About this time, Dyne is getting.. Hysterical.. Whining softly, muttering to herself as she sits there bleeding. Your call to Lone Star goes out and Norman assures you the Star will be there within minutes with orders to let you pass.. However that gives you only minutes to get out of the place. The Star won't want to be seen milling about the place with you standing around there.. "P-Please.. You don't understand! You don't know what you are doing! You have to let me GO!" Dyne demands, managing to pull herself to a stand.. Magic thrums in her her body once more, now morew weakly as she looks at Page coming around toward the reception area and the register.. At the same time, you suddenly notice a water elemental comes from one of the back rooms.. From the angle you guess it had been in LoS with Dyne the whole time but only now showing itself.. "LEAVE THIS PLACE!" Slinger doesn't understand? That's possible, yes. The elf glares at Dyne, and shakes his head. "Then make me understand," the elf says. "Tell us all about it." He's pretty sure he has her dead to rights — but there is a sudden sinking feeling at the thought that maybe, just maybe, we just toasted an innocent ally spirit. Ouch. That is a pretty awful thought — but maybe, just maybe, it's true. But as the water elemental comes out of its place in the back, Slinger tenses, readying himself. He's not about to set foot past that ward, not with the amount of stuff that he currently has active. Page lets out a little exasperated sigh. ~Oh, for heaven's sake, Slinger,~ he says over the mindlink, ~If you want to be merciful, just shoot her again and get it over with. When they bring her in they'll burn her brain out from the inside.~ He pauses, thoughtful. ~This /is/ the Aztlan sector… they might recruit her.~ Dyne is beyond listening to you, at this point.. She has flung into too much a desperation and a rage to be tempered by mere words. "LEAVE! LEAVE LEAVE NOW!" she demands again, and looks like shes not going to give up her assault without being killed. Or incapacitated entirely. And not quietly. The Water elemental, its body a constant state of flux and motion, turns toward Page at the behest of it's summoner who still remains hunched behind her ward.. No, that's it. Slinger's going to have to shoot her. He takes aim at the woman, has been aiming for a few seconds now, and squeezes the trigger, nice and gentle… Well, the result of Slinger killing Dyne is immediately apparent when the water elemental goes crazy. For a moment actually it's quite calm. Tranquil. Doing it's sorta cool water chillin' thing. Then all the sudden its watery tendrils lash out around it, knocking over plaques, cups, penholders, knocks over a cyberterminal.. It's PISSED off. You can tell because it makes this cool sorta 'MROOOWWWWWWW' sound as it rages. Dyne, on the other hand, just falls to the ground with another gaping hole in her. She lets out one, final shuddering breath to punctuate the final chapter in her life. She does manage to mutter one final word before she dies though.. Its very faint but you are sure it was 'Sorry'. Slinger carefully squeezes the trigger, trying to a non-vital area. But that is harder than it sounds, and as the powerful bullet shoots out from the gun, it hits Dyne in just the wrong spot. With her previous wound already crippling her, this one pierces right through her vitals, killing her instantly. Slinger lets out a swift, angry curse. Now, he did it. Both the woman and her ally spirit, and just as he is having doubts about whether she was truly guilty. And there, that final word. That makes Slinger shiver, feeling a hint of remorse — but there is no time for that. That ward is still going to be up, but with nobody to defend it, Slinger can start zotting it… Page takes a step back thoughtfully from the water spirit's raging. That thing looks… unhappy. In fact, he'll take another couple of steps back. To the door. Slinger concentrates, turning on astral perception — and makes himself dual-natured, as he approaches the ward. This is going to be tricky. But he can do it — the water elemental raging in there may destroy evidence — or something valuable. Slinger is successfully inside the ward, at this point, and the elf eyes the elemental with a soft growl on his face. His gaze slides over it, and he curls his lips upward as he fights the thing backward. "Go on, get," he says, making shooing motions. "You can get out through the ward." And he emphasizes the point, taking a step toward the thing, his will strong, sharp, intense… The water elemental suddenly takes a firmer shape, contours creating and forming.. You notice something akin to a 'face', water and still in flux though it is.. The faces eyes narrow at you, and its mouth opens, ushering another gurgling 'Mrorororrrr..' sound.. Then, just like that, the thing turns into a jet of water and splashes along the ground, its form arcing repeatedly as it heads out of the ward freely, stopping to re-materialize in front of Page.. regards him.. Then careens over the reception desk and out the door into the wild beyond. Well, that leaves the water elemental out of your hair for now. You figure you still have a minute or two before Lone Star shows up.. Well. He's in here. Slinger mutters, shaking his head, and then swiftly begins to search the interior of the room he is occupying. Anything really bad would be in here, as would anything valuable. Slinger, noble though he tries to be, doesn't always give his services away. But more than anything? He's looking for evidence of Dyne's guilt… perhaps to assauge his guilty conscience, worried he might have done a great wrong. Page catches his breath again for a moment. Riiight. Okay, then. Where was he? Right, he was going through the computers and the register here. Slinger's hopeless with that kind of thing, and the mage has /some/ skill at that sort of thing. Looking for… address books, clues… spare money laying around. That sort of thing. To (Slinger, Empathy), Orpheus pages: You quickly scout through the back rooms of the place. Most of it is benign. You see a small medical shop in the back. It's mostly used for theraputics you note. Though it looks like simple surgery could be performed in this relatively small shop. Some outdated tools here.. You figure Dyne wasn't really using it to be some kind of amazing Shadowclinic. Probably offered simple theraputic services mostly. There is a back area here where Dyne kept the extra stock and special gear. There is also a door that leads to what you might guess is a cellar. Cellar. That's the key. That's where whatever it is will be. Slinger looks around, and exhales. Something here doesn't add up — and it's gnawing at him. He still has that sinking feeling in his gut. The youth approaches the door to the cellar, checks it for traps, and prepares to deal with the maglock, if any, on the door. « Heading downstairs. » To (Page, Empathy), Orpheus pages: The terminal has nothing too amazing in it. It does have a registery of clientelle though. You note one name who was familiar though, locked away in a secreted file… Its the name of the original victim you were told about. The records are only showing that she was a customer here at one time though. Nothing incriminating really. Not to anyone who didnt suspect Dyne of being the murderer anyways. As Slinger heads down into the cellar -for that is what it effectively is- he soon finds himself in what is undoubtably a shamanic lodge. It's kinda dark down here and may be surprised to note that from the looks of things.. This is actually where Dyne must have lived. Theres a bed here.. a vanity.. A door leading to a simple bathroom.. The decor is stark compared to above ground.. Lots of dark decor, actually. 'emo' or 'punk' or 'goth' one might call it, but not in a depressing way.. It's a style here, while the emotional vibrancy of the place is quite intense.. Even on the astral.. the energies here are very emotional and intense.. There is a lingering sadness as well though. Slinger looks around, passing through the astral barrier around the lodge carefully, and making his way inside it. This /is/ sad — and so far he has found /nothing/ to indicate that Dyne is guilty of anything. He is starting to get a little frantic, actually, moving around the interior, looking for things that are hidden… and following his astral senses as best he can. « I'm getting a bad feeling. What if… what if she was tracking the real killer? » To (Page, Empathy), Orpheus pages: Herbal supplements. She also had a theraputic massage.. Then came back for a few more. Became something of a regular customer. At least until she died. Page taps at the computer. He stumbles at first, what with her using an entirely different interface than he does at his shop, but then he gets the paradigm right and delves into it, copying some of the files off to a thumbstick. ~…. no,~ he says momentarily. ~She was involved. Up to her neck. The way she reacted? And the way she hid these files documenting the victims shopping at her store?~ Page adds, ~Found her thesis yet?~ Slinger shakes his head. "Not yet," the elf mutters. The apology on the dying woman's lips is still haunting him, enough to make him shiver, as he hunts for the thing — for clues. For jars of eyes or whatever is going on. For something to make sense of all this and quell his restless conscience. Well, the truth is.. Slinger doesn't really find anything incriminating Dyne of any of her murders that you can see. Judging from what Page said, though, that is likely all the evidence Lone Star will care about. Especially in light of having no other leads. In the Lodge, you do note one, single, curious thing though.. A picture. A digitical pictureframe.. You didn't notice at first, because the frame was cycling through various pictures.. but in one of them you see Dyne standing with her Ally spirit, Lilith. In the picture she seems.. more vibrant than she did when you met her. She is smiling and looks happy, if not a bit punkish in her attire.. Then you notice another picture.. this one has someone in it you aren't familiar with. A male that looks like the spitting image of Lilith. Except, well, male. He has a strangely.. sinister look to him.. In this picture, Dyne seems 'less' vibrant.. A sort of drained look in her expression. Her smile looks almost forced.. Bad fucking feeling confirmed. Oh, dear gods. Slinger reaches out to grab the picture frame, staring at it for a moment, but it has cycled through to another image. ~She had another fucking ally spirit,~ Slinger says. ~You killed the good one. Oh, fucking Gods…~ He shakes his head. ~And now the other one is a fragging free spirit.~ Slinger feels sick to his stomache, thinking of Lilith, of Dyne. He killed an innocent woman. Two of them, in effect. He grabs the picture frame, though; he'll go over it later. ~Maybe not even an ally spirit. I don't know what it is.~ He swiftly sends the mental picture of that image, tucking the frame into his backpack. Page pauses, thoughtful, looking at the image mentally. ~So why was she protecting him, then, if she was so innocent?~ He lets out an exasperated noise. ~You're always thikning the best of people, Slinger. Cut it out! She knew what was going on. She didn't try to stop it. And she wasn't going to let us interfere. That makes her just as guilty.~ The water elemental? No. He pauses, then hunts for an image of the guy in this computer's memory. Slinger shakes his head. "No. Something is wrong. And we're not going to find answers here. Holy drek." The elf shakes his head, coming out of the cellar, and heads up the steps, back out of the place. He's not grabbing anything but the picture frame, as he heads toward the front door, aiming to get out of the place. To just get the frag out of here, and leave this place. There is a wracking sob from the elf as he passes through the ward, trying to synchronize with it… Page shakes his head slightly and then glances around once more, hunting with his astral vision for something in here that bears Dyne's signature. A foci, a thesis, whatever works. Then he heads for the door, holding it open for a second to let Ourrez and Slinger come with. Slinger shoots out of the door, without even a second thought, shaking his head and shuddering. So fucking wrong. He forces himself to look at Lilith's body — at the body that the spirit Inhabited. At what she is now… a broken, lifeless husk. Because of him. Because of what he did. He shot Dyne, who was torn up at the loss of her friend. Suddenly, the youth retches, and hurls himself toward the SUV, moving fast, trying to just get /away/ from this place. Page follows, but not nearly as quite so fast a pace. Rather casual, in fact, pacing along out to the SUV with a measured 'passing bystandar' air about him. Well, Norm'll want to talk to either of you in any case, just to mull over a few final details about Dyne and the crime scene and all that good stuff.. So Page getting in contact with him shouldn't be a problem at all. Slinger gets out to the SUV and climbs inside, then yanks off his helmet and retches once again… then turns and barely has time to grab a fast-food bag before he vomits into it, choking on the bile. He coughs again, that sick feeling in his stomache continuing. Once Page gets into the SUV, the elf looks up and tells the Pilot, "High Arcana," before he retches again, trying to wait for the queasiness to subside. Page has left Ourrez in the car with Slinger, with instructions for 'keeping the elf from doing anything stupid'. And heads off to have a chat with Norm, the mage taking the picture frame with him. (He makes copies of the pictures for later reference.) Well, Norm is here along with the other Star.. The place is soon swarming with them in fact.. Norm recognizes you by description and pulls you aside. Sort of 'taking a walk' so to speak, away from the crime scene. "So," he begins gruffly. "What can you tell me about this? I got my boys in there lookin' to bag one sick freak.." The man shakes his head a bit. "This is good business for me, you know. It's a big favor to me.." He allows Page to talk now. Slinger sits in the SUV, then, which isn't going anywhere apparently without Page in the vehicle. Slinger can't quite bring himself to leave Page behind. Even though he's mad as hell at Page right at this instant. The elf breathes hard, catching his breath after a moment, and shakes his head to clear it. "What the frag am I gonna do?" he whispers, his breath catching, as tears run down his cheeks. "Glad to help out," Page replies neutrally. "This magic stuff - really can get under your skin if you're not carefully." He smiles, but the joke doesn't quite reach the rest of his face. Then he nods to the shop. "This place was owned by a gal named Dyne… that's her ally spirit over there." He nods to body at the car. Norm cranes his neck, peering over at the splatted ally spirit, nods.. "Mmmm. Ally spirit.. S'like a realy chummy spirit innit? Hell of a thing.. Dyne, you say? I see.. Could you give me the SIN information?" Norm asks. All the more evidence, the better. He'll also accept the digital photograph. "From what I understand, this.. 'Sherry Fletcher' owned a small clinical shop, correct? What else can you tell me that you found out?" he asks, pulling Page into a nearby caffee. He simply nods to the attending clerk who nods back to Norm. Probably the 'Star eats and drinks for free here. The older man leads you to a table and sits.. Talks. Slinger exhales slowly, leaning back in the seat, while he waits for Page. The elf hesitates for a few moments, then finally shakes his head, and then takes the keys and tosses them to the ally spirit. "Catch," he tells Ourrez. That done, he grabs his helmet and puts it back on — then opens the door to the SUV, and very soon is lifting off into the air, with a look of determination on his face as he heads toward the High Arcana. "SIN information is in the place, DNA evidence and everything." Page pauses. "At least for Dyne. Her spirits? It looks like she bound her ally into some kind of vessel. Not supposed to be possible to bind an ally spirit to something sentient, but, well. Let's say I don't exactly research that kinda drek, either. Don't know if DNA coding will work with that sort of thing." He waves a hand vaguely. "There's also a bunch of signatures of mine and Slinger's all over the place, a few bullets. I hope you can take care of that…. And I'm afraid I have some bad news for you." In the car, Ourrez catches the keys with Magic Fingers. And locks the door as Slinger tries to go out it, giving a vague growl. And if Slinger tries to open it again, Ourrez locks them again. Slinger eyes Ourrez. Eyes the locks. "You don't have a right to trap me," the elf growls low in his throat. But he can't zot Ourrez. He just can't. The elf eyes Ourrez, gaze narrowed. "I want /out/," he tells the cat. "Out of here." Norm waves his hand dismissively. "I'll have my boys sweep the place.. A few errant shell casings get lost in all the paperwork quite easily. Happens all th' time you see," he explains to Page, assuading any potential fears that might exist there for the other man. "You seem pretty certain about this, so.." He nods.. "Very well. We'll clean th' place out no problem.. Sounds like there is more than sufficient evidence to put a stamp on this one.. Specially since the now deceased has - according to our files - no living relatives. Simple arbitration, actually.." He orders a drink from the waitress who comes.. "Hell of a thing.." He pauses, pondering. "Anything else I should know?" Ourrez eyes Slinger for a couple of long seconds, then leans forward and plops his head in the elf's lap, leaning in slightly. He's not a lightweight kitty, and his head certainly isn't lightweight either, but he's not putting his full weight on the elf - just letting the elf know that he's there for him. "The bad news is it wasn't just the two of them. There were three." Page pulls out the picture frame. "Take a look." He pauses, waiting for the picture to cycle back to the three, then taps the guy. "There. She had two different ally spirits - we suspect this is the one that actually caused the crimes. Driving her insane, making her do these things - if not doing them itself and making her cover for his actions." He shakes his head slightly, then pulls out a cigarette and a lighter. "Ally spirits… they're part reflections of your own soul, and part reflections of astral energies. But they can't do anything that you wouldn't do in your own heart… now I got some good news and some bad news. The good news is, probably about ninety percent of the time, spirits zip off to the metaplanes when their master is killed. Bad news is, the other ten percent, they're often ally spirits. I'd give it even odds he's still around." Page looks seriously to Norm. "I'd keep an eye out. With or without wings - if it's still around, he could be very dangerous. And if you hear about any other weird, ritualistic killings around here, body parts missing - call us. If it's become a free spirit, it'll be /very/ dangerous." He pauses, the smiles slightly. "But hey, with luck? It's gone on home already. We can always hope, eh?" Slinger is still angry, but when Ourrez places his head into Slinger's lap, the elf just collapses, shuddering, his hand sliding down to run through the tiger's coarse fur. "How the fuck am I supposed to live with myself after that?" he whispers. The image flashes in his mind again, from that picture frame, the image of Lilith and Dyne together. He still can't figure all of it out. But right now, he is convinced that Dyne is innocent. Mostly, at least. The image of Lilith flying through the air to impact that car, that makes him shiver — but even that might well not have killed her. But his stunbolt definitely finished her off. He shudders again, the images replaying in his mind, and Slinger would give a great deal right now to be able to take it back. To change the past, and take back his mistakes. "And Page is out there, covering for me. And everything I do from now on is going to be a fraggin' lie." He shakes his head. "If it was just me, I'd go tell Bill what happened, right now, and take the heat for it. But I'd get Page busted, too." Norm furrows his brow a bit. He wasn't expecting THIS part of the story, actually. "I.. See." He nods. The mans sort of affable, charming, maybe almost slow and droll way of talking may lead oe to believe there aren't a lot of marbles rolling around up there, but Page gets the idea that that is simply.. not true. "Well then, let us both dearly hope.. that you are right, and the critter has gone on back where it came," he says, almost grimly.. Then beams a big smile as the waitress brings him a late. "Here ya go Kara Hun," says the Cop, and hands the waitress a decent tip already. "You need anythin' else Norman, let me know." With that shes off. Unless Page wants to order of course. Norm turns back to page, still cracking a slight smile. "But who knows? If anything else.. 'turns up' over this well. Be sure you'll be the first to know about it. I'll tell ya m'self, sure enough. Until then," he says, sipping his drink.. "We got us a nice bag 'n tag.." "Well, for once, I hope I'm wrong, and it's not around," Page says. "But then, I'm a pessimist. I'll keep an ear to the ground myself. Something powerful pops up… usually leaves ripples in places not always obvious. And if I hear something - you're first on my list, natch?" Page smiles vaguely, and then heads on out back towards the SUV. Inside, Ourrez just chuffs and gives Slinger a slight cheekrub. Well, at least whatever way the world turns, Ourrez still thinks the elf is okay. The SUV appears to be locked at the moment, apparently, thanks to Ourrez. Though one might assume he'll unlock it for Page. The elf fades back into visibility — his spell did nothing regarding Ourrez — and he lets out a slow breath. "So… I assume you fed him a line of drek about how guilty she was," he says, and shakes his head. "I suppose we're some kind of fraggin' heroes, now." He half-spits the words as Page gets back in the vehicle. Page tosses his cigarette to the side, the doors unlocking just before he gets to there and climbs in and listens to Slinger, waiting for a few moments after Slinger's words to see if he's finished. Slinger gestures to the pilot rating. "So. Can we go, now? Ourrez doesn't want to let me leave. I don't even know what the hell happened there. But I know this much. I know that Dyne didn't kill those people, and neither did Lilith. I think… I think somehow they were trying to stop it. Dyne told us we didn't understand, and she was right. We didn't. We killed her ally spirit, and then we killed her. Slinger reaches out for the bag, gives it a nudge. "Be careful with that. I threw the frag up in there." Page reaches over and gives Ourrez's head a light stroke, drawing a rumble from the tiger. "You really don't understand ally spirits, Slinger," he says levelly. "Can I ask you a question? A serious, honest question?" He eyes the mage. "And will you listen to me, really listen, instead of listening to your inner monologue of guilt?" Slinger lifts his head and looks daggers at Page. "You don't get it," the elf states. "You can't understand it. You're alive, and the situation worked to our advantage, so yippee," he growls. He's angry, and saddened. "I know it doesn't affect you, okay? I know it doesn't bother you at all. But I keep thinking back to the image of Dyne with Lilith. I keep thinking back to that picture of them happy like that, vibrant. When I went in before… I didn't get any sense of anything really /off/ or wrong… and that already had me worried. The elf shudders once again. Then, he lets out a slow breath. "I don't know who the guy is. Might be… hell, might be an ally spirit that she had, but went rogue. Might even have been… related to the form that she had Lilith inhabiting." He closes his eyes. "All I know is that I've taken life. I did evil, today. I didn't mean to, but I can't undo it." Page props up his head with two fingers, leaning into his arm a bit as he listens to Slinger. "Do you think that taking life is always evil?" he asks. Slinger shakes his head. "Not if they deserve it. Not if they have it coming. Not if we're protecting innocents. But here's the thing, Page. They /didn't do it/. I think this other one might have. But… the sense I got from her was that… that she was trying to stop it!" He just stares at the man. "And we killed her for it." The elf takes a shuddering breath, and lets out a sob. "Anyway. Let's just get back to the High Arcana. Lemme grab a few things, and then I'll be out of your hair, all right?" Page shakes his head. "No," he says levelly. "It's not alright. Not until you're ready to listen. You're not even listening to yourself right now." Slinger sighs, slowly, and tries to calm himself. But he just keeps seeing that picture flashing in front of his mind's eye. He slowly breathes, then finally opens his eyes once more. "All right. I'm listening," the elf says slowly. Page looks at him for another couple of seconds, just to make sure, then asks Slinger, "Ok, this is a simple yes or no question here. I don't want to hear any 'buts' out of your mouth. Is killing a murderer wrong?" He looks at Slinger expectantly. Slinger hesitates for just a moment. "Not in general, no," the elf says. There's that hint of hesitation, as he actually thinks through it. "If they were a murderer. If the killing was justified, then they aren't a murderer. So, yeah… but." He considers that for a moment. "What makes you think Dyne murdered anyone?" Page holds up a finger. "I /said/, no buts." Then he leans back again. "Now, again, a simple question. If it's within your power to stop a murder - easily, without risk to yourself - and you did /nothing/, nothing at all - would that be a violation of our tenant to protect the existance of free will?" Slinger slowly exhales. "Yeah," he says, his voice low. "She knew about it… maybe she was /trying/ to stop it…" He trails off, but sounds a little less sure of himself. "So what the frag was going on with the eyes in there?" he wants to know. He exhales, shaking his head, still trying to work it out in his own brain. Trying to get his mind to come to grips with it.