rome ♔ watch your worlds fade to black

[behindcloseddoors]

♬ three in the morning - homestuck

WHO || Alanna, Kate, Bo, Rose [Closed]
WHAT || The Knights investigate a strange series of fires
WHERE || Rome, Italy
WHEN || Jan 15th, evening, almost 6pm [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

The Knights arrive at the scene of the fire several hours after the fact.  It's clearly gutted the building, located in a commercial district of Rome.  Only one fire truck remains, along with several police cruisers and a van marked 'Arson Investigation Unit' in Italian.  The police team seems hard at work combing over the scene.

A small sign in Italian hangs half-legible over the door.  Though the fire is out, the building still smolders, even as water drips from the blackened timbers and stone.  

Comments

[succubestie]

[Bo follows closely behind Alanna, trying to peer through the windows of the doors as the other woman tries the handle. (spot 29)]

[killmypatience]

[Kate's hanging back a bit, still unsure about the chemicals in question.]

When was this place supposed to go up?

[littledhampir]

[Rose attempts to check things out as well but she's apparently not that interested or concerned (SC 12) as she brings up the rear.]

[trebond]

[ k good all these ladies got her back IN WE GO, eyes peeled (spot 23). ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ antonio saunters out of the car, shrugging ] As soon as possible. Like I said, he's been off the grid, so we haven't been sure when he intends to do it.

[ bo notices it first through the window - a hidden video camera mounted in an upper corner of the room, scanning the reception area within as well as the entrance doors. the wire leads from the camera into the office next to it. ]

[succubestie]

Well, if this place goes up before we can get to him, I'm haunting your ass forever.

[She pauses near the threshold of the door.]

Camera, on the wall near the ceiling. 11 o'clock.

[trebond]

[ alanna comes to a clean stop. she doesn't know much about this world, but she knows camera. she follows bo's line of sight. ]

We've reason to be here. Should we really worry that they record us?

[succubestie]

Unless there's a fire and we're the only one recorded being here.

[Just saying.]

That could get messy. If we care about messy, anyway.

[trebond]

[ ... fair point. alanna tilts her head in acknowledgment and holds up her hands. alanna uses obscuring mist! it's super effective!

20 ft around her in every direction, the air condenses into fog that's thick enough that it's hard to see anything beyond 5 ft in front of you. the spell is disrupted by fire, so she has to figure it won't inhibit them from finding their little arsonist. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ antonio raises an eyebrow. ] So now we'll be groping our way through the fog, is that it?

[trebond]

Fire dispels the fog.

[ she turns to him. ]

Our arsonist will not be difficult to find. We are, however, on something of a timer.

[ since alanna got a spot 23 before the fog went up she will head in the general direction of WHERE A DOOR FURTHER INTO THE PLANT WAS. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ antonio stays close behind her then as they cross to the door on the other side of the reception area. opening it leads to a completely dark hallway - so between the mist and the lack of lights, it's not easy to see where one is going. alanna's spot means she can make out that the hall runs right and left, at least. she also hears the distant sound of metal scraping metal, coming from beyond the wall in front of her. ]

[littledhampir]

Man. You guys have really gotta show me how to do this stuff.

[Between Bo's sexy touch and Alanna's mystery fog? Good thing Rose had a great right hook.]

[trebond]

Shh.

[ she holds out a hand as she moves into the hall. she presses her ear up against the wall. ]

Do you hear that?

[littledhampir]

[Rose looks confused at first, watching Alanna a moment then follows her lead, using her enhanced hearing to pick out what the redhead is referring to. (Listen: Nat 20).]

[killmypatience]

[Kate brings up the rear, gun drawn for the moment, even if she can't really see through the fog. She can see all the people she doesn't want to hit - at least that she's aware of - but she wants to be prepared all the same.

She's not listening for anything (listen 7) but she figures Alanna and Rose have that covered.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ antonio raises an eyebrow, lowering his voice. ] The machines shouldn't be running at this time of night. That's something else. Probably our guy, settin' up his shop. Plants don't blow on their own. [ and indeed, rose would recognize that it sounds like the noise is coming from one area in the center of the plant floor beyond that wall, someone fiddling with metallic bits. ]

[trebond]

Then, we'll need to move quickly.

[ she just makes a rash decision and starts heading left. alanna is not taking the time to pause for team consensus LET'S HOPE THEY DON'T SPLIT THE PARTY but there's no real indicator of which direction in the hall would be faster/better anyway. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ when alanna reaches the end of the hall, a man's voice pierces the gloom, echoing throughout the plant. he speaks in italian, but his voice is clearly panicked, and it sounds like a question.

the floor of the chemical plant that stretches out in front of her is dark. she can make out a variety of industrial machinery and piping just barely. the air is heavy with the acrid smell of chemical fumes. ]

[littledhampir]

[Rose won't argue about which way to go. Just because she can hear where the noise is coming from, doesn't mean she knows how to get there and though Rose might have been inclined to try and knock a wall down... well there was a reason why she was better at following somebody else's lead than heading up a party.]

What's he saying? [Rose's hisses quietly at Antonio who she figured could act as translator.]

[behindcloseddoors]

He asked who's there. [ a listen check of 15+ can hear footsteps heading further to the right along the plant floor. they can make spot checks to try to make out more in the darkness. ]

[trebond]

[ alanna doesn't hear shit, what are any of y'all talking about (listen 11) but maybe her 16 spot will do some good as she takes a single step forward, squinting against the darkness. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ the faintest light from streetlamps outside makes its way through the windows, just enough for alanna to get a better lay of the land. a wide array of machines and tanks line the floor, most machines at least 30' by 30' , and all of them connected by a series of huge pipes up above that adjoin to massive chemical tanks, which are over 60' in diameter. about 20 feet above the plant floor lies a metal catwalk that runs in an H formation. metal stairs about 30 feet from the entrance lead up to the left side of the H. straight ahead, about a hundred feet away, are the outlines of two out of the three largest of the chemical tanks. her view to the right (where those noises are coming from) is obscured by five of those massive machines in a row. ]

[succubestie]

[Bo's listen check is exactly 15, so she hears those footsteps, and motions in that direction, whispering.]

Movement, that way.

[As for seeing...she has darkvision, so...she'll just head toward those machines, trying to stay out of sight while still looking for the source of the noise (move silently nat 20, 26 total).]

[trebond]

[ move silently 23 has alanna following after bo. ]

Can't see anything past these bloody machines.