[Ben and Katherine have been talking for a bit since they finished their section a bit faster. All of you are meeting up in a house turned restaurant with a fair number of private rooms, one of which serves as an SAB meeting point.] [Red and Ari had actually been led here by a fairly elaborate route to avoid tails. Stopping, oddly, at a local library where they met up with Mai, who read a brief passage from a plain looking grimoire and then led you to meet up with the others.] [Katherine's presently in the bathroom.] [Start] (So what was the purpose of the passage?) (Anti scrying.) * Ari walks in, still dressed in her WiB outfit. Fear her! Or not. She nods to Ben. * Mai follows in, as well. She's holding the plain grimoire she used with both hands. * Ben nods back. He leans forward in his chair, exhaling a stream of smoke, and says, 'Ari. Red.' 'Mai.' (What time of day is it?) (Evening.) (Around 7 or so) Good evening. * Red stalks in, scowling. "Hullo, Ben, Mai. Where's Katherine?" 'Ladies' room.' Right. I'll wait for her to get back before sharing my bit, then. Ben. ::She carefully lays the book down on the table and puts both hands on it.:: I'm here if you need access to any SAB resources beyond what you can do on the pads. Just let me know. (Guns. Lots of guns.) ( "I need 7.62mm rounds with bullets made of some plot-heavy metal that no-sells magic." ) (Not within SAB resources) ( "Damn!" ) I suppose I should wait as well. Has Katherine already heard your part, Ben? 'Yeah. Andrews and I killed a few minutes going over our stories.' Then you can fill us in. * Red nods. "How'd your part go, overall?" * Ben takes a drag on his cigarette. 'I didn't find out much of immediate relevance, I'm afraid.' What did you find that is? 'That's unclear. I mostly ended up learning about the wands, whose relevance to the string of thefts is as yet undetermined. I also learned various things about the place's security, which is useful but again unenlightening.' * Red nods. More relevant to later investigation. * Mai sits around for now. 'The only directly relevant thing that I learned was that someone claiming to be a private investigator was also there pretending to be a parent. She was allegedly investigating another theft, from an embassy.' What was stolen? 'An amulet.' * Ari nods. "Did she mention anything about the nature of the theft?" 'She subsequently attacked a teacher for unclear reasons, and was apprehended. I believe the S.A.B. will be acquiring custody of her.' We were contacted about that and have taken custody of the prisoner. At the moment, she's at an arcane detention facility and apparently groggy and quite uncooperative. We haven't found any confirmation of her story. I see. 'She did not specify details about the theft she claimed to be looking into.' So it is possible that there wasn't one, and she was investigating on her own. An embassy theft? How interesting. 'I have no clue how much of what she told me was true, as I lack any independent verification.' * Mai nods. * Red nods. "We can probably get confirmation or denial through diplomatic channels later. We'll have to, eventually." Did she say what embassy was robbed? 'I was going to ask her, but didn't have the chance.' * Red nods. * Katherine walks in about now. Trumpets sound! Or not. "Good afternoon." She goes to have a seat. (I didn't hear any trumpets. I did. But you can hear the concert hall three towns over.) * Ari nods to her. * Mai smiles. "Afternoon." No, it's actually a rotten afternoon. But it's good to see you intact, Katherine. (Hee!) For whatever that's worth. Discover anything useful? We did and we didn't. * Katherine frowns a little, but she nods. I'm pretty certain I know who the culprit is, the general area where the stolen items are, and such. I have no concrete proof... but I know someone who does. * Katherine taps at the end of a piece of silverware. "Proof's good. Who?" 'Sounds like you had better luck than either Andrews or I. What have you found?' The leader of the group of aspiring wizards who did this is most likely Mallory Corwin. Why he's doing this is anyone's guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's to bait SAB. He seemed to hate us, you see. Thought we were evil incarnate. I had a chat with him tonight, and I think I may have changed his mind somewhat. An important auxiliary to the crimes was Maris Richmond, and Isaac Maddox was, of course, involved. * Ben nods. 'You mentioned some sort of proof, Red?' Honestly, I think he could go far with some training in being an agent. He's quite resourceful, and it'd be a waste to throw him in jail. * Ari frowns slightly. Yes, proof. During dinner, Luther Hurst had a talk with young Isaac. This talk left Isaac rather shaken. From this, and from Isaac's reaction in my interview with him, I decided that Hurst must have gotten a confession, or something like it, out of him. * Ben looks at Ari and raises an eyebrow inquisitively. * Katherine sighs. "Hurst. Of course." I found that Maddox had been doing research on some of the stolen items. He is also involved in the procurement of certain external goods. 'What ties Mallory to Maddox?' Yes, Hurst. After my interviews with two of the students, I went looking for him, and we ran into each other. By that time, he'd learned of or deduced the presence of our investigation, and he wanted to sell me the information from his interview with Isaac. Mallory and Maddox are friends, I'd guess. Or else Mallory recruited him. He is rather popular. But we need a solid link. That's the problem. Taking Hurst's word for it won't necessarily give us that, even if he has what he says he does. 'Do you have any actual evidence, even circumstantial, to tie Mallory to the crimes, other than his friendship with Isaac?' I found no concrete evidence tying Mallory to the thefts. Maddox and Mallory met for flying lessons, but that is the only connection I discovered. I searched through their computer accounts. No. I have - or will have - the confession of someone who committed the crime, however. (Is Red saying that like a vow, or like she's just stating a fact?) (She's swearing on the bible.) ( No, she isn't. ) * Mai listens with interest. 'Who?' Isaac. 'I still don't see the tie to Mallory.' Ben pauses for a second to puff on his cigarette. 'This might not be his story after all.' We have video evidence placing him at the scene. And if what Hurst got from him wasn't worthwhile, he wouldn't be asking so much for it. Whatever he is, he isn't stupid. Video evidence of Mallory? No, of Isaac. 'Oh, Isaac is almost certainly involved. I just don't see that we have anything to tie Mallory to Isaac beyond known association under other circumstances, and that lets in half the students.' Mallory is just a strong suspicion. If his bunch were involved, it'd explain everything very neatly. I could even be wrong. 'I think Mallory's bunch is involved. Isaac, at the very least.' * Red shrugs. "Well, then." 'So, what exactly did you find out, Red?' I found out that the stolen items are probably in the town near the school rather than the school itself, unless Hurst isn't as competent as he believes he is. On the other hand, I also found out how they could have been smuggled into the castle. 'How'd you learn that?' Hurst conducted a search of the castle, for one. For the other, I interviewed Crystal Moonbeam, who has a hobby of smuggling things into the school. 'Hurst's search not turning anything up isn't proof positive, but it's a good indication that if anything is there, it's well hidden. Or that he's in on it.' Or that, yes. 'What did Crystal tell you?' * Mai keeps listening with interest. * Katherine is absorbed in her fork. It's shiny. (That's the second time today Ben has seen Katherine stare at her shiny fork.) (It's shiny! >_<) (Though I guess she could switch to knives or something.) ( Katherine + knives = bad idea) (Dood, she's got a gun now. We're all going to die. >_>) (Obviously, we must meet next time at a place with dingier silverware.) (It's cause she spent time as a bird, isn't it?) She told me how she would have smuggled in an object of about the size of the crystal ball. For one part of it, a spell is required that very few students at the school can cast - one of these being Maris Richmond. 'Maris? Interesting. We've learned a few things about her.' * Katherine snorts softly at that. Oh? Do tell. (What's Katherine snorting at?) (Maris. Stupid Maris.) * Katherine speaks up, though. "She's in the habit of buying banned books. Namely, ones concerning magic for those with none and cybermancy." 'Maris lacked magical powers when she entered the school. She is currently believed to be among their best mages... with the use of a wand.' * Katherine nods. How interesting. 'Especially considering our questions about the wands...' Please elaborate. 'The wands channel energy from student to student, siphoning the strong to provide for the weak.' 'Mallory in particular is a power source of some potency. The drain of his powers aids the faculty in keeping him under control.' How interesting. And how unlucky for the strong. That, I did not realize. Ah, interesting. 'The power may be stored in a central location.' Now I definitely want to get him on our side. Or at least make sure he isn't hostile to us. 'Alvar confirmed that there was an area on campus that students were not allowed due to its dangerous highly magical contents. That may or may not have been it.' * Ari blinks. "I think I might have stumbled across it." * Katherine interjects, "I'd think it would have to be. I don't know how it would- oh?" Oh? Their computer networks seem to possess magical properties. I was following the flows and discovered a large store of power, concentrated above the dining hall. 'Oh, yeah, the wireless network. I theorize that it channels the wand power around.' 'No evidence, just a theory.' * Red nods. The energy itself is not connected to the computer lab, though, but your theory seems to agree with what I have found. Excuse me. I need to use the ladies' room. * Red gets up and heads that way. 'So, Ari, what did you find out?' Oh Red, or the rest of you, is there anything you want me to investigate on the side while you're working through this? ('Yeah. Can you investigate these thefts of magical items I've heard about?) ( ''Cause we tried, and came up empty.' ) Can you find out what Isaac told Hurst? 'The murder of Mallory's parents. Also, find copies of the three books Andrews found in Maris' room.' * Katherine opens her mouth, then Ben says it before her. So she stops because her player is silly and forgetful. * Red goes to the restroom. * Ari shakes her head. "Very little concrete evidence, as I have said. The students are smart enough to not leave much electronic evidence. I did find some sort of odd magical blockage when I tried checking Rica Ockley's account." I can contact Luther if you like, but don't have any other means. I'll get on the rest. Ari, could I borrow your datapad? * Ari nods. "Certainly." She hands Mai her datapad. * Mai takes it and gets working. She then focuses for a moment and the book in front of her vanishes and she suddenly looks a lot less solid. She can still interface with the pad apparently, because she gets to work. The only people to have done research on the stolen items were Maddox and, some while after we arrived, Hurst. 'I think we can be reasonably certain that Isaac is involved in the thefts,' Ben says drily. * Katherine coughs into her hand. Probably to avoid the incoming snicker. Well, yes. 'What else did you find? * Mai looking a lot less solid, specifically meaning that she's looking partially transparent, although otherwise unchanged. (Not liquid?) (No) (Plasma Mai!) 'And what sort of thing was blocked in Rica's file?' Other than the unusual network, not much. Should I have been looking for less solid evidence? * Ben sighes. He reaches for a new cigarette and lights it off the old one. 'No. Sorry, Ari. I'd just hoped that you'd had more luck than I had.' I couldn't quite tell. It was like I hit a wall of sorts, although it seemed adaptable and almost anticipatory. * Katherine blinks. "Anticipatory?" I'm certain that it was magic. And I am sorry that I could not produce anything more. 'We all are, except maybe Red, who's happy with her unproven suspicions.' * Katherine sighs. "Well. All I discovered, outside of what's been said, is Maris is extremely paranoid. Even more so than Isaac. Speaking of him, letters from his parents don't even mention names, other than Maris, who was helping him study." * Mai seems to hit a break in her research and looks up. She then puts both of her hands on the table and two books appear in them. The sides read "Subatomic Thaumaturgy" and "Magic for Mundanes: Realizable Dream or Cruel Lie?" * Katherine blinks as Mai produces them. He is something of a genius with charms, though, which explains how he would have dealt with the guards. 'Our one actual mystery solved,' Ben says with a slight smile at Katherine. 'Only seventeen more to go.' * Katherine nods. "Only seventeen." 'I also think Isaac has a crush on Rica, for whatever that's worth. And I find it interesting that Maris is looking into the question of whether people without magic can develop it, when she's supposedly the poster child for proving that they can.' * Mai glances down at her pad for a moment, sighs briefly, and then looks back up. "Do any of you have training in dealing with an unbound grimoire?" * Ari shakes her head. 'Experience, not training. It didn't go well, though...' * Katherine blinks. "No actual experience, no." * Ben holds out his hands to Mai. (* Mai jumps into his arms. "Benny, I didn't know you cared!") (Augh, my BRAIN.) (Ari's just jealous 'cause she's hot for Ben. :P ) (Again, my BRAIN.) * Mai concentrates and with a flash a copy of "Cybermancy in a Post-Internet Age" appears in her hands. She holds it carefully. "And after that experience you know all the tricks?" 'You never know all the tricks.' [Unlike the version Katherine handled this again looks like a completely plain book.] * Mai holds it out to Ben with a slight smile. "Good enough, then." * Ben reaches out with both hands and takes the book in them. 'You're clear. I've got it.' (* hands Ari a rare earth magnet. "You might want this.") * Mai lets go. "These two just discuss magic. They're fine." * Mai gestures to the ones on the table. * Mai then goes back to her datapad. * Ben opens the book and begins to read it quickly. He doesn't read it aloud and he doesn't subvocalize. (What sort of information do I get from my Crit Success? 'Cause I *own* this Grimoire.) * Katherine reaches over, picks up Subatomic Thaumaturgy, and starts flipping through it. Given she's not about to be discovered this time and, y'know, not a bird, she's probably getting a bit more. May I look at the cybermancy one? * Mai looks to Ari. "I'll go over how to handle it when Ben's done." * Ari nods. * Mai goes back to work. Currently the only untaken book is the one on Magic for Mundanes. (By one.) * Katherine finishes flipping through the book and sets it down. "Not particularly helpful," she comments, probably to herself, as she picks up the Magic for Mundanes one. She starts the process all over again. Yee haw. (Another roll) (And two?) * Katherine reads and hrms. She holds her place and looks up, probably out of politeness, to see if the other two are finished. * Ben carefully closes the book, and does not put it down. * Mai looks up from her pad. "I have the details on Mallory's parents. They both were apparently kidnapped and missing for a period of a few months. They were both powerful wizards and had friends that were also such." (Ben and Katherine both read entire books in the time Red has been peeing.) (Oh, she died in the bathroom. I'll let you all know after this is over; I heard it.) 'Think you're up to handling a grimoire, Ari?' If you tell me how to properly handle it, then yes. 'First, don't put it down, ever. Never let go of it until you have confirmation that someone else has a firm grip on it.' 'Don't read it aloud. Don't move your lips. Don't subvocalize. Don't copy anything down verbatim.' * Ari nods. "What else?" Treat it with respect, don't dog-ear pages. 'Don't read spells if you don't have to. Don't stare at illustrations for more than thirty seconds at a time. If the book starts to talk to you, including inside your head, tell us immediately, but do *not* put it down.' * Mai nods at that, she goes back to looking over the data pad. 'If the words look different in your peripheral vision than when looked at directly, read both.' * Ari nods again, carefully remembering each piece of information. 'And if you get a paper cut, don't put the book down, and remove that hand *only* as quickly as possible so as not to let blood soak into the book.' ('If all pages are numbered 666, consult the index.') * Ben holds out the book. 'That's it. Tell me when you have a firm grip.' He won't let go until she does. * Ari reaches out and grips the book firmly. She holds onto it for a good few moments before saying, "I have it." 'Okay.' Ben lets go. * Ari opens it and begins to read. Her mouth does not move. She's still gripping it extremely tightly, so tightly that her knuckles are white, except when she has to turn a page. She does that very quickly and then returns to gripping it. ( Books? What are these... books?) (Ari is the anti-Giles.) (Yes, all this strange knowledge in a non-electronic format.) (Ari fears books anyway.) (They're so... antiquated.) (And no, she doesn't. She actually likes them, but you didn't see that mini. ^_~) 'By the way, that book would have been quite useful in both the defenses around Rica's account and hacking into any security system for the thefts. The information we have corresponds to things the book instructs. That doesn't mean the book, let alone this copy, is the only source of those cybermancy techniques, though.' So, his parents were missing for some time until they were found dead by some of the friends in a shallow grave in Saudi Arabia. Both were killed by being impaled by construction materials, apparently with great force. His father looked to have been kept in better physical condition: signs of battle but not physical torture. * Katherine blinks. "Where were they taken from?" * Ari does not look up from her book. * Katherine nods. They were both vacationing in Italy. As for the culprit: no proof was ever found. The deaths however were attributed to Ms. Emma Yates, who had been operating out of that area at the time. She apparently had been working with the mystics in the employ, or under the control of, a few regional governments. 'Emma.' Ben's tone is devoid of emotion. * Ari looks up for a moment. * Katherine lets out a faint 'huh' at that. 'Emma was a mercenary. Who was she working for?' * Ari goes back to her book. She blinks once at a passage and starts reading more closely. 'And seek out known connections between Emma Yates and the Prep School, specifically including Dennis, Alvar, and Rica.' * Katherine taps the book's binding against the table. "I have a potential motive for the thefts. At the very least, one of them." * Ari doesn't look up. "What is it?" 'So, Katherine, that book tell you that those wands aren't the key to unlocking the magic within after all? That the mundane kids will always need to drain powers from the powerful?' 'Poor Penny,' Ben says with a slight smile. * Katherine snickers. "I feel for the girl." On it. As to who she was working for, we believe she traded fissable materials from earlier employ, supposedly with non-proliferation efforts, for access to the mystics. We aren't certain what she did with them, but she was immensely difficult to take down when we did encounter her and was resistant to most of what we threw at her, magic included. I'll search for connections now. * Mai goes back to work. (Red got lost looking for the toilet. Ryoga-lost.) Yes. It's possible a mundane can learn magic... With access to equipment out of most's funds and a good twenty years of work, or techniques with what's typically dire consequences. * Ben nods grimly. 'You pay the price, one way or another. Long and hard, or quick and costly.' 'Unless you're one of the lucky few.' 'I knew that line about the wands unlocking the powers within non-magical kids was too good to be true.' * Red comes back out of the restroom. "So, what have we figured out so far, again?" * Katherine nods. "I'm betting Maris... and Isaac, and Mallory, resent that. Making up for your friend's lack of magic is a noble quest, isn't it?" 'It also explains why Maris needs Isaac. She can't cast spells herself without a wand, so she can't do the thefts herself.' * Katherine nods. "Yes." * Red has a seat and listens. Also, this book specifically points to - welcome back, Red - the crystal ball as a potential method as far as finding a way to solve that problem. * Katherine taps the book again. "Our stolen crystal ball." * Red nods. 'I'd say that speaks against Mallory, though. He'd have little use of Isaac if he was involved. I don't rule it out, of course, but I'm just not convinced Mallory is in on this until I see some solider proof.' * Ari pales and quickly turns a page in the book. Fair enough. * Red keeps listening. She needs to play catch-up. (Quick summary: Red's not learning magic unless she sacrifices twenty babies to a demon.) (Or spends years learning.) (I vote for the babies. SAB won't last long enough.) * Mai hits a few button and looks to Red. "I've kept some notes of what was said. Although if you three would prefer to tell her what's been discussed since she's been gone, she can save time looking at the pad." 'The rest of us are reading entire books here. Red can handle a pad. Speaking of which, can I have a look at Magic for Mundanes when you're done?' Certainly. Let me see the pad. I'll let you two continue. * Katherine hands it over to Ben, her finger still keeping the place. * Mai smiles. "I sent it to yours." Even better. * Ben reads Magic for Mundanes. * Red looks at her pad and pulls up the file with a few deft motions. * Ben reads through it, presumably finding nothing beyond what he'd already deduced and Katherine had said. * Ben switches to Subatomic Themagaugry. * Ben hands back the book, having failed to understand it. 'I never was much good with advanced quantum physics from the mystical perspective.' * Katherine nods. She sets the book down. I've been reading through all the specifics and trying to cross reference it with the suspects you mentioned. I've found a mention of a field mage who, according to the photographic records, looks roughly similar to Ms. Ockley, although she apparently was using another name at the time. This field mage accompanied the party that found the two bodies. 'What name?' Edith Simmons. Did Rica or Edith know Mallory's parents? No evidence of that. She was just more of an adventurer type than the others who went looking. She was apparently sought out and hired for that purpose. * Katherine nods. 'Any criminal record?' * Ari is still engrossed in the grimoire. Her color's come back and she looks very interested in something. * Red sets the pad down. Any of the books untaken? * Ben turns to Katherine. 'I think you understood more of that magical theory book than me. I got lost on the chapter about whether scrying circumvented the uncertainty principle and frankly never really got back into it.' * Mai keeps looking. "Not under that name. Let me check for other possible aliases." * Ari closes the grimoire and keeps a tight grip on it. "I think I'm done." * Ben reaches out and puts his hands on the grimoire. 'I have it. You're clear.' All right. * Ari lets go. * Katherine nods to Ben. "Honestly, I barely understood it. It's entirely theory; no immediate, practical purpose that I could see." * Ben takes the book and holds it in both hands. He isn't opening it yet. He turns to look at it. 'Well, answer me this, Andrews. How does magical energy work? Is it like energy? Particles, waves?' * Ari turns and looks at Katherine. 'Because if it is, that book may be a step to understanding how the wands take energy, transfer it, store it, use it. How the wireless system does. How the storage works.' 'If not for us, then for Maris.' 'If magic is transferred like energy, then we can trace its movement and block it. Or Maris can.' * Katherine blinks, then picks up the book, checks the index, and goes to where indicated. * Katherine takes a little while to read. * Ben opens up the grimoire and looks for information on the conveyance of magical energy through electronic channels. His grip isn't the white knuckles of Ari, but his hand positioning is very deliberate, and if one looked carefully, one might note that he could with just one hard jerk tear it apart at the spine in a single motion. * Ari just watches. She looks like she's thinking about something. 'You see anything interesting in here, Ari?' Ben asks as he reads. He doesn't look up. ('Books. My mortal enemy.') A bit about the wall. 'The wall?' 'The wall'? ('Jinx!') ( Damn. I owe you a soda now, don't I? ) (Just don't get jumped by ninja getting it. ^_^) The spell that I found blocking Rica Ockley's account. 'Yeah, it's in there.' 'Didn't I mention that?' Ah. You did. But I still found it interesting, and that is what you asked. 'Hm. A cybermage could set up a similar wireless magical power redistribution system. A magical computer wouldn't be necessary, but it would increase efficiency. And without a whole school full of power sources, you'd need that efficiency, since power loss is high on wireless magical energy transmission, apparently.' 'And, huh, the specific magical properties of the computer aren't relevant.' How interesting. * Katherine doesn't look up from her book. "Mai, what was the order of the thefts again?" * Ari listens intently. * Mai checks. 'We know of at least five thefts. We don't know when the O.D.M.E. lost his censer... I wonder if that's the one that supposedly removes impure thoughts. I think I remember hearing something about that.' * Ari tilts her head. "When did you encounter an O.D.M.E.?" He didn't. That would have been me. 'I didn't. Andrews did.' (Beat ya to it.) (Damn their telepathic bond!) * Ari looks at Katherine. * Red nods. "Ah. So that's what the other one was." Other one? ... Oh, right. You talked to Hurst. Yes, and he likes to gloat. That doesn't surprise me. * Katherine lets out a breath. "All right. I think I found what we're looking for." 'What have you got?' In answer to your question, Ben, magic is both particles and energy, neither, or one or the other, all depending on how it's feeling at a particular moment. What a mage has to do is control it and force it into the form she or he desires. * Red nods. * Ben mutters something that perhaps Katherine can hear. * Ari looks like she's listening *very* intently now. It's unstable by nature. If the mage stops concentrating, the magic will revert to another, non-useable form afterwards. How long depends on the power of the caster. 'A cybermantic computer program could handle that. It can concentrate, so to speak, on the spell indefinitely, and it can cast and maintain spells on its own.' * Katherine nods. 'So, how about the mechanics of moving that energy around?' 'Can it be traced, blocked, siphoned off?' * Katherine checks the index again. Seems she doesn't have this memorized. * Katherine reads for a bit, then answers: "Yes to all, though the specifics are different for each." For the record, the suit of armour first, then the crystal ball, then the computer. Incense burner after the suit of armour, from when it was put up for sale, but can't pin it down more than that. Thank you, Mai. Let me see if I have this straight. And I've found the record on Ms. Ockley. No direct criminal record, but adventuring mages are somewhat organized, given the need for spell exchanges and standards. Apparently after a home invasion incident in Eastern Europe involving a sapient of extraordinary size, she was strictly forbidden from further field use and put under magical prohibition to prevent such actions. 'It was an ogre, wasn't it?' When was this? * Mai looks up. "That term is currently considered discriminatory, but yes. And it was after the establishment of the school but before she joined the faculty, can't get too many specifics, as the mages look after their own. And so she retired to become a teacher. Adventuring would be a hard life to give up. Wait, no, she worked with the school before that, but only as an adjunct, she became full time afterwards. And four years ago." 'An ogre that she enlarged. Odd. You'd think she'd cover that up, not make it the subject of lectures.' * Katherine flips back, then the other way, and over a couple pages. 'I guess her past is probably not that dark a secret. Either that, or she's just overconfident or stupid.' Perhaps both. All right, I think I've got this. * Mai scowls. "Not covered under civil law where it was committed. Unfortunately, status as a magical being in much of the world entitles most anyone who deems themselves an adventurer to break into your house, kill you, and take all of your possessions." (Like Diablo!) (You're remembering when we played FFCC, weren't you? ;p) (Yup) ('I told the police, but they said it's only a crime if the thief is more than eight levels above my Challenge Rating.') How dreadful. * Mai nods. * Ari looks at Katherine. "What is it?" (Oh and she's still transparent. I don't know if you noticed that, Red.) * Katherine looks up from her book. "As far as magical networks go, tracing can only be done by a cybermage." 'How about blocking or tapping into?' * Katherine holds up two fingers. "Siphoning is limited, and it can be done by either a clever mage or an ordinary hacker. But only so much can be taken." (Ben may have rolled 15 on understanding what the book said per se, but he can still readily see what its implications are in this mission. No occult knowledge indeed, RDM. :P ) As for the third, it's standard nullification magic. An exorcist can do it. They just need to be close to the power source. If you need an exorcist assigned to you for that specific function, we can do so. Assuming no one on the next team has that ability. I could do the tracing. * Katherine nods to Ari. Continue it, really, as I was doing it earlier, albeit somewhat inadvertently. Anything I should work on now? * Katherine takes a breath. "So, we have a potential motive, circumstantial evidence that Maris may be involved, and we know Isaac is." * Ben takes a drag on his cigarette. That seems to be the sum of it, yes. I can head back in; chances are, Hurst won't be looking for me. Oh? * Katherine shrugs. "I promised I wouldn't come back." 'She can be very convincing.' And he will expect you to hold to that? 'Especially when she was lying under a truth spell.' Ben sounds admiring. * Katherine smiles faintly. "Well, that does do it." * Red grins. * Ari smirks. Shall we transfer the rest of the money to Mr. Hurst? Is SAB prepared to pay that much? 'How much was promised?' I'm not sure if I want to know. It'd partially come out of the bonuses, above the usual pay, for this mission. But considering if he's not in on the conspiracy he'd be in prime position to tell all that he knows... 'Take it out of my pay. In fact, just give him my pay, subject to him not being in on the conspiracy. And did we bribe anyone else? I'll cover it.' 'I haven't found out enough to justify taking a paycheque on this.' * Mai looks oddly at Ben. "Your choice." Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling is what he asked. And to think, if it weren't for him meddling we would have found out whatever he knows ourselves. 'That'll cost more than I was promised on this job. Will the S.A.B. cover the rest?' * Mai rolls her eyes. "Luther was never known for modest appraisals. And yes." 'Good.' * Katherine shrugs. "If needed, you can take some out of mine, too." Pause. "But apparently you don't." (Ben beat Katherine to the expression of professional pride!) (Damn him.) (Damn him to heck!) (Damn him for letting Katherine keep her money and XP.) 'So, we all heading back in, then?' I believe so. Seems we've done all we can here. 'Here's to better luck next time.' Ben walks over to Mai and holds out the Grimoire. 'Thanks for the light reading.' * Mai takes it back. "Got it." When Ben lets go, it disappears after a few seconds. * Ben lets go of the book. [End!]