[You pick up right where you left off.] [Start] * Ben looks at the page marked Justifications. * Ben nods. 'Okay, anyone else want a stab at this page or should I take a shot first?' Go ahead. * Mai goes back to working on documenting the evidence. 'It could be any one of a number of things, obviously, and we are assuming that this document is not a plant either by someone framing her or as a deliberate mislead by her,' Ben begins. 'But here's what it looks like to me.' 'It's a list of possible justifications- all lies- for Rica to feed Maris and/or the other students involved with Maris in the crimes in order to get them to do Rica's dirty work.' 'It's one list with four basic items, not four lists.' 'The target I say is Maris because the parenthetical notes throughout seem geared toward what she may see through.' * Katherine tilts her head, listening as she reads this document. 'The four basic categories are subdivided into variations of what exact line might work.' 'Starting with the last, Rica seems to be considering telling Maris that she can gain inherent magical power, directly or indirectly, from the items. She appears to think this alone won't be enough, though, and that they may have to come up with a reason not to give her the power immediately, which leads us back to the other three basic categories.' 'All three are related.' 'Ways the items might be useful against Emma Yates, ways they might be helpful to Mallory, and ways they might be useful against the S.A.B.' 'We can presume the general idea is that the thieving children believe they are equipping Mallory for his eventual revenge.' * Ari has been examining the document carefully and looks like she's mentally analyzing something. [Oh, and as a reminder, the one other thing of note in the directory is the blueprints database program.] 'They don't actually want to give Mallory the items, of course, at least not to keep. They need them to power the school, probably.' Ben points to the crossed out fourth item on the Mallory subheading. 'They either want to avoid giving them to him or get them back A.S.A.P.' 'There's a theme here around communication and specifically secured communication. The item probably allows that. It may also connect to the air element. And it seems that it might plausibly be used as a weapon against Emma or an S.A.B. agent.' I guess that could refer to the crystal ball. Although they aren't particularly air related. 'The way Mallory is discussed suggests to me, albeit not strongly, that he's being used as the excuse but is not involved directly. Red would probably disagree with me on that, though.' * Ari nods. "She might, though she was leaning more towards Maris at the end." * Katherine nods. "Red isn't here. I doubt they actually care about Emma." 'No, Emma's just a boogieman to give someone for Mallory to need equipment to fight.' 'Look at the note here. The kids are scared of her. Probably been told to be.' Also, I have been analyzing the document, and I assure you that it is her own. It may or may not be an attempt to mislead us, but it is not part of a framing plan. 'Well, that's my current leading theory. Anyone else got one?' It makes sense to me. How do you see her attempts at regaining her adventurer status as fitting in, aside from allowing her a potential future way out of the school if things go wrong or she gets tired of teaching? 'I don't know how that fits in yet.' Ben frowns slightly and exhales a stream of smoke. 'I just saw this list for the first time a minute ago,' he adds a touch defensively. * Mai nods and jots down the notes on what Ben suggests. 'Oh. And look again at the last Mallory item.' * Katherine opens her mouth to say something, then she stops and does as Ben suggests. 'If the crystal ball would be needed to inform him of the items after he's graduated and is ready to fight Emma and the S.A.B.- in the lie, I mean- then he doesn't know about them now. Or Maris thinks he doesn't. That would mean he wasn't involved.' Yes. So, you're saying Maris is trying to fight Mallory's nonexistent battle for him. Although the incense burner is an air element... well, that's not the important part. Any thoughts on why the kids would keep Mallory out? 'The kids might not be the ones doing it. Rica and Alvar, maybe. And multiple possible reasons.' * Mai nods. For example, how patient would Mallory be if he thought he had a chance to get revenge upon those he believed wronged him? 'First, they need him on campus. Second, they need him alive. Third, they need him out of jail. And fourth, they probably don't want to get the most powerful mage around mad at them if he figures anything out.' * Ben nods at Ari. 'That too.' 'Patience is an issue. Look at the third Maris entry.' * Katherine snickers and nibbles on her apple. She keeps eyeing that list. "I'm sure Maris seems convinced she can handle things better than the rest of the students. That would include Mallory." 'They need to convince the kids these things will happen, but buy time to use the items themselves instead of doing what the kids are told they will.' * Mai records all those. "Well, that seems rather compelling. I'll include this in the annotation." * Mai's datapad then beeps. 'Well, it's just a theory,' Ben adds. The one thing I still wonder is if Ethelbert knows that Rica has taken out those loans? She is using the items as collateral, is she not? 'You tell me, Ari.' Strictly speaking she's using her shares in the school as collateral. But the items show that the school is worth anything. 'Which school? The Japanese one? The,' Ben pauses, looks like he's going to try to pronounce it, then just says, 'one she own a quarter of?' * Mai looks dowen. "Reports in from SAB lab. Your earlier 'theory' checks out. The Mys count adds up right for both the items in the school and the stolen items. To be clear I mean the four stolen items. There's a margin of error in the calculation, but apparently Ms. Worthing's amulet doesn't effect the totals." 'Oh, that one wasn't a theory,' Ben says. The Japanese school, yes. (If the school won't work, a share in it is worthless. :P) (Not true, necessarily.) (No- okay, beat me to it.) (It's a school. It has value.) * Mai finishes writing up what you've already said. (Ha. Took a while to catch up.) * Ben looks around. 'Can I get a Diet Pepsi somehow?' 'We're in a restaurant.' (Exposition is thirsty work.) I'll send for one. ::She hits a few keys.:: Alright, this should be enough if you have any other search warrant needs. So what remains to be done? * Katherine continues to nibble on her apple core. She pokes at her datapad, bringing up the blueprints. 'Find the items. Prove that Dustin is involved. Confirm the involvement of Alvar beyond circumstantial evidence.' 'Oh, and figure out what that energy gap between the schools means, if anything.' And maybe see if there's anything else in Rica's account. (Rica's account is the equivalent of the murderer breaking down on the stand during cross examination in Perry Mason.) (No kidding.) (Hey, there's a file in there called Remaining Questions Answered.) (I still think it's Edith. And the inkwell.) 'Oh, and I suppose it might be nice to have some sort of proof that we're not missing any additional conspirators.' Just a little. Tony could be involved. He got sick. * Ben nods. 'It might also be nice to figure out how the thefts were done. We still have questions about that.' * Mai glances at your logs. "Well, he was in the nurse's office before and after a robbery, so he's covered for at least one of them." Did he actually stay in the office? School policy is constant observation of the sick, given the uncertainties involved with illness and magic. Past inspections have found this policy is maintained. They also take steps to keep the kids from sneaking off. * Katherine furrows her brow a little as she sets the core aside, then fiddles with the datapad some more. 'I'd also be curious why these items were stolen, if it wasn't random.' Ari, check to see if anything was recently stolen from the Chelmsford Museum. 'I mean, a random magically enhanced computer? It's an odd choice, if what Seth told me is correct, that all cybermantic computers are the same.' * Ari nods and gets to work. * Ben exits the room. 'I'll be right back.' * Katherine flicks her eyes to see Ben leave. "All right." [Ben bumps into someone bringing him his Diet Pepsi on the way out.] 'Ah. Thanks.' Ben takes out a bill and pays for it. * Ben wanders back, sipping his drink. * Waiter scrams. That was quick. Okay, this program isn't just a collection of blueprints. It's planning software. * Katherine stretches. "Let's call it How To Rob A Bank." * Ari looks up from her datapad. "Nothing reported stolen." 'Mai, get someone to call them in case they're trying to keep it quiet.' * Katherine nods. "I think she's going to hit there next. It's on her To Do list." Calling won't be necessary. * Ben looks at Katherine curiously. * Mai hits a few keys. "It'll be a few minutes. Oh?" Well, nothing has been stolen yet. Please go on. * Katherine slides the datapad half over to Ben so he can look (he is sitting next to her, after all). "Planning software. Allows for plotting through buildings, sync times, guard routes, and so on. Black market stuff." And she has a list of recent plan files she forgot to erase here. * Ari smirks. "Careless of her, but convenient for us." * Katherine presses a couple more buttons and brings up the plan for the computer. (Does anyone else wonder why we actually spent all those sessions touring the frickin' school instead of letting Ari hack the place from S.A.B. H.Q.?) (Well, she wouldn't have known how to hack it if she hadn't actually been there.) (Nor would she have known all of what they needed to look for.) I'll get all those put into evidence. 'The flight plan ties Dustin to Alvar... Alvar ties to Rica via the Japanese school... Dustin dates Maris... No, I need more.' 'We know anything else that ties Dustin in?' 'I think he's involved, but I don't like the evidence yet.' * Katherine runs the computer theft file. "Well, it seems there are three." There are three models making their way to the computer: two male and one female. The male ones take out guards separate and take out guards one at a time while the female concentrates on security systems. 'Rica did cover for Dustin,' Ben mutters. She did. 'We still haven't nailed him, though. And it's his flight plan. We lose him, that's no longer a link, and all we have on Alvar is that he invested in a school with Rica.' Well, you've got warrant authority. Warrant authority both for the house and finding more financial records or the like. And that he owns the house where the painting that possibly contains the stolen items is. 'I recall you pointing out a portal spell. But what's our lead on which painting?' Unfortunately, we don't have one. It was all hypothetical. * Katherine goes about running each of the thefts in order. 'Ari, next time you make a statement of fact that is in fact a hypothesis, please indicate it.' I said "possibly." * Katherine snorts faintly. And then she peers at the datapad. 'You referred to a painting as an absolute, then suggested it possibly held the items.' * Ben sips at his Diet Pepsi. * Ari closes her eyes for a second. "Ah. I apologize for confusing you." * Ben snickers at the wording. * Katherine blindly reaches for her tea and runs a program again. She gets her tea! And she sips and ignores the entire syntax conversation. "So, interested in catching the kids red handed?" (Hey, what's that giant hammer like object bearing plot down upon us?) (I don't know, but I think it's gonna hurt.) (Would you rather this kept going? ;p) Certainly. 'When and where? The Chelmsford Museum, rotating exhibit hall, a few hours after sundown. On a... Saturday, apparently. This Saturday? [Incidentally, today is Friday.] Well, that would be compelling proof. One would think so, yes. * Katherine sighs. "So, anything else? Ethelbert?" 'The evidence against him is highly circumstantial.' Unfortunately. Well, we can execute a search warrant against his house while you are trying to catch the kids in the act. If we find the items where you think they are, it would strengthen the case considerably. Or you may be able to get testimony from the kids. * Katherine shrugs. She rubs at her forehead. "I'm going to the bathroom. See about getting someone on that, Mai? Excuse me." She gets to her feet and heads off. On it. [The bathroom is easy to find and reasonably clean. I'll trust Katherine can handle the rest.] 'If the items are in a painting, what's stored in the vault?' What vault? The one Red found you mean? 'Right.' The one in the school? 'Yes.' Those are the items powering the current school. The stolen ones are intended to power the Japanese one. * Ben nods. 'Got it. Someone got a look inside, then?' Red didn't indicate that there were any other storage facilities or the like in it. Of course, the items powering the current school could have been stolen long ago. And yes, Red did. * Mai nods. * Ben nods. 'No one told me.' 'I thought the items powering the school must be in there, but I thought they might use it for storing the new ones too.' According to Red, the new ones were not there. Red thought that Hurst was aware of this vault; it may not be a big secret to the rest of the faculty. 'It couldn't be.' 'But that doesn't mean the staff all have access.' True. 'Anyway, if Red's ruled it out, that's one less thing to worry about.' * Mai nods. "She had." So, do you want to cover any more investigative ground? Or we could hand it off to SAB legal and get to planning the trap, assuming you'd want to handle that personally. 'I don't care about planning the trap. It's not that hard to set people in wait to spring on teenage thieves following preset plans. Just make sure that whoever you send can stand up to a bit of magic.' Will do. You're also welcome to plan or personally handle the search of Alvar's house, if you wanted to take the opportunity to perhaps find additional evidence. Make sure they check the paintings, hypothetical or no. Certainly. * Katherine comes walking back in and reclaims her old seat. While you were gone, Ben suggested handing off the capture to a arcane- ready SAB team and I just brought up the question of whether you wanted to handle the search of Alvar's mansion. I'd rather not. Someone else can do it. As you like. Well, appears we have a strong case against most of the parties. Should soon have the items in our custody and have caught the children in the act. Is there anything further? 'You assume you'll find proof that Alvar is connected and catch more than Isaac in the act.' I do. Time will tell, of course. But you are welcome to take further action if you desire to do so. * Katherine drums her fingers on the table. "Barring further ideas from the others, I suggest we go through with the search and capture, then take further action as necessary afterwards." I agree. Well, if there's no objection to that, we'll get on with it. * Ben nods. 'Might as well see what turns up.' Get some sleep. We'll let you know the results tomorrow evening. 'I assume you know to make the search during the theft, not before or after, so as not to tip anyone off?' Will do. Wouldn't want the artifacts slipping through our fingers if they're communicating. 'I'm too tired to take the trip back to London tonight. Anyone know if there's a bed and breakfast or something in town?' I can look it up for you. 'Thanks.' * Ari does so! Behold the power of computer searching! * Katherine taps at the table. She stifles a yawn. "Okay. Staying here overnight isn't such a bad idea, especially if there's food involved." 'Yes. Dinner. All I've eaten all evening is an apple.' Given how late this mission has gone, be sure to keep your receipts if you find a place. SAB will reimburse you. 'Good. Since I'm not getting paid for this mission.' I'll order something up. The specialty of the house is apparently Bangers and Mash, but they have other options. There's a place in Millerton, the next town over. Excellent reviews on food and accommodations. Shall I book you reservations? * Katherine shakes her head. "That's fine, Mai. You don't need to stay on our account." She doesn't add that Mai likely doesn't need to eat. 'I think I'll pass on dining in the murky backroom. And thank you, Ari, that'd be nice.' * Ari taps a few keys. "Done and done. They'll be expecting you shortly." * Ben nods. 'You heading back?' * Ari stands up. "Yes, I have other work to do. I shall see you later." * Katherine nods. "Good working with you, Ari." Well, again, keep your receipt. If you don't go for all you can eat caviar or the like, SAB will reimburse you. 'Have a nice trip back.' Thank you. * Ari nods politely to Ben and Katherine. [So Mai works on transferring data to SAB legal and the rest of you go off duty.] (Release the lawyers!) [Both missions are successful. Alvar is home and tries to make a run for it, but is captured. The hypothetical paintings turn out to be real and possessing the items in question.] [No amulet is found.] (Where were they?) (In the mansion, in several different paintings.) (So Emily has a story that we don't know.) [The kids, Isaac, Dustin, and Maris, are captured. They give the team some trouble but when shown evidence of duplicity on the part of Rica and Alvar, they stop resisting. Shortly after capture, they lawyer up and try to negotiate a deal for testifying against their would be mentors.] [Mallory is deeply surprised and confused. Jessica tries to be there to comfort him.] [She fails.] (Mallory was not involved! Score!) (Aww, poor Jessica.) (Hermione/Spike slashfics by GothWitch842 spring up on the Net to popular acclaim, despite frequent comma splices.) (It's not proper slash unless they're the same gender. ... Eew.) (Actually, that depends. The term has become more specialized. It originally meant any pairing.) (Only you would be more disgusted by improper grammar than the idea of slash. ;p) [Interviewing the kids finds no evidence of an embassy theft. Worthing keeps her mouth shut but proves to be a fairly notorious thief with an excellent disguise spell. Much to SAB's embarrassment, it is found that she had your meeting room tapped and stole Ben's idea.] [Those responsible for that particular security arrangement were sacked.] (She had our room TAPPED and Katherine didn't know? Oh man, she's going nuts in my head.) (How'd she pull that one off? @_@) (The S.A.B. suck.) (Well, yeah, but still, getting that past Kathy and Ben takes work, even with S.A.B. helping the other side.) (It happened because it's a retcon.) (We could not have detected it at the time because at the time it wasn't there.) [Ultimately, all the theories regarding the motivation mentioned in this particular session were upheld. Further research found that the justification document referred specifically to the item to be stolen on Saturday night: a piece of telegraph wire with weak magical abilities roughly equivalent to a cell phone. Powerful in its day, barely meriting security presently. However, it does possess over 400 mys.] (It phases in and out of reality!) (So, Ben's exposition nailed it.) [Prep School Japan proves unsuccessful. There are rumors that the Japanese government is looking to sponsor its own version.] [Frei does get his incense burner back. A marine commando is sent to return it. Frei manages to get him to blush; he never lives this down.] [Prep School Britain is currently closed pending review of its education license.] (Mallory didn't drop out?) [The students have presently been sent to other schools where they are disappointed that they didn't pay more attention to Ms. Theobold. Mallory is currently seeing a therapist who has recommended expanding his base of literature. Jessica is repeatedly used as an example of why this is necessary.] [And that is that. Stick a shotgun to its head and pull the trigger; Prep School is done.] [End!]