Clatter in the Alley

[ Clatter in the alley ] There are two reason's people come to Chinatown. The first, was the food. Pretty simple
really. Sure there were other restaurants in other parts of the city, but no place had the variety that Chinatown
did. Nor the availability. If your favorite Thai place was full, you could simply head over to the OTHER Thai
place too close to be economically viable. At least, it would be too close, if this weren't Chinatown.
The other thing people come to Chinatown for is anonymity. Most people could ease through the crowds
constantly around and blend right in with locals and hungry out of towners. There were always deliveries
being made, always re-stocking. Always distribution.
This part of the city was almost always alive. And loud. And bright, especially as the sun finally sets.
[ Nathan Spriggs ] Today, the weather's cloudy with rain following soon from the looks of it, off the streets and
shifting through the alleys was a man in a light brown trench coat, white shirt and red tie, and black business
pants. He was searching for an address and at the same time checking the alleys to see how many cats were
hanging around these days.
It was a preventive measure to avoid later surprises, even though preliminary scans had chalked up the place
as empty. His lucky card was placed on the inside of his pocket and secured to avoid losing it, with both his
weapons holstered in place and armor on underneath the clothes. Even if it was supposedly safe, he was
ready for a damn war.
[Marianna Engmani] It seemed that the local alleycats were in good company, a certain Dreamspeaker sitting
among their ilk, wet miserable and doing something...at least it seemed like she was mumbling something
under her breath as she left tins of canned tuna about. A small plague of citybeasts loitering about her feet.
From the looks of it, Anna didn't seem the least bit pleased, she wasn't an animal person, but she had
promised to keep an eye out for the city and its denizens...even the mangey, smelly, and generally repugnant
members...
Speaking of which...Anna grinned as she saw the familiar form of her favorite asshole. She tossed the last
can aside and walked forward toward the Cultist. "Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnate...." Her voice was eerily sing-song
as she tried to call out the haggard looking fella. "Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate"
[ Clatter in the alley ] [Mrow?]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 2, 2, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[ Nathan Spriggs ] [Perc + Alert]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 (Success x 1 at target 6) [WP]
[ Clatter in the alley ] The cats come in droves, apparently from everywhere. Nathan knows this. He knows
how easy it is to draw them out. Most eat revenously. Some scrap quickly with one another, leaping from
tin-can to tin-can. A few of them stop, turn frightened eyes to Marianna as she moved off. Eyes gleaming in
the distant streetlight as they travel with her, to settle on Nathan.
And then...
They go back to eating.
Amusingly, this happened to address he was looking for. Or at least the alley he was looking for.
[ Nathan Spriggs ] [What kinds of cats are these? Perc + Aware]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 6, 6, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[ Clatter in the alley ] (They're witchy Cats)
1/4
[ Nathan Spriggs ] As he found Anna in the alleys playing with the cats, his eyebrows quirked for a moment in
an inquisitive look, followed by a sigh. "What's up Anna?" Meanwhile, he studied the cats as they walked
away, the smelly, mangey little bastards. Nothing felt strange about them but this many this close to the
address? No, something was off, and goddammit he'd find it.
First, he took out a small pen from his pocket and drew a sigil on his right palm, concentration on it, he
brought it up to his head and pressed it against his face, eyes concentrating on it for a moment. His attention
was elsewhere, however, concentrating on something else.
[Matter 1, matter-o-vision; base diff 4 (-1 rote)]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 8, 8 (Success x 2 at target 3)
[Marianna Engmani] Well maybe it was the fact that Anna was communing with the spiritual world that
Nathan was getting the heebiejeebies, but then again, he wasn't the smartest tool in the shed. Maybe he just
forgot that Anna was Dreamspeaker...or...maybe he was just high.
"Not much Nate, I was just...um...working. What about yourself?" Not that she was going to get an answer,
since well, Nathan was so clever, he wouldn't tell her what was going on, until something horrible happened.
[ Clatter in the alley ] Things Nathan Detects: Muscle. Hair. Sinew. Fat. Titanium. Iron. Tin. Copper. Gold.
Asphalt. Concrete. Paper.
to Nathan Spriggs
[ Nathan Spriggs ] He looked to Anna for a moment, scanning her features for a moment. "I'm on some work
stuff. Gimme a sec and I'll explain." Nathan looked around for a moment, memorizing the number of cats and
how they looked like before taking an index card from his pocket and writing something on them with the pen
in his other hand.
When he was done writing, he gave the index card to Anna, "Here, this should cover it."
[Marianna Engmani] "Robot cats don't eat tuna." Anna said with a roll of her eyes, but she was by this point,
used to the paranoia, but it wasn't her concern as she looked over the card with a skeptical tilt to her
eyebrows. "So, what are you doing about it?" Or more importantly: What was he going to ask her to do? That
seemed a bit more of an applicable concern.
[ Nathan Spriggs ] "These ones do, seen it myself." Another look around, ignoring her idiotic assumptions, why
did life seemed to make his life impossible, time and time again. By this point, he was used to it. Now Nathan
would just need to figure out how to get her out of the way. "I'm investigating, you're either getting out of here
or tagging along? Either way, try not to get in the way and mention anything out of place." Hopefully she'd
understand such a simple request.
[Marianna Engmani] Anna frowned, and crossed her arms across her chest. "Back the fuck up slapnuts, I
was here first. You're the one that disrupted my job. SO you know what? Why don't you get the fuck out, and
go play Dale Gribble somewhere else." She wasn't going to get pushed around right now, and definitely by a
two-bit piss poor 'dick' like Nathan.
[ Nathan Spriggs ] [Fuckin' hell; WP]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 3, 6, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[ Nathan Spriggs ] "Tell it to someone who gives a shit. You can stay out here for all I care." With that, he
turned away to check the backdoor to the place, trying to make out what the locks were made of, their
complexity. Another idea, might help later on, who knows. Nathan took out a deck and started shuffling it,
sitting down to play solitaire for a moment.
2/4
[Entropy 1; adding detection of weak points in things to that matter-o-vision; base diff 4 (-1 rote)]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 3 (Success x 2 at target 3)
[Marianna Engmani] Well, it was utterly hilarious to watch Nathan huff off like a teenage girl, which was
enough to make Anna smile and play the world's tiniest violin for his sadness. "Oh don't be so butthurt Nate,
you have to admit, you sound like you've been reading nothing but tabloids and call it truth...so what? You
just trying to figure out who snuffed your computer fucker?" She was playing nice again when he wasn't being
an outright dick, at least NAthan always made her laugh.
[ Clatter in the alley ] Lock? What lock? There's a door there, yes. but the lock, the knob, the usual
accessories that made it a door are all absent, leaving gaping holes in the door where they used to be.
For whatever reason it's just...there. Relatively untouched. But not at all locked.
[ Nathan Spriggs ] Nathan turned his head to Anna, stifling laughter for a second as she jumped to
assumptions. "No need to jump to conclusions. But I can see your point. Anyway, we already know, now we
just need to actually find the fuck. That's not why I'm here though. So, you coming along or?" His voice was
casual rather than hostile, he wasn't trying to start an argument so much as just stating facts and asking her if
she wanted in or not.
If anything, she could serve as a great meatshield. Especially if she actually trusted the damn cats.
[Marianna Engmani] "Well, I might, but you have to step in first...you're gonna be my meat shield." Anna
waved Nathan along, sure she'd at least sniff around, if anything, old places like this had interesting things to
look at. The whole time she talked she had a pleasant amused sound to her voice, almost the same
sing-song she had greeted him with. "You know...I'm getting the feeling that you guys hunt a whole lot of
shit...but never catch anything. Is this true?" Hell they couldn't even catch a kid who was dead and now he
was apparently haunting the shit out of a kid. It was hilarious.
[ Nathan Spriggs ] "We catch stuff... from time to time. Rarely, but we do. Or at least I have, can't talk for
anyone else." She prodded him to go in, so he did, quietly opening the door and taking a step inside, eyes
scanned the inside. His eyes caught every detail of the layout, plus his senses told him what it all was. If
there were traps, he should notice it... hopefully.
[Marianna Engmani] "Heh." That just didn't seem very likely but she wasn't here to judge, but...she did it
anyways. "Well it helps to have credentials...which most of you don't have." Anna waved a hand about
dismissively as she looked around curiously, keeping an eye out for anything that could potentially kill her
ass.
[ Clatter in the alley ] The door opens to a narrow hallway. A narrow, dusty hallway. A narrow, dusty, dark
hallway. There seems to be a door on the other end of the hallway, but as they drift further in the door they
entered through swings closed, plunging them into darkness.
[ Nathan Spriggs ] Bam! The door swings shut, darkness, fuckin' great. He was stuck in there with a crazy
loudmouthed Dreamspeaker, in the dark, without anyone else. This was almost like being with Kaya, except
he didn't need to 'talk about his feelings' all the time. A step up after all. Still, his eyes closed, left hand
digging into the pockets and grabbing his clock as he concentrated. Time to figure out what happened here
before, and see if he could see what this trap involved originally.
[Time 2, looking into the past; base diff 5 (-1 rote, -1 unique foci)]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 10 (Success x 1 at target 3)
[ Nathan Spriggs ] [Time 2, looking into the past; base diff 5 (-1 rote, -1 unique foci) extended!]
3/4
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 5, 10 (Success x 2 at target 3)
[Marianna Engmani] Anna doesn't talk about her feelings, and she sure as hell wasn't going to do it with Nate
of all people. So for that the Cultist was safe, Anna yawned, and then dropped a few marbles from her pocket
to the floor, whispering to herself unintelligibly...
[ Clatter in the alley ] "Always approach with caution Henri or you'll get killed. It's better to assume it's
dangerous than to assume it's safe." The voice speaks quietly from the door they'd just passed through,
followed by a New Zealand accent whispering 'Ninja...'
A moment later a young man comes through the entrance they'd come. He's lean and muscular, with blond
hair and blue eyes. And a really big gun held poised in his hand. Behind him? A very familiar teenager with a
wild shock of hair, large goggles, and clanking toolbelt.
to Nathan Spriggs
[ Nathan Spriggs ] [Paused]
4/4