[IC] 🦄 Darker Than Black - Merged With T.S.

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

_{His childhood bedroom. Caesar sometimes comes back here to think.}

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Location: La Hacienda
Skills: N/A

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...Upstairs...

Sorting through all of the information was difficult. The coding and format seemed designed to make reading it as difficult and/or as taxing as possible, but the steady stream of information was, presumably, helpful. Only she had no idea why it would have been helpful, not having been dealt in to this particular game of massively high-stakes poker. The thought occurred to her once again that this would make a ton more sense if her Big Bad Uncle gave her any sort of fucking clue as to what happened back in Justice, especially as it concerned the only member of her family she felt she could actually relate to, then maybe, just maybe, it would allow for a single puzzle piece to fit onto another. Right now, she might as well be pulling up the Irish National Anthem. In phonetic Swahili. "Hey Dad, um... does any of this bullshit mean anything to you?"

"No, M'hija. Maybe a name sounds familiar, like I heard it on the news a while back. But no, Caesar never told me anything.

"Then maybe it's time he did.

...Downstairs...

Caesar contented himself by pulling up a random piece of furniture to the tables where the abuelitas had set up the vast majority of the spread of delicacies that Central America had to offer, not the least of which being a whole, roast pig, apple still in its mouth. Other sections were piled high with similar porcine flesh cooked to tender perfection, but Caesar wanted to attack the beast in its natural habitat: A roasting pan. Yes, he was in mourning. Also yes, he was suddenly hungry. Those two pieces of fruit served mostly to arouse his appetite without bedding it back down, and he realized in that moment that he hadn't really eaten in a couple of days. Oh, he had drank a fair amount of alcohol in that time, (that realization reminded him that he still held a bottle of mescal in his hand, prompting him to take a long, painful pull that exploded into his belly like Mexican fire) but food? Not so much. The smell was intoxicating. Or was that the booze? No matter. His Alicia wouldn't want him to starve to death, not until the people responsible for her present, not-alive state elsewhere in the vicinity.

Yes, Alicia. Through the mild buzz of bewormed, golden alcohol, he remembered that he had something of hers. Caesar reached into his back pocket, leaning forward to do so, and pulled out a very fine, stiletto style switchblade. Classic weapon of last resort, or first choice for many out of pure intimidation factor. In this case, Caesar used the weapon to pry out one of the pig's big, round eyes. The iris and pupil were charred somewhat and sunken into the main body of the eye like a concave deviled egg, but that wasn't going to stop him from impaling it on the end of Alicia's switchblade and ripping off a section of it with his teeth like a chewy, malformed lollipop. Mmm, piggy piggy. The aqueous and vitreous humors splashed outward from the ocular party snack in a vision of flame-roasted barbarism. He went after the tongue next. Then the heart. Then his hunger turned him toward... the empanadas.

Caesar's phone buzzed in his vest pocket. He too a moment from his repast to check it. At first, he grew angry. Very angry, prompting him to raise from his seat in a start. Then his brain processed what he had read, starting with the name "Wentworth". He told them not to do any more investigating. Told them directly, and in simple words. But this... he needed to see this. Hell, he needed to let that big son-of-a-bitch (who he was looking forward to beating the crap out of) in California about some of this. Maybe even broadcast the whole of this news to as many sources as possible, just to cover his own back and that of people he still cared about. Should he tell Cecily? If that woman Natasha was in on everything, it could mean the end of the young Coroner. Okay, not yet. Ignorance was not bliss, but it was safer that evening. But now, upstairs.

...back in Justice, Queensguard R&D Industrial Complex...

It took time to run a diagnostic. It took time to get results back from facial recognition software. It took time to gather proper information on current events within a secure facility. Wentworth was the primary interest of concern, but he was the show card. Keystone wanted to know what was being held in hand, close to the vest. Unfortunately, you had to plow through one to get to the other, and this guy... well, he didn't know him, but he didn't trust him a bit. Call it a hunch. He was in a conversation of some kind with a more than fairly buff looking woman. Personal bodyguard, perhaps? Or one of Juno's enforcers? For all he knew, she just snuck into the party because she heard a rumor they were giving out free liquor. He'd done it before, why not others?

Well, while he was taking a lot of fun time waiting on reports to come back, the broad Security Agent known as Johnathon I. Keystone weighed his options in dealing with this man. "Oi, buggerall question, but can we get ears on this Wenty fella?" he spoke into his comm. Meanwhile, Vinters gave a quick glance over to her new boss, wondering how the man became a Director in the first place and why she was so lucky to have a Cockney Jackhole for a superior. A least he looked like a damn handy guy. If stuff became loud and violent, she'd have no problems with holding a line with the man.

[Morose]

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Iris Kingston

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Location: Justice Asylum
Skills: Perception, Psychology, Photographic Memory, Intuition

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"₁Bien sûr," Iris responded, making a mental note to tell Cratty not to interfere with the police investigation once she was off the phone with the agent. She recalled Risa in her mind and wished that while she was gifted at graphic design, that she could have been just as good at sketching by hand. "She had pierced ears, blue eyes, light skin, and brown hair...About 1.6 meters tall. Her build was very limber and lean, as if she did pilates regularly..." Her voice trailed off as she tried to remember any other pertinent details. "₂C'est possible que she was with someone, but I only saw her alone."

Aside from her seeming expertise in areas atypical for a translator, nothing else came to mind for Iris. But she hoped that she had given Marc enough information. She gave him the best physical description that she could, thankful for her photographic memory. It came in handy in her schooling and proved useful in her work. Maybe it would prove useful enough to help Jaina and Cynthia, whereas yesterday and today, Iris' skills had fallen short. Two patients down in two days - if she was lucky, they'd be found and brought back safely before the week was over.

"Walsh?" Jaina repeated. "Walsh, Walsh, Walsh, Walsh....Walsh. Nah, your name sounds fake. But it's okay - I won't tell anyone you're Prince Harry. Risa! He is not Prince Harry!" Jaina called out. She was a bit disappointed when the line went dead and Cynthia was no longer on the other end, but Risa assured her that they'd be there quickly. She had so much to catch up with Cynthia about. And then she'd get to see the Russian Circus that evening! Everything just seemed to be coming up Jaina that day.

She accepted the crayons and coloring book from Risa, hesitating for a moment. She then turned the book so that way the spine was facing her and pulled out the first crayon, peeling back the paper. She then began to furiously run the crayon up and down the spine, attempting to shave it off into a makeshift shiv. Once she was satisfied with her handiwork, she'd then carefully place it back in the box before moving onto the next crayon.

Translations

1 = Of course
2 = It's possible that

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Monday May 22nd, 2017

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@Sigil @Morose @Dragoknighte @FantasyChic @Nallore

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Queensguard Research: "I see, well you are not the only one," Wentworth responded before looking over at the bar tender. "This woman could use a replacement beverage, something you should have attended to already considering you had just witnessed her last one being spilt," he added before turning his attention back towards her and his brow perking a bit. "Yes, it was. I will not fault her though. She was a woman of marginal success in her craft. Yet now that she has perished there is no reason for Queenguard to continue to be associating with such ruffians," he said.

There was a bit of disdain in his voice. Whether that was something new or just how his voice was all the time, was yet to be seen. The bar keep quickly remade the drink that had been ordered and slid it across the bar top over to her with his apologies. Wentworth tapped his ring against the side of his own glass a few times, seemingly starting to run out of patience at the bar tender for taking so long to do his job. Up in the security office the screens flashed again and then went dark.

Inside the Heads Of The Insane: Marc kept listening on the other side of the line, modding to himself as he made some notes down on the piece of paper. Every so often looking over at the door of Queensguard. "Right okay. I suggest letting the police know what is going on. I cannot get away for the time. It sucks but I am kind of in the middle of something I can't get away from. Trust me if it wasn't life or death I would. I will be by to see you as soon as I can. Be safe," he said before hanging up the phone and letting out a frustrated breath.

Down in the main front room the police were arriving and Nurse Cratty kept eying the phone at the front desk she stood behind. Right then she was bent on keeping them occupied and out, that was until they heard otherwise. "What can I do for you?" she asked the officers as they came into the building.

Risa kept an eye out as they pulled up to a warehouse and Lucas parked the car. "He's a prince in my book," she said as she opened the car door and stepped out.

"And shes my queen. So come on princess, let's go see your friend," he said as he climbed out as well and glanced around. His hand resting on his back and beneath his coat as Risa looked over towards the door of the warehouse. The door slowly opened and a woman came into sight. Blue eyes, tanned skin, blonde hair, and taunt muscles.

"And I'm a fucking goddess. Mine getting the bat shit out of sight?" she asked before stepping back into the building. A laugh could be heard inside. It was Cynthia giggling away. Inside she had what remained of a an on the ground. What he used to look like was anyones guess. It seemed she had been painting a very pretty picture with him.

A Safehouse in the Deadlight District: Roy nodded towards Riley. "Sounds good, if you need anything let me know," he said before turning his attention back towards the screen and continuing to watch. The discussion got a bit more heated before it calmed down. "Ugh if only there was some audio that we could hear or could see their mouths better," he grumbled under his breath.

Shaking his head he leaned back and took a sip of his soda, glad his mouth was now calming down but the carbonation burned a bit thanks to the amount of hot sauce that had been on the wings and the heat they had been on it. The woman finally turned to start heading out of the warehouse and her face could be seen. It was a very well known face, even outside of Justice. Regina Eilheart.

She left the building quickly and within a short time later Lawson was entering the scene. Roy nearly choked on his drink when he saw her on the screen. "Well shit..." he spat as he wiped away from the cola from his chin. That was something he hadn't expected.

[Dragoknighte]

Mali Anson

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Location: Queensguard
Skills:N/A

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Well, it looked like she was starting to get somewhere here. In her head, she was starting to piece together exactly what kind of persona she'd need to continue this conversation productively. The difficult part was knowing how strongly she'd put the facade forward. Not enough and he'd probably figure it out or lose interest; to much and he'd definitely know that she was faking the whole thing.

"Agreed." With this single word, Mali shifted her weight to her left leg and rest he casted hand onto her hip, letting her right hand rest upon the countertop. She felt a bit bad for the hapless bartender; it was quite busy, he had to make a drink he had already created and he wasn't being treated very well. But she was also a bit irritated about having to wait for her drink in the first place, she couldn't show anything that Wentworth could interpret as weakness lest she lose what bit of favor she seemed to be currying from him, and to top it all off, the darker aspect of her personality twittered into her ear that the guy was probably making more tonight than she made in months. He could afford to be kicked around a bit.

"Seems like Queensguard didn't downgrade in security alone," she quipped to Wentworth when she spotted his own impatience at the speed of service provided by the bar. Sorry bartender, that probably made your night shittier than it had to be, but she had a character to play right now.

"So how are you planning on striking back at MSS tonight?" She considered immediately offering to assist him in anything he had planned to undercut his competition but decided against it. Firstly, that would likely be laying it on too thick. She just met the guy, and aside from a supposed shared hatred for MSS and/or Alicia, there would be not enough established in this interaction for it to appear suitably beneficial on her end for such an enthusiastic approach. Secondly, while it potentially could earn her personally an ally in Wentworth if she did go through with this, she was relatively ignorant of the larger "playing board," so doing this could potentially fuck up things that wouldn't have anyways. Third, she didn't want to get overly involved in something tangential to her real purpose here: acting as a cover for Zoie. Speaking of which, she hoped that was going over well, wherever they were.

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Roy's Safe House
Skills: N/A

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"Will do Detective." Riley called out, as she slumped back down onto the couch, and started to take out the burner phone again, she was tempted to call Cecily, or her friends or even her bandmates just to catch up. Also a part of her wanted to get on Twitter, or Facebook to try and get in touch with her fans. And also a part of her did want to get in touch with her family, as much as she truly hated them, Riley did feel obligated to try and get in touch with them, and to tell them about what happened to Chloe. Even if the two of them were complete embarrassments of her family.

Riley would look back up towards Pyira and Roy once more, she watched Roy as he started to say something and spat some of his soda she started to get more curious on what they were seeing. She was to far away to get a good look at what they were watching, Riley started to think about getting up and try and watch as well. "What did you see?" Riley asked.

[FantasyChic]

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Priya Khurana

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Location: Safehouse
Skills: N/A

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Priya had to admit she did not see that coming. The woman on the screen was recognizable to anyone with a pulse, really. That made things more sticky though. By all accounts, she was the last person to talk with him before the shit hit the fan. Priya had questions but it seemed Roy was just as surprised (if not more so) than her.

Before she could talk, Riley came back in. Priya stood up, trying to block the screen from her. She was sure Riley was not involved, but she still was not cool with a civilian taking part in an active investigation, however cool she was with her partner. "With all due respect, Riley, this is a police matter. This is evidence and if it's seen by an outside party it could mean it can't be used in court if it ever comes to that. No ill will meant." Priya would wait for Riley to step back outside and glared at Roy. No, she would not listen to what he had to say, if anything. Riley would not be involved. Not right now.

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

_{His childhood bedroom. Caesar sometimes comes back here to think.}

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Location: La Hacienda
Skills: N/A

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Benicio knew that this situation had turned from something touching and/or computer-frying and turned it into a thing more and more like the family business. Naturally, that meant that Caesar would make his appearance very soon, and it was best if little Liam wasn't around to distract any of them. "I'm going to go find Maria, okay Angelita?" he offered up in neutral tone, stepping lightly toward the door leading to the interior balcony. "Yeah, sure..." replied Thalia quite absently, poring over the information being revealed to her. It was still exciting stuff, whether or not she could understand the significance.

The one guy in the building who probably could make full sense of it, or at least more sense, was swiftly approaching from below. His path was taking a little longer than expected, having to navigate around his impressively large family, but when he finally made his way around, over, and through, he could see his dear brother descending the stairs from the wing's bedrooms. And carrying his only grandson. Only legitimate grandson, at any rate. In passing, Caesar gave him a long, slow look, wondering what manner of random, stab-worthy information he was about to be made privy to, and debating grabbing the man and hauling him back with him. No, not while he had Liam. "Find a place for the boy and come back. Real soon." he intoned. Not quite an order, but a highly suggestive intonation. Benicio nodded, gave little Liam a comforting bob up and down, and continued on his way.

Caesar opened the door to Thalia's bedroom slowly, as if expecting something surprising to jump out at him. When it did not, and his young niece waved him in, he did so with minimal hesitation. "An Angel has the secret." he repeated, referencing the video that Alicia had made for him. "That's you. You've got something for me. I was wondering when this would come up." He continued from the video, "A Father has the key." He could readily guess that it meant his brother the priest. "That's your Pops. But what I don't get is the last part. She says to bury her, and something about The Future." Maybe that had to do with Liam, and wanting to keep him off the radar. Or maybe there was something more. "Show me what you have. Just know: Now that you've seen this, you're part of it. I'm very sorry."

They were scanning the data in earnest when Benicio returned. By that time, Caesar was already on his phone, sending a message back to Justice, California for Keystone, that son-of-a-bitch. He sent it to his company email, rather than as a text message, and titled the subject "French Omelette and Kippered Salmon". Maybe he would remember their prearranged code. Without mentioning anything specific, he gave a short message about Wentworth secure files uncovered, and to request information about their predecessors from Queensguard (without divulging anything about files). The old woman seemed to want to tell them something more than she did at their meeting, even going as far as to say that she and Alicia were of like mind about their future. Whether this was a ploy or not was beyond him, but if the last security company to deal with them uncovered something that got people killed, then their investigation had to turn toward Wentworth for the meantime.

...back in Justice, Queensguard R&D Industrial Complex...

Keystone and Vinters both received word that the screens had gone blank. As the interim Director had given them directions in the interim to keep an eye on the nefarious Mr. Wentworth, they were able to report that the last thing they saw him do, prior to the screens going out, was tap his glass. "Please tell me y'got vid on this fuckwit doin'it, yeah?" spoke Keystone, into his comm. It was responded to with an affirming grunt of "mmm hmm". The big man ran down the list of security protocol for an event such as this, unsure if the company had ever had to deal with a cyberattack from inside one of their complexes. But some things were granted, from a common sense perspective. Quietly, Keystone issued what orders he could, considering his limited grasp on technology of this nature. "Right. If'n this is an attack, we need to be informin' Ms. Queensguard right bloody now that her building sec is compromised. Second up, we're pullin' the plug on everythin' cept hardwired security 'quipment. Huang, I need you on the local server, right? Shut it down. Whitmore, you're makin' sure MSS still's got our intranet services so's we can least limp on one good leg, and Vinters? You're with me. I gots a call to make."

It likely wasn't what she wanted to hear, but the company's owner did give over her business card with contact numbers in case something came up. Well, it looked like something pretty huge just came up. Keystone breathed out a big sigh, and dialed the number for Elizabeth Queensguard.

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Monday May 22nd, 2017

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@Sigil @Morose @Dragoknighte @FantasyChic @Nallore

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Queensguard Research: The bartender shot Mali a look and then walked off to tend to others that were asking for drinks. Wentworth just smirked a bit. "I am rather surprised that Elizabeth would down grade anything but she is hardly the woman to be in charge, she lacks certain nuances of her predecessor," he said in passing as he glanced around slowly. His brow quirking at Malis question. "Oh why strike back when you can just sit back and watch a storm unfold?"

Shitstorms were unfolding that was for sure. Maria was down in Mexico, sitting back outside under an old tree. It might have seemed odd but it was Alicias favorite when she was smaller. She broke her leg falling from it when she was ten, climbed it in the cast the next day. Nothing kept that girl down.

Back at Queensguard, its own shit storm was occurring. All the monitors had gone down in the place, what ever eyes they had had on people were no more. The phone rang a few times and it could be heard by Mali and Wentworth, who were standing but ten feet from Elizabeth and several others. Crowded room though, so made things a bit harder to get through. "Just a moment," she told those she was speaking with before answering the phone. "Yes, what is it?" she asked.

A Safehouse in the Deadlight District: Roy glanced over at Priya and sighed a bit. Reaching up he rubbed his face and then stood himself, shutting the screen and handing the lap top over to his new partner. "Listen, we should take a walk," he suggested before glancing over at Riley. "Hey, listen, just sit tight a few minutes. Have dessert. There is some cheese cake slices in there and some cookies. "

He didn't like the idea of brushing Riley off right then but felt he had to have a moment with Priya and it was safer for two cops to be walking around outside who were fully trained than an easily to spot celebrity who just learned how to handle a gun that morning. Well at least safely. She had killed someone less than a year ago but that was one of those do or die scenarios.

"Come on, want to tell you a few things," he said as he stepped over to the door. It was time to fill in his Partner on more shit than she was aware of yet. Stepping outside he lit up a cigarette and took a long puff while he waited. This was going to be interesting to explain. He just hoped it went as well as him telling Rogue.

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Roy's Safe House
Skills: N/A

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Riley looked towards Pyira and Roy for a moment as the two suddenly went hush hush about everything, something she really, really hated and sighed slightly lifting her arms up and gave up on trying to find out. "Fine, I get it." Riley said as she turned around and went back to sitting down on the couch. The thought of them that they either didn't trust her or treated her like a suspect made her feel uneasy, at least that's what she got the vibe off of Pyira. "I'll be right here then, do whatever the hell you guys want to." Riley said as she laid herself down on the couch, watching as Roy started to make his way towards the door.

She really just wanted to get out of here, as she started to take out the phone again, she did start to think about just sneaking out while they were out. But they would certainly think of her guilty of something, not to mention she was in a really shady part of the city, even though she could defend herself. She really just wanted to get back to her apartment and try and get back to a somewhat normal life, though less than a year ago when she killed her former classmate gone serial killer, she shuddered slightly at the thought back in that haunted house.

[Morose]

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Iris Kingston

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Location: Justice Asylum
Skills: Perception, Psychology, Photographic Memory, Intuition

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Iris mentally went through Marc's instructions one last time after he ended the call. She couldn't help but wonder if her cousin would end up on the scene - but she imagined she would. Cecily was the coroner after all and they had a dead orderly in an isolation ward. She pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment, feeling the stress begin to build up, before she began to dial the extension for the front desk. She didn't know if the police had already arrived and had been headed off, but it didn't matter. Iris trusted Tinder and she was going to follow his instructions. This was his area of expertise, after all - not hers. It would have been a violation of professional courtesy to do otherwise.

Once she heard the call go through, Iris would then explain to Nurse Cratty what Agent Tinder had just told her. "Please let the police investigate the scene in full," Iris said simply. She then ended the call and took a deep breath. What situation was Agent Tinder in? The thought popped into her head as she replayed what he had said - he was in some sort of life or death situation. She supposed it was reasonable - he was a federal agent, after all. Yet it still gave her pause - and she couldn't help but imagine it somehow had something to do with Cynthia.

Meanwhile, Jaina was unconvinced that Lucas wasn't actually Prince Harry. She gave him a wink, as if playing along with the clever ruse. It was understandable that he didn't want Risa to know about it. It'd be a bit of a let down for someone who had once dated a Bazhooli to be dating a British prince. Still, the two of them seemed to be very cute together. Jaina couldn't help but grin for them - though she wondered what Prince Harry's actual profession was. Did he just drive Risa around in a car all day? How kind of him!

"And I'm an acrobat!" Jaina called out, not wanting to be left out. She gave a cheerful wave to the blonde woman at the door, as she got out of the car. She wanted nothing more than to do a million cartwheels at the moment. She always enjoyed doing cartwheels. She once had done one and landed on some bystander - but it had been so much fun! And besides, their face looked better after that anyways. It had been too symmetrical before. She was pretty certain she recognized the woman as Cynthia's mom. "Are you coming with us to the Circus?" Jaina asked excitedly.

[Dragoknighte]

Mali Anson

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Location: Queensguard
Skills:N/A

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The look he shot her hurt a bit, but it was expected. And it seemed to hit the mark as far as Wentworth went. Maybe if she could play her cards right she could actually get into his good graces. What to do after that, she had no idea. She couldn't exactly just call him up for favors or anything, and neither Zoie or Relic seemed particularly fond of the guy (Not like she was a fan either). In the back of her head, she figured that even in the best case scenario, she wouldn't have much to gain from this conversation.

But it would be a marginally better situation than she'd been in when she got there. For instance, it would be an ally that she had earned herself rather than through the proxy of Relic. Technically she had "earned" Relic as an ally, but that was entirely unintentional. More a matter of satiating her conscience than actually trying to make any sort of power play in the bigger picture. No, it would be her first sign to herself that she could actually affect things, even if only a bit. But back to the conversation at hand.

"I think I get it. Never interrupt your enemy when he is in the middle of making a mistake. Is that about right?" She hoped she was right with that assessment. But she was also worried what that could mean. If something was about to explode, or guys with guns were about to storm in, she didn't want to get caught in the crossfire. Then again, Wentworth didn't seem to be all that fussed by the whole situation, so whatever he thought was going to go down, probably wouldn't affect him directly. So from all this, she gathered that she should stick close to the guy and don't piss him off. Lower her already too-high-for-comfort chances of dying tonight.

It was around now that she realized if she had gone and punched the guy earlier, she would have gotten herself in serious shit. Way more than would be immediately obvious from the simple fact of punching a dude while at a party. Silently, she thanked those old anger management sessions from back in high school. Yet again they saved her bacon.

Mali's eyes flicked over towards the source of the phone alarm with a mix of curiosity and annoyance. What? Couldn't you have your phone on silent for one night? But it could also be really important. Mali shifted her stance just a bit so her ear would be pointed closer to Elizabeth and her phone call. She'd try to keep tabs on it as best as she could without leaving Wentworth. She was still being a distraction after all.

[FantasyChic]

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Priya Khurana

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Location: Safehouse
Skills: N/A

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Riley wasn't a suspect. Not in the purest sense of the word. But this was a police investigation. They were police officers. Riley was not. Riley was a singer and despite Roy's praise of the girl, she was not someone who had to find out anything involving this case. She could sense Riley's anger, and to be fair, she understood. Before Priya could offer kind words in return, Roy stood up and asked her to follow him.

It made Priya somewhat uncomfortable. Like she was about to be chastised and she wasn't about to go along with that since she had been doing her job. She followed Roy outside as he lit up. "Look, I get it. You like her. I like her too. But Roy, whatever relationship you two have built before I came on to the scene doesn't matter. She should not be privy to evidence in an investigation. Unless you know something I don't?" Priya would let Roy explain, in the hopes that this would all make sense.

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

_{His childhood bedroom. Caesar sometimes comes back here to think.}

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Location: La Hacienda
Skills: N/A

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Caesar was a few seconds away from legitimately losing his shit. From what was witnessed issuing from the youngest Gonzalez just prior, not to mention the massive cleanup necessary, it can be assumed that when a more experienced patriarch loses his shit, it was epic. The last such time that Caesar (metaphorically) misplaced said feces, he was in an undisclosed location in Chile and the body count was beyond massive. There was fire, there was an execution by car, there was even the strategic use of tropical fish in one instance. Axes, flagpoles, machetes; there was very little he did not use in the pursuit of his goal. Of course, the operation was supposed to be a surgical strike involving taking out a specific target and securing enough evidence for the local government to move on the operation.

What actually happened was that they pissed him off and he ripped through them like a bad burrito. And let's face it, Caesar Hannibal Gonzalez was One Bad Burrito. He was kind enough not to charge the government extra. Besides, the hard currency and guns he liberated from the complex more than made up for his trouble and medical expenses. That wasn't even the best example of him totally losing his shit, just the most recent prior to taking MSS international. When pressed, Caesar was a goddamned Fecalangelo.

Now, the reason why he was headed into a state of imminent crap-displacement was because of the information that was pulled up on Thalia's monitor. While the younger woman could not make the connection, her uncle was beginning to. One of those names, Diana: Code name for one of the members of Juno, specifically the roller derby team. He knew of her as Amy Chang, but according to this, "Diana" was a lady named Valerie Pye. At least it was back in 1983.

"Angel, listen close. I don't want you getting any more involved than you have to, okay? M'hija's dead because of this. You get me? Dead. I know it hasn't hit me as hard as it's going to. Not yet. The job isn't done."

Scanning over the file, Caesar noticed that some already finished their own job back in '83. In a church, no less. The names were familiar from the Juno lineup, with one exception. Oddly, that name was, itself, Juno. It might be an organization now, but thirtysome years ago is was a person. And that wasn't all; every one of the names on the list were dead, killed in that very same church, except for one. And a child.

"As long as we're in a secure location, I want you to run a search for me." So much for not pursuing the investigation out of respect for Alicia. It seemed like striking while the iron was hot and while they and the means to do so quickly and quietly offered a better alternative to respect: Revenge. Or a step closer to it. "Find out if Valerie Pye is still alive, Angel. Her and that kid that survived, if you can. Everything you can on her. That's for start." Indeed it was just a start. Almost as a hunch, he continued, "And see what you can pull up on Elizabeth Queensguard. How old she really is, what she was doing around '83." Oh, there was more. Much more. The small amount of information uncovered could keep him digging for weeks, if he felt the need to be obsessive. Hopefully, uncovering one or two pieces of the puzzle would snowball them into more. For starters, who this mystery woman is and how she ties into everything else imploding in Justice, CA.

...meanwhile, back at the party...

Keystone had his ear to the phone, listening to the steady repeat of electronic ringing. A second, quieter sound interrupted the ringing, causing Keystone to whisk the phone away from his head for a second to see that he had received a message from Caesar. A company Email tucked into a secure but nonessential folder with a subject titled "French Omelette and Kippered Salmon". A curious header, but one that he could not look into immediately. It was only when Mrs. Queensguard picked up the phone on her end that he realized that it might be important. Very important. As soon as he was off of the line, he was going to look into it. But first...

"Mrs. Queensguard, ma'am, this's Keystone with MSS. If'n you'd be as chipper as to not react to the next words, I'd be grateful, yeah? Right then: The complex is under a cyberattack right bloody now. Security feeds're down, an' we're bettin' there's someone on your payroll what's helpin'. More on, that knobslob Wentworth looks like he's passin' signals. I've got a bloke what's gonna take your server physically off the plug in a mo' till my Tech team can get it sorted, and I'm waitin' to 'ear back from teams on foot 'bout intrusion, if any. On the now, just in case there's bronzecockery afoot, I advise you duck for a powder and we get you offsite quiet-like. Otherwise, we'll keep on the job. 'Ow're you wantin' this 'andled?" Truly, the Cockney was strong with Keystone this evening.

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Monday May 22nd, 2017

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@Sigil @Morose @Dragoknighte @FantasyChic @Nallore

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Queensguard Research: "Exactly, patience is a virtue that normally pays off in spades," he said as he stood there and then took a long sip of his drink. His eyes stayed on Elizabeth though as he stood there. The woman kept the phone close to her ear and it didn't look as if she was reacting at all to what was being told her to even though there was a long silence as she stood there before she finally spoke. "Yes, that is understandable. Continue forward using what avenues are needed. I will be along after the event has concluded and we can confer then," she said before hanging up the phone.

One of the women standing next to her spoke, it was McCormick. "As I was saying, the new contracts should be completed and we can proceed with crossing of T's and dottings of I's when it is most convenient," the Admiral of the Navy said. Elizabeth nodded as she slipped her phone back into her pocket.

"Yes, we can adjourn to the meeting room shortly to take care of that matter," she said as her eyes turned and landed on Wentworth. "Well, it is nice to see that you were able to make it this evening, I was wondering if you were going to come considering everything that has transpired."

"Business is business and pleasure is pleasure," Wentworth said before turning his attention back to Mali. "So tell me, is this your first Queensgaurd event?" he asked before scratching his ear a little bit.



A Safehouse in the Deadlight District: Roy looked over towards Riley and sighed. He hated keeping her out of the loop right then but there were some things he needed to say. It wasn't anything that Riley didn't already know but depending on how Priya reacted it might be best for them to be outside. At least for now. He gave Riley a strained smile and told her he would be right back before making sure he and Priya were fully outside and the door was shut.

As the woman spoke he listened and waited for her to finish before he began. "I would hope I know more about this than you do considering you have been on the clock a few hours in this town. If this was New York I would defer to you but this is Justice, so it's my turf." He wasn't being short or harsh as he spoke, he was just being matter of fact.

"This town, and many other places are run by an organization known as Juno, I work for them. Not because I want to. They got to me. I came clean to my partner and Riley. They know the deal. Yes she is a civilian but Riley is in the middle of this. Her roommate is my partner. Who I consider a partner. Not who was assigned to me. We are neck deep in some serious shit and keeping Riley out of the loop, breaking protocol or not, is putting her life in danger. She is a major target and the cops at our precinct are on the books, they are crooked. Shit, most of the fucking town is one way or another. Riley and my partner are one of two that I am sure are not. So they have my trust."

He left it at that for now. Glancing around he kept an eye out and wondered if they were going to be okay being out like that for long.

The Sound Of Madness: Nurse Cratty nodded. "Yes Doctor, I will," she said before hanging up the phone. "This way," she added to the police and showed them to the stairs. Walking up them and explaining they had had a break out and in the process an orderly had been killed. This made the cops pause and groan before sending word through to the station that they would need the forensics team and the morgue team to come pick up a body. Cratty showed them to Jainas room before excusing herself. She hadn't told them everything, kept it vague for now. She wasn't lying but she wasn't just going to be an open book. Dealing with these types for as long as she had made her wary. Stepping out of the room she glanced around and waited for the doctor to show up, that way the cops could talk to her directly. Cratty hadn't seen the murder so there was nothing more for her to say in her mind.

Cynthia ran over to Jaina and wrapped her arms around her friend, at the waist and hugged her tight. "Circus! Circus we're going to the circus!" she yelled as she bounced around still hugging Jaina. "Come paint me with me!!!" she added before grabbing her friends hand and pulled her over to the body. It was still warm.

"Yes, the Circus," Mom said before looking over at Risa. "Get what I wanted?" she asked and Lucas nodded as he pulled from his coat pocket a flash drive.

"The records from the Asylum you wanted." Lucas was all business now as he handed off the flash drive. Mom looked at it and then pulled from her back pocket an envelop.

"And the blue prints of Queensguard you wanted," she said as she handed it over to Risa.

"Good, you got them?" she asked as she looked over at Jaina and Cynthia.

"Yeah, we have a circus to visit and then the real fun begins," she grinned sadistically.

"Jaina, she's taking you to Bazhooli and then some more fun. I will see you later, with a big surprise," she said as Lucas took the envelop from Risa and the two made their way out. Before she left, Risa pulled out ceramic dagger and set it down. "Have fun with it, it's your ticket into the circus," she added before she caught up with "Prince Harry."

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Roy's Safe House
Skills: N/A

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Riley gave Roy a slight nod as she watched them close the door, she got up from where she was sitting and made her way over towards the table of food. She eyed the wings, she decided against going for the ass blowout wings she did not want to have bowl issues like Roy had, or even step foot into that bathroom. She could still get a small bit of the filthy stench that came from that room, and she was pretty sure that the floor wasn't cleaned either. It was certainly the last place she would want to go and do a number two in, sighing slightly, to herself.

Riley walked over to grab a plate, and started to grab herself a cheesecake slice, as well as a few cookies as well, she didn't mind getting a little bit of desert while she waited for them to come back. Once she grabbed what she wanted she made her way back over towards the couch and plopped herself down on it. Riley then started to eat one of the cookies, looking down at the phone Roy had given her, she was tempted to text either Marc, or Cecily see how they were doing, but she decided she'd do that a little bit later, as she grabbed the cheesecake slice and took a bite out of it, enjoying the little bit of time that she actually had to herself. But she still really irked her that she was out of the loop, but then again they were cops and they were simply doing their job.

[Dragoknighte]

Mali Anson

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Location: Queensguard
Skills:N/A

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So it seemed Wentworth as well was keeping a very close eye on what was being said by others at the party. At least that made things far simpler as far as socializing went. Although now that she thought about it, it made total sense. This was a big social event for a lot of who's whos, corporate execs and would-be social climbers. Why wouldn't people be spying on particular targets of interest for their own personal end goals?

Their interaction had been rather short up to this point in time, but Mali felt like she was gaining a lot of insight from Wentworth, whether it was intentional on his part or not. He wouldn't be her first choice for somebody to talk to, and she was still certain the guy was a colossal tool, but she also got the feeling that she could learn a lot from him even beyond the short term of 'what the fuck is going on with Queensguard.' She also didn't want to acknowledge it, but there was part of her that was enjoying being a shit, and encouraged her to go even further with the cattiness Wentworth seemed to respond to.

"My first Queensguard event, yes," Mali replied as she took a sip of her own drink. It would be best to keep the number of lies she had to tell to a minimum. The fewer falsehoods to keep track of, the less likely it was that you would fuck it up and out yourself for the total fraud you were. Besides, saying she had been to other events were possible avenues to him asking more questions that she'd have to make up answers for. She'd been doing well so far, but she wasn't going to push her luck any more than necessary.

"I can't say I expected much different than the affair here, however. Is every such 'party' Queensguard holds so..." Mali trailed the end of the question off, as if looking for the right word to describe the atmosphere. She hoped that Wentworth would be helpful and provided the most fitting adjective that would fit an upper class' elite's view of the party they'd found themselves in. But seeing much of what the guy had acted like, she was also about half certain that no such help would come. Either way, it would probably do its job of shifting the brunt of the speaking back towards Wentworth. Hopefully.

[FantasyChic]

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Priya Khurana

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Location: Safehouse
Skills: N/A

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Priya had not often worked with partners before. She much rather worked alone. However, given the fact she was new here and new to the department, she was prepared to give it a shot. She had to admit the partner comment brushed her the wrong way. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be partnered either, but she let him finish talking. It was the least she could do.

Once he was done, she shook her head. He had some decent points, but the fact remained. "I get it. I do, even if it doesn't seem like it, and I am prepared to protect Riley if it comes to that. However, what we saw on that video does not qualify as "need to know" information. We both saw her. This is bigger than I anticipated, though I was sure there was more going on. I defer to you. If you want to share it with her, go ahead. But I am voicing my concern for doing so here and now. Shall we, "partner"?" She emphasized that last word. If he rather not have her as a partner, then say so without the dig. She'd rather do this alone anyway. Especially if what he said was true about the other cops.

[Morose]

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Iris Kingston

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Location: Justice Asylum
Skills: Perception, Psychology, Photographic Memory, Intuition

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Iris took another breath to clear her head, before she headed back towards the scene of the crime. She was the only witness to the attack and she knew that the police would have questions for her. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd see her cousin again - Cecily was the coroner, after all. She made a mental note to ask Cecily how she was holding up - she knew that forensics couldn't have been an easy job, especially since Cecily didn't have any training when it came to autopsies.

She saw Cratty standing outside of the room and Iris gave her a bit of a strained smile. Positive thinking and self love wasn't going to change what had happened in there, but those were the main two tools in her toolbox. "₁Merci beaucoup," Iris said softly, before knocking on the door to let the officers know she was about to enter and stepping aside. "₂Bonjour, I'm Dr. Kingston," she introduced herself. "I witnessed the murder and the escape," she then explained.

Meanwhile, Jaina giggled and spun around in a circle as Cynthia hugged her. She headed over with Cynthia to the body, giving it a prod with her foot. "I think he's sleeping," Jaina explained with a giggle. She just didn't understand death - to her, it seemed fake - the ultimate conspiracy. The funeral industry made a killing out of something that wasn't even real! And so did so-called detectives, arresting people over nonsense. The more Jaina thought about it, the more it just didn't seem to add up.

"I'll have to teach you Russian before the show," Jaina squealed. She then turned and waved at Risa, before eagerly taking the knife. "It's gorgeous!" Jaina gushed, before turning and stabbing the corpse with it. "What a nice clean cut, too!" She pulled it out and stared at the blood dripping off the blade. She then cleaned it on part of the all white ensemble Risa had her wearing, until the blade was free of blood. "Y'know, Cyn, it's more fun to paint with them when they're moving!" Jaina said with a huge grin.

Translations

1 = Thank you so much
2 = Hello

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Monday May 22nd, 2017

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@Sigil @Morose @Dragoknighte @FantasyChic @Nallore

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Queensguard Research: Elizabeth eyed Wentworth for a moment before turning her attention back to McCormick and the others. They seemed to exchange a series of looks between each other but didn't say anything as of yet. Wentworth on the other hand was paying attention to Mali currently. "Yes..." he answered simply. Stepping a little closer to her and partially passed her he lowered his voice a bit. "Try to make sure it isn't your last," he said. Whether he was trying to warn her that this place was dangerous or just that he wouldn't mind seeing her again at the place was left up to interpretation.

Time was moving quickly but the system was not back online as of yet. Everything was still down and it seemed as if there was an interruption somewhere security couldn't figure out from where other than it was coming from the complex. Inside or out was yet to be determined. They were having to move off MSS's personal satellites right then, not the Queensguard system.

The group with Elizabeth moved off to a table and sat down out of ear rang from Wentworth and Mali, Wentworth seemed to be going down a bit of memory lane, he was speaking about his son. Talking about how he had been one hell of a computer expert and how he had hoped that he would take over the business one day.

Outside of the main complex a car pulled up to the gate and a woman handed over her invitation. Alexandria Benson and Marcus Debuz," she said as she looked out of the car.

A Safehouse in the Deadlight District: "I understand and yes this thing is fucking huge. It all started with two sisters..." Roy explained before going into Danica and Peyton, the two that had kicked it off and Boston Heights, where Riley lived being a main murder point. "Come on, lets get inside and I can explain more," he said before turning back. He wasn't keeping Riley out of this point. Hell she already knew all this.

Stepping inside he glanced over at Riley and gave her a bit of a nod. "Hey girl, sorry about that." He walked over and sat down before rubbing his face, this was a lot to fill his new Partner in on. "Danica Graves, she lived in Boston Heights. She apparently moved here to find out what happened to her sister Peyton. Different last names so no one knew. Thing was I was on Peytons case and made to cover shit up. Danica was thrown off the top of the building across the street, or fell off, it's all a blur. That was when I had enough, I couldn't keep it up anymore. After Danica died, more shit started to happened. It was like a snow ball effect. That was when Lawson got killed, Lawson was married to a girl that went to High School with Riley here. Tinder went to the same High School with them," he explained. There was so much to cover.

"What hadn't hit was that the man that Riley killed, the serial killer Chris Malony, Riley... You remember his older sister Melissa?" he asked as he looked over to her. Melissa had gone to Grimm High as well, but she graduated eight years before them. She had died during her graduation trip to Egypt. Bombing in Cairo, only ashes were returned. "She... She's Regina Eilheart, the media mogul," he let out as he opened the lap top and pointed to the screen where she was walking out of the warehouse before Lawson arrived that day. "She's obviously not dead."

Justice Asylum: Nurse Cratty was glad that the doctor was taking over on this. It would be easier to listen and see what the doctor was saying to know what could be repeated and figure out maybe what couldn't. "Yes, please, tell me what happened," the police officer said as his partner called things in. The forensics department would need to get in there, not only to get the body but any evidence.

"Are there cameras?" he asked. Cratty looked over towards the doctor and shook her head slightly. Yes they had cameras but they had been messing up since the break out the day before, nothing was getting recorded. A memo had gone out about it but Cratty wasn't sure if the doctor had had a chance to read it as of yet.

"They are down, state funds don't really call for emergency tech teams to get in here and fix it. We get repairs about as often as you get raises," Cratty said in a huff.

The cop nodded. "So never," he said with a smirk before looking back at the doctor. "Well just tell me as best you can what went down here."

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

_{His childhood bedroom. Caesar sometimes comes back here to think.}

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Location: La Hacienda
Skills: N/A

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"Mmm hmm..." muttered the half-blood niece, establishing countermeasures and launching a broad inquiry into anything related to the name Valerie Pye starting in the 1980s and moving upward. She reached out to whatever contacts still owed her that were online at the time, established wide nets looking for keywords related to the incident, and kicked over as many virtual rocks as possible in the form of old newspaper articles and police reports made public. While having multiple screens would have made more sense to her, she was very proud of her SOTA laptop. It did the job more than well enough.

Of course, hindsight was usually a certain master, as it was here. A simple search on the matter was able to pull up a little information of Ms. Valerie Pye, who still resided in Justice. "Riiight..." started Thalia, scribbling down a few notes that she intended to burn later. "Your girl here, Val? Lives in Justice, California. Imagine that. She's been living in the Diamond Hotel for the last, oh... ten years. Old girl is seventy-three, and is living like a damn queen. Nothing on the kid yet..." she began to type furiously, then sat back for a moment, waiting on results to come in. She looked up at her grizzled and partially drunk uncle, ad reached for the bottle of mescal in his hand with a pouty expression on her face. Caesar looked down at her, sighed heavily, and handed it over. He could no more deny his niece than he ever could have his daughter. She was family, the future of the Gonzalez line. They even shared the same hazel eyes.

When the bottle changed hands, Caesar turned to his sat phone, punching in information as fast as he could read the little Angel's scrawled handwritten notes. A little more information to pass along to Keystone back in Justice.

...meanwhile, back in Justice...

Keystone was having nary a slice of happy while all hell was quietly breaking loose in a quiet and painfully efficient fashion. Their security feeds were down and that guy Huang was hopefully at or near the main server, taking the whole thing physically offline and giving it a once-over. The possibility of confrontation was present, but Keystone needed the team on specific tasks. Ibanez was serving as the technological go-between, holding down the fort at the Hub, and the ever quiet Whitmore was giving him the thumbs-up that MSS's tech was primarily unaffected by whatever was going on. Well, except for the security cameras. Not to mention the message updates from his boss in Mexico; another distraction that was probably important, but nothing he could address in more than a cursory manner until the immediate threat was dealt with.

There lingered the thought that whomever was doing all of this wanted MSS to shunt Queensguard's operations through their systems and infrastructure. Well, nothing could be done about it now. That was something to worry about in a few minutes, maybe. Right now, the cameras were out and for whatever reason the on-site report he had ordered simply hadn't come in yet. "Bloody, fongin' 'ell..." he muttered. He was going to have to look into this himself. "Vinters, you packin' a sidearm?" he inquired, looking over at the blonde lady with a grim face who had been shadowing him for this thusfar exercise in futility. She responded to the affirmative, motioning to her 9mm company issue Glock. Keystone nodded and pointed toward the door.

"Let's go see to our men, yeah? Nearest security checkpoint's up the corridor a ways. Keep in radio contact with Ibanez. Full sweep." Keystone pulled his own .50 hand cannon and started in the direction he had just pointed, Vinters coming up close behind in standard 1 x 1 cover formation. She was with the Tech crew, but she was trained just like every other security agent since joining MSS. This was part of it. "Checkpoint'll 'ave logs an' bigger guns, if'n we think on needin' 'em. Our people should be there, but why they ain't answerin's beyond me. We run a circuit, report back to the Hub as needed."

And so the went off, firearms at the ready, to assess the areas that their cameras could not.