new orleans ♔ now that you've found another key | what are you going to play

[shootfirst]

♬ Baby, You're a Rich Man - Beatles

WHO || Thomas, Gar, Kat, Dumage, Mark, Myri, Buffy, Finnick, Spike, Rafael, Des, Elena Gilbert, Burt, ??, ??, ?? [Closed]
WHAT || The Knights begin a three-prong recon mission to push forward their intelligence operations on NOVA Records
WHERE || NOVA Records HQ, New Orleans
WHEN || Monday, Oct 15th [Forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam, don't sweat tag order!!

[[ Towering above our heroes is the fifteen-story NOVA Record Headquarters, an L-shaped structure tipped with a winged roof, covered in reflective window linings that paint a portrait of the New Orleans skyline across its panels. Foot traffic streams in and out, a parade of Bluetooth wearing suits, women in nine-inch heels, and extravagantly dressed stars surrounded by guards and entourage members.

But the lavish exterior hides a dark secret or two, and the Knights have sworn to shine a light on all of them.

Why is a record company funding a church that supports Shadowkind slavery? What are the 'experiments' for which they're buying up Shadowkind DNA, and how does it relate to the mysterious behavioral-control chip found in the displacer beast released in the museum? And, of course, what do they want with Jade, and what do they know about the Lazarus Talisman's current location?

Answers are rarely straightforward on their journey, and it looks like another complication or two are on the way.... ]

Comments

[slay]

[ buffy glances over at gar with muted surprise at the sudden lack of accent, which is easily passed off as just looking at her while she speaks, then returns her attention to the secretary. ] If Mr. Giovanni can take the time to fly across the Atlantic to reconsider his company's offer, Mr. Becksworth can make time to meet him without an appointment.

[romanticidal]

[ The secretary frowns, glancing up at Buffy with a hint of annoyance from beneath her fake lashes.

"Mr. Becksworth is a very busy man. Mr. Giovanni is free to schedule an appointment, like anyone else."

Rafael moves forward, leaning on the desk with an elbow and fixing her with a piercing stare and a warm little smile. ]

Of course, of course. But perhaps you can call him, just to check? It cannot take more than a minute of your time.

[ Her eyes flick up to regard him and she seems to fixate for a second, before finally muttering something and picking up the receiver. ]

[slay]

Thank you. [ buffy turns to lean her back against the counter, forearms rested behind her on it. ] Yeesh, how many concerts does a person have to sell out to make time with this guy?

[nothingsodivine]

[Des, because Des seems to be inexplicably drawn to the groups that want him least- or just the groups that have Buffy in them, who knows?- has been lurking in the back of the group, checking out a few things and speaking in an exaggerated British accent to passers-by to give the impression of being the friendly guy in the group who wants to speak to everyone. But he rolled a 22 charisma check, so clearly everyone thinks his fake British accent is charming as fuck and not at all suspicious.

He rejoins the group and says, still in the British accent, but under his breath so he can't be overheard.] Well, I do hear Fiji's bloody nice this time of year.

[shootfirst]

[ kat takes this opportunity to subtly (as in not subtly at all) jab him hard in the ribs. ]

Cool it, Double Oh Seven.

[ the secretary twines her brightly colored nails through the telephone cord, and then hangs it up, letting out a small huff.

"I'm afraid Chad isn't in today. But the other Mr. Becksworth is here, if you'd like me to call him." ]

[slay]

When's he gonna be in? We'll make an appointment.

[romanticidal]

[ "You'll have to talk to Mr. Gilbert, his personal assistant. 14th floor, he should be at the desk." She waves in the general direction of the elevator. "Mr. Becksworth's hours are a little erratic, at best."

Rafael nods, and offers her a few words of thanks, before steering them in the direction of the elevator bank. ]

[slay]

[ well, that's something. buffy glances at kat and gar, giving a little shrug, then follows after rafael to the elevators, and maybe hurrying a little to get to press the call button. ]

So. Who votes snooping in our quest for Mr. Gilbert's office?

[shootfirst]

It's a big building. I bet people get lost all the time. [ as they shuffle on in, and the doors slide closed, she surveys the panel of floor options, one to fifteen. ] Des and I already scoped out Chad's office, bee tee dubs.

[nothingsodivine]

It was bloody boring. [Des says, dropping his accent once out of the open.] Kat mindmelded with his computer though. That was pretty nifty.

[rationalizes]

[ as kat shoots him a suspicious look for the apparent compliment, gar holds up her watch and clicks a button, and it projects a miniature blueprint of the building in the air, hologram style. aw yis. ]

Spike, Mark, and Martha did some investigating in our absence, as well, and Mark's helped me to compile a sort of outline of where they've looked. [ various areas change to red, gaining labels such as 'conference room', 'office', 'studio', etc. mostly in the mid-floor range. gar draws their attention to the 13th floor, pointing to a large room marked 'auditorium'. ] Here's where Spike encountered the woman who confronted him about our role in the events at Nightscape. Does anyone else notice something?

[slay]

Yeah, I heard they ran into some serious security a la Shadowkind. Some girl with claws almost took a piece out of Spike. [ it's entirely meant as an update, but she looks up from the map at the others after she's done, realizing something. ]

... Not that I care. [ wait. no. she was supposed to care. teammates and all. just not ... overly care. which she didn't. it was just relevant. but now it seems ugh. she tightens her lips, then surges onward. ]

What are we supposed to be noticing? [ (spot 16) after taking another look at the map, she looks back to gar. ] That part's not red. Beyond the auditorium, there's all that space and no label. [ beat. ] Would it be too optimistic to guess "secret Shadowkind research and experimentation lab"?

[shootfirst]

Seeing as how there's no door either? I'd say our odds are relatively decent that it's at least something we could label 'Shadytown.'

[ she jerks her thumb at the buttons ] So, going up?

[nothingsodivine]

Ooooh. [Des preens in Buffy's direction. The lady doth protest too much, but he turns to the map and with a spot check of 21 totally notices everything.] I love the smell of conspiracy in the morning. [He claps his hands together and grins at Kat over his pressed-together palms.] Take it away, sunshine.

1/2

[shootfirst]

[ des' super amazing spot check would also notice that the unequal distribution of unmarked space back there makes it appear to be more than one room...

kat rolls her eyes at him and slams the button, folding her arms and leaning against the back of the elevator. ]

Well, if we're heading into the area where Spike fought Ms. Scissorhands, we'd better be ready to rumble, just in case. Gotta figure things never like to go smoothly for us after al--

[ and the elevator hums to a sudden stop to pick up a passenger on the next floor... ]

[starfucker]

[ and standing there in all his glory is none other than mr. burt becksworth himself, sporting a suit and shades and talking into his smartphone non-stop, as he presses into the elevator. ]

No, no, I said I want the disco balls to actually be hot alien chicks, who unfold and--

Don't try to tell me that shit's impossible, that's what CGI is for.

Aliens are not overdone. But do you know what might be? Your fucking career if you don't figure out a way to make this shit jive. Do you know how many strikes people get in a game of Becksworth ball? They don't get any. They just get canned to make way for the next up and comer who's at home masturbating over the mere thought of getting to work this closely with the big boys for five minutes.

[ ... it appears, with his absolutely amazing critical failure of a spot check, that he has not spared anyone else in the elevator so much as a second glance. ]

[slay]

[ buffy's face meanwhile is just ... disbelieving and unaccepting of this man's ridiculous life. she watches him with morbid curiosity because it's like a trainwreck and you can't look away and did he really just say masturbating. but for the time being she's staying quiet and shooting a sidelong look at at and des because what the actual fuck. ]

[starfucker]

[ and burt pushes the button for the very top floor, as kat glares at his back and gar sucks in a breath. ]

Oh, and we still need to work on lining up some chickypoo for F-train, because he's been working the playboy angle, and you can't be a playboy without breaking some hearts. What's Taylor Swift doing lately? She'll need a breakup next year when she starts cranking out a new album full of crocodile tears.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des has this horrible urge to start humming Girl From Iponema right now. Surely there cannot be anything in the world that could possibly make this more awkward. He looks at Kat and Gar and then at Buffy, makes a face, and then just shrugs.

Maybe if they're super quiet...

He won't notice....]

[slay]

[ yeah buffy is on team stay quiet for sure. she's just going to try not to look disgusted at what burt is saying because seriously be grosser bro. ]

[starfucker]

[ the elevator dings to a stop at a floor below the top, and burt stands aside, as gar, holding her breath, moves past him hurriedly. kat tries to hide her face against des' back with moderate success, and burt's eyes skim right over all of them as they file out.

it's not until the last of their group steps out of the elevator, that they hear: ]

Hold on a minute. [ from behind them, and turn back to see burt standing in the door of the elevator, one hand firmly keeping it from auto-closing. he clicks off his phone, apparently in mid-conversation, staring at rafael as if trying to place something. ] Don't I know you? [ raf's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, and he looks around as if trying to ensure that burt's talking about him. ] I do. I never forget a face that turns me down.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des freezes and swears under his breath. GOD, HE HATES THAT STUPID ITALIAN GUY.

In the meantime, he's gonna be casually trying to usher the girls out of Burt's line of sight, all while leaving Rafael to the wolf. NOTHING PERSONAL, BRO.]

[slay]

[ she resists des' ushering because WOW KNIGHTS DON'T LEAVE A MAN BEHIND but he and gar and kat are welcome to sneak out. buffy's going to be manly and intervene and speak on rafael's behalf like she's his boyfriend. ]

We were actually just looking for your brother to discuss the error of Mr. Giovanni's ways. Any chance he'll be in today?

1/-

[starfucker]

[ kat, seeing as how her and des are the two people burt's actually met before, willingly goes along with him, but gar hangs back as well once she sees buffy lingering.

burt's eyes flash over buffy, resting conspicuously on her rack for a second before he looks back to raf. ]

Looking for my brother? [ recognition clicks in his brain, and abrupt resolution forms on his face. he points at rafael. ] You're the one who came in with that little chickadee, what was her name... Diamond, or something, who the fuck knows. Great voice, far as I can remember. What the fuck happened on that deal? We had that shit in a doggie doo doo bag, and then Smitty turns up MIA and you two had skipped town. And now you wanna sign with Chad? [ he shakes his head and walks forward, grabbing raf by the elbow and turning him towards a door marked 'conference room'. ] Chad's not signing off the street, kid. Trust me. So lucky fucky you, you get me instead. You don't like what I offer you, go crawling your ass back to Chad and let him tell you no. [ spot check: buffy ]

2/-

[romanticidal]

[ rafael lets himself be dragged that way, if only to cover while kat and des sneak around the corner away from them. he casts a glance back at buffy. ]

My circumstances have changed. I am, how you say, interested, but need to see what your company has to offer me now that they did not before.