essen ♔ where not a single soul gets through

[superswank]

♬ rainbow factory - glaze

WHO || Sydney B., Andrew, Diana, Felicity, Sebastian [Closed]
WHAT || The Knights investigate a hacker friend of Andrew's who has gone off the grid
WHERE || Essen, Germany
WHEN || Jan 10th, shortly before 7pm [forwarddated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

The flight to Essen is very short, only about half an hour, and Sydney makes good time flying them there. Wynn has a car already rented and waiting for them as usual and then it's a short drive to the coordinates Lady Nell sent them.

While the neighborhood in question was once a very nice residential development, it now shows decades of neglect. There is a squat, one-story storefront across from what appears to be a riot control vehicle that appears severely battered.

Comments

[badexample]

[The second the threat is clear, Andrew rushes towards Felicity.]

It bit you, didn't it? Shit... [Genuine concern covers his expression.] How do you feel? [He glances up and over to the others, eyes landing on Sebastian.] You too. It just got you with a scratch, right?

[allmydreams]

I didn't do it on purpose!

[It was a weak protest, because really, who wants to be bitten by a ghoul. But she's feeling kind of okay? It's hard to really tell (fortitude save 14).]

Thanks for the save, though.

[opprobrium]

[ Sebastian had his other hand clamped down on the scratch, since it was free bleeding.]

It's just a scratch, it will heal.

[ Clearly he was not seeing how serious it could be.]

[superswank]

We'll have to get her help when we get out of here. Just in case. [ she glances around, pulling out a tiny maglite and flicking it on to sweep the carpet of ... body parts. she covers her mouth against the smell as it rises up to hit them again. ] We need to find Alice.

[badexample]

[Andrew nods and steps over to Sydney.]

Don't suppose any of you lifted a map off our friend back there?

[allmydreams]

[Felicity shakes her head a bit - both to say no and to get her head back into the game. She's fine. She can do this.]

No, but there might be a walkway of some kind. Or signs?

[superswank]

[ sydney sweeps her light across the floor. ] It doesn't look like it. It's just a ... dumping ground. [ she grimaces ] We might have to do this the hard way. If they brought a body here...

[ she pointedly avoids looking at andrew ] This is where it would be.

[opprobrium]

[ Stepping forward Sebastian was looking with his head tilted some as he held the scratch.(Spot -18 + Darkvision up to sixty feet )] What color was her hair again? I can see well enough.

[badexample]

It changes a lot. I think it was blonde last I saw her?

[He's so helpful, I know. But he's in a bit of a panic, imagining her already dead.]

[superswank]

[ from where he stands, sebastian can't see any blonde hair strewn around. :X ]

Do you have a picture?

[allmydreams]

[Felicity rotates her shoulder a bit as she gets her head back into the game. She doesn't necessarily want to be touching body parts, but at least she has gloves on her. No thief goes anywhere without them.

Still, she waits for Andrew say whether or not he has a picture before getting started.]

[badexample]

[He fumbles for his phone, nodding.]

Yeah- I should. Uhm... [Hold plz while he finds one from their texting conversations (where she may or may not be... wearing a shirt, but she has a bra! so it's decent enough and her face is in it so whatever.) He hands the phone off to Syd, his need to find her far stronger than his embarrassment.]

[opprobrium]

[ he didn't see any blonde hair, but he still looked around. Waiting for something to work with.]

[superswank]

[ sydney takes a look at the phone, and manages to keep her expression neutral. no comments, brosef. she turns her flashlight onto the heap again... and with a nat 20 she immediately lands on something that catches her eye. ] Does she always wear that necklace?

[allmydreams]

[Felicity puts two and two together (wisdom 13), before turning to where Sydney's flashlight is pointed, trying to see the same thing (spot 19).]

[superswank]

[ half-buried under further detritus, her flashlight catches the glimpse of a piece of jewelry identical to the one in the photograph. she casts andrew a sympathetic look. ]

[badexample]

[Andrew glances over, catching sight of it as well (spot 20 total).]

No. No no no no. [He rushes over, stumbling over his own feet and crashing down to his knees right in front of the necklace (dex 9). Shaking hands reach out to take the piece of jewelry, but he manages to keep the rest of his emotions at bay (will nat 20).]

We've got to find her. The clerics back home- they can help. They can... [Swallowing hard, he shakes his head.]

We find her. And then we bring this place to the ground.

[allmydreams]

[Felicity watches him before nodding in agreement. Finding her they can do. They just needed to be able to look.]

If the necklace is here, maybe she isn't far behind.

[Barring ... whether or not she's already been ghoul food, but she can be optimistic about this. She glances to Sydney, to see which way she's going to sway on this.]

[superswank]

We don't have a lot of time to waste. [ her expression grim, she is just gonna kneel down, roll up her sleeves, set her jaw, and ... dig in. ugh. finally, she pushes aside a few arms and comes up with something that gives her pause. ] The implant... Andrew, where did you say her implant was?

[badexample]

Her eye. [His hands are still shaking too badly for him to make much progress and what he does make it messy, panicked.]

Why? [He turns, eyes wide.] Did you find something?

[superswank]

[ yeah syd has... alice's head in her hands. 8(

her blonde hair is matted with blood and grime, and her face is pale and inhuman looking, but it's definitely her. syd says quietly, barely containing her revulsion and emotion: ] Andrew, we have to get the information off that implant.

[badexample]

[The mix of shock and horror in his face is clear, even in the dark room.]

Alice? [He says the name in a small, choked voice, throat closing as tears rush to his eyes.]

She can't be- I mean she's supposed to be alright. That's how it works. People get in trouble and we save them. [His eyes lift to Sydney's]

I was supposed to save her.

[allmydreams]

[Felicity's dealt with a lot of loss in her life. It's started to get to the point where it comes with the territory over the years, and she can deal with it in stride, but every loss is always different. She knows better than most that you can't save everyone, especially when they don't want to be saved.

That doesn't make this one better. She's pretty sure Alice would have wanted to be saved. That doesn't mean you feel like any less of a failure either way.

She steps away from where pulling off the gloves and tossing them to the side before putting a hand on his shoulder. They're not friends, she's pretty sure he doesn't even like her, but she understands this a lot better than a lot of people may think, and they're not out of the woods yet. There will be time to grieve when they're out of here, but right now?

Right now they need to focus on the mission.]

Andrew.

[She gives him a moment, not wanting to jump on things too quickly, but eventually she'll turn him to face her, away from the sight of it and on something that's a little less emotionally charged, hoping that it might help he refocus if he doesn't have to look at her.]

You may not be able to save her, but you can still help her. We need to get the information from her implant, so we can get it to people who can use it. We can't let this be for nothing.

[Her tries to keep her voice voice calm and even, even if there are moments when it wavers, letting him be the emotional one while giving him something to hold on to all the same (diplomacy 16).]

You don't have to do it yourself, just tell me what to do.

[superswank]

Whatever this intel was, she was willing to die for it. This is what she would have wanted, Andrew, you know that as well as I do.

[badexample]

No. [He shakes his head, looking grateful for Felicity's words even as he refuses.] I need to do this. She would have wanted it to be me.

[Moving towards Syd, he takes Alice's head from her, hands shaking slightly. Taking a deep breath, he stills them and tries to remember everything he can about what Alice has told him about the implant. Between that, his knowledge of human biology, and his knack for computers, he sets to work to remove the implant. He works quickly and quietly, falling into the zone and trying to forget that what he's working on is the head of his dead friend.

Eventually, he manages to get it out and he slumps back, holding it out for someone to take.]