[October 20, 2:00 pm. Ren and Jonathon are both notified that Roger Mankin's interrogation is upcoming. Jonathon's running late. Saldin just shows up to the prep room.] [As a reminder, Roger Mankin was the Paragene scientist Saldin and Ren captured. Ren's past research IDed him as one of the top ranking surviving genetic engineers behind the tekes.] [Saldin has the same health status as the end of last session.] [Rev. Warlow is in the briefing room.] [Start] * Ren waves to the bald girl. Somehow, he's not surprised s/he's showed up. * Saldin is bald, and looks like she got the crap kicked out of her. No tear- marks or anything on her clothes, however. * Saldin licks her lips and says with a faint smile. "It seems the events SAB are involved in get a lot of my time today." * Warlow looks to Saldin. "Ah, back again." She looks her over for a moment. "If you want to take a seat, I might be able to get you in better shape before we start." * Saldin nods slightly and sits down, slowly. "You seem as busy as I." * Warlow slowly gets to work at healing Saldin. The results are slow, but noticable. "Good.. it looks like Vanguard used mad science to reinforce their technology." * Ren is leaning back on a wall. He supresses a yawn. * Saldin half-closes her eyes. She says with a note of distaste, "Somewhat expected of them, unfortunately." Right. Criminal prosecutions are proceeding against Vanguard. We've been able to turn some of their scientists and managers. Although records and testimony indicate that Roger Mankin seems to have been the point person about some worrisome new project. Similarly he's the main person with knowledge of the telekinetics that survived the bloodbath. Do we got any interviews with 'ny'un else to crosscheck him with yet? * Warlow hits a few buttons on a nearby console and a video plays on the briefing screen. [There's an executive in a room with a few lawyers. The tape is timestamped yesterday. He's the same executive you heard addressing the shareholders last session.] My client has no direct knowledge of these proceedings. Dr. Mankin was delegated with full authority on the matter and he assured us that a profit would soon be returned. (us->my client) We have your files, do you really want to be on the record with a false claim of ignorance. Do you really think our client would be so stupid as to know anything he didn't have to about the project? Dr. Mankin was the point person. He handled the research and new alliances. He went rogue, his actions don't reflect on our client. * Exec smirks. [Video ends] Most were less useful than that. High level employees are mostly still not answering questions. It will be months of trial before we can convince them they need to deal. [And Warlow's still healing Saldin, he's half up.] * Saldin frowns slightly, shifting her shoulder a moment. "Shameful dissembling." Hidin' 'hind their words won't help. Some level of ignorance seems genuine. Moreover, some of the reports filed by Mankin have obvious inaccuracies. He seemed to be exploiting his discretion. Our job isn't to get proof against him, we just need to know if there's anything evil still going on. * Warlow brings up a box from beneath the table and opens it. "One oddity. The top executives had as much gold bullion on them as they could carry. Mankin was apparently the source. [Inside the box is one such bar. There's a circle in the middle where it seems to have been polished down. The craftsmanship on that area is not quality.] * Saldin turns her head to look at it, at least. * Ren eyes it. [Give me a sixth sense roll Saldin and awareness rolls both of you. Feel free to name a relevant skill.] [There's also some signs of tarnish on the outside of the gold. Nothing that couldn't be cleaned up or that would reduce the value noticably.] Came from underwater. Can almost make out the markings on it.. [Oh, it's also in an evidence bag.] * Saldin mms and tilts her head to the side. "I would worry less about its physical where, and more its dimeisional where." Clearly they use the tunnels for more than short trips. * Warlow looks closer at the gold. "Our analysis section is rather backlogged given the takedown, but if you want a rush job on this I can order it." Can't hurt to take a closer look at it. * Warlow closes the box and walks you guys over to the lab. "Anything else you want to know going in?" * Saldin shakes her head ever-so-slightly. One word of advice, he apparently can't abide lawyers or Christian clergy. Any testimony he gives you won't be usable in court, but we're more of an adversary will at least get him talking. [And you get to the lab. Victor's got a lot going on and has a few assistants. He looks up when Warlow comes in. After a bit of back and forth he gets started at the analysis.] Vell... this has been underwater. Given the pollution level, a harbor probably. Less than a century though. (this->zis, than->zan) * Saldin has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) * Saldin has joined #sab2020 (I was walking?) (Sent via message) * Saldin mms quietly, having apparently gone labward, but if he doesn't know more he doesn't know more! * Victor looks fairly busy. "Anything else you want to know?" * Warlow's off dealing with some other investigator for the moment. She seems to be listening, but doesn't look like she's going to answer. * Saldin asks, "Can you tell whether it is from another dimension?" I'll need a sample. ::He turns to Warlow:: FIll out ze forms, I am taking a piece off. * Warlow sighs and does that. After proper procedure is followed, a sampling is put in some odd variation on a mass spectrometer. "Yes... For less zan a decade. And not undervater." * Ren waits for the verdict. * Saldin nods slightly. It's good to be right. Signature matches an existing sample." [He types into a console and up comes a picture of the remains of Mercedes. She had been the lackey of Kristof, the hell lord. She died during the rescue of Saki.] * Saldin frowns very slightly. "Disturbing connections." Yes. Zat is not good. Vell, I'm sure you two can handle it. Anyzing else? * Saldin shakes her head slightly. She seems to like that! * Ren grins lopsidedely. Vell zen, if there is nothing else you vant to know about zis gold, I vill get back to vork. Saldin had a question. Oh? It from here? Ah, yes, from here, spent time elsewhere. What 'bout the pattern on it? They tried to rub it out. There's enough on there to almost make it out. Pattern... vere? ::He looks at the gold closely for a bit and then spots when Ren mentions the rubbing out. He puts it over to another set of machines, expands the pattern and then enhances the image. [And based on the symbols, the gold has obviously been pressed by Germany. Specifically Nazi Germany. It does look like the remains of an official seal.] * Rowyn has joined #sab2020 * Victor growls. "Zis is not good gold at all." * Saldin raises her eyebrow. "... fitting." * Ren raises both eyebrows. "Interesting." * Victor pulls up a metalurgical database. "Ze age would be consistent." * Rowyn is now known as Jonathon * Warlow looks over. "How in the devil did he get that?" How old are the rubbings? How 'long 'go did they try and cover up the origins? * Victor checks that out. "After they were underwater. I'd suspect vithin a month, but I could not prove it. Zat work was probably done in zis dimension." * Jonathon has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) * Jonathon has joined #sab2020 * Ren glances at Saldin. "I'm out. 'nythign else?" * Saldin shakes her head. "I'm afraid not." * Jonathon walks into the room rather quickly, shades on his face, in a tie and vest combo. His open jacket is wavering as he enters into the door. He's carrying a small briefcase with him as well. "Dreadfully sorry. I didn't miss anything important yet, did I?" Jus' figgering out that the tops execs had nazi gold. It had spent some time underwater in this dimension, probably in a harbor. It also spent a decade or less in the dimension of the extraplaner leader that we'll be taking out shortly. * Saldin glances to Jonathon. She's a she! And such. * Ren waves at the brit. And, I believe I vill get back to my work. * Victor heads back over to another section of the lab. * Kaede has joined #sab2020 * Jonathon has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) * Ren calls out after Victor, "Don't vurk too hard!" * Kaede is now known as Jonathon * Jonathon glances back at Saldin and smiles, bowing a little. "Enchantee, mademoiselle." Also, to summarize, you'll be speaking to Roger Mankin, head Paragene scientist. This isn't about convicting him, anything he says won't be used against him. We just need to know if there's anything else in the works. * Victor waves backhandedly. "Zanks." * Jonathon looks at Warlow. "So this is an appeal?" * Saldin chuckles in a light voice and replies, Monks know french. No, just trying to get him talking. He abhors lawyers and clergy, but he knows his rights. Our psych profile on him suggests field agents have the best chance to get him talking. * Jonathon smiles and replies off in a quick french accent. "" * Saldin mms and replies with a small smile, "Touche." * Jonathon digs through his briefcase. "Oh dear. I'm afraid I didn't dress the part then." He takes out a small folder and glances at Warlow. "Roger Mankin, yes?" * Warlow rolls her eyes at the talk and then nods at Jonathon's question. * Jonathon shakes his head. "I do so hate when people try to seperate themselves from all accountability. It seems Paragene hung him out to dry all alone. Tried to at least." My heart bleeds for him. But yes, that tact might work. * Ren shrugs. He cannot be too happy about that. They eliminated almost all traces of funding as well. It was an absolute bleeder trying to search through all of those records, I'll have you know. * Saldin mms thoughtfully, but otherwise moves not. * Jonathon glances at Saldin. "Did you think of something?" * Saldin shakes her head. "Simply thinking. We will see what he has to say." Yes. Ready to start the interrogation then? Sure. * Jonathon glances at the rest for a moment and finally takes off his shades, giving a faint smile at Ren. "Ah, where are my manners? Cheerio to you too, old chap." Watch who yer callin' old. In good old Brittania, everyone is an old chap. Unless they're a bird. [And on that bright note, we'll fast forward. Mankin's under fairly secure guard, although you're left alone with him. Warlow does note that he's not to be treated to coercive interrogation techniques or what have you.] * Ren raises his eyebrows, then shrugs, letting it slide. [He's in his mid-40s but looks older than that. Greying receeding hair. He's pacing around his stall and wearing coveralls. He looks more bored than worried.] Ah, visitors. * Mankin looks the three of you over. * Ren waves. He should be familiar to Mr Mankin. [The cell is spartan. There's a toliet and sink in one corner, a bunk with a quality matress and sheets, and a console screen that can be used to call up books or the like but has no network access whatsoever.] * Mankin snorts. "Ah, the one from the elevator." First time we've met face to face, there. How ya doing? Idle. I don't like it. * Saldin walks over to a wall, while they converse, and closes her eyes as she pulls her hands up into her robe, leaving the arms limp. * Ren leans. Against a wall. * Jonathon gives him a cheery smile but waits for Ren to finish speaking. * Mankin looks over to Saldin. "What's she doing? Is she from the that order that beat our man?" Don't get the news in here? * Saldin replies lightly, "You will have to forgive me. It has been a long day." * Kaede has joined #sab2020 * Jonathon has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer ) * Kaede is now known as Jonathon * Mankin eyes Saldin but turns to Ren. "News does not stimulate. Enough small talk, what do you want?" Get straight to the point, huh? Ah. But it is small talk that keeps us civilized. We wanna know what else is goin' on. Science maintains civilization. ::He looks to Ren:: Big surprise. Why do I care? No, my dear chap. Science progresses civilization. Small talk maintains it. Otherwise, we are quick to agression, which leads to war, which destroys any scientific breakthrough one may try to achieve. But I am dreadfully sorry to interrupt. Please. Continue. Ask Johnathon here 'bout all the legal mumbo-jumbo behind it. But anything you tell us won't affect you legally. At this point, we just wanna make sure there's nothing else out there going on. Not in modern war. Scientists are protected by even the most backwards regimes. Regardless, that doesn't explain why I want to tell you. * Jonathon smiles. "No, it does not." He looks at Mankin for a second. "You said that you were bored, yes?" Of course. Why would you want to tell us? You've got no reason to let us know what other projects are running. *shrug* And you'd appreciate my genius? I think not. * Jonathon raises an eyebrow. "You are addressing me? My, we jump to conclusions, don't we? I never said anything of the sort. Nor do I believe Ren here did either." * Mankin shrugs. "True." What I was going to say is that the sooner this is over with, the sooner we can all get on with our lives. I would imagine SAB has bigger fish to fry. You're only wasting your own time. * Saldin says quietly, eyes still closed, "Give him some credit, Mr. Mankin. Surely you can confer some knowledge besides the deepest arcane intricacies of technology and magic." * Ren shrugs. "Got a lot of time to waste." I don't do introductory classes. If you want to know something specific, ask. * Kaede has joined #sab2020 * Jonathon has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer ) * Kaede is now known as Jonathon * Ren grins, and whips out a gun - an old style revolver - and tosses it to Mankin. "Tell me why it's useless that I just gave that to you." * Mankin looks over the gun. "Because, I have no training with guns. The guards outside do. Thanks though." He lays it in his lap. * Ren shakes his head. "That's not it." * Mankin raises an eyebrow. "Oh." He examines the gun more closely, taking out bullets and prodding at it. Ah, special purpose bullets. Ineffective against any target that isn't harmed by the payload. I'm guessing it's blessed or unholy. I'm guessing holy based on your employers. (employers->employer) (Fine tuning) (bullets->gun) That was made by some veritable genuises at SAB. Just 'cuz I don't understand all the stuff behind it, doesn't mean I don't appreciate a genius. * Mankin gives a harsh laugh. "Okay, good point. Ask your question." What other projects were onging when the place was interupted? More specific than that. We had scores. * Jonathon has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) * Ren nods. "Ones that we need to worry about. Especialy 'nything associated with Kristof." The ones that if left untended or in the shadows are gonna cause some serious problems. * Mankin is quiet for a moment. "Kristof? Doesn't ring a bell." * Jonathon has joined #sab2020 * Saldin pipes up, "There is no need to have misplaced loyalty. Kristof cares not for you." Is that so? It is. A tool, discarded, much as your corporation has done. Deep down they are all of the same cloth. I took precautions. * Jonathon mms and rubs his chin with his fingers. How many of them are gonna hold up if your company drops you? * Saldin 's face tightens. * Jonathon has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) Shit. But why would they drop me? I'm their best mind. 'cuz they don't appreciate a genuis. They just know that if they play dumb and make you the point man, they can get by legally with knowing nothing. * Jonathon has joined #sab2020 No... they gave me complete autonomy out of respect... ::He pauses for a moment:: Hmm.. that doesn't seem as plausible as your suggestion. * Ren shrugs. "If ya don't beleive me, you can watch the recordings of their interviews." Alright, I'll do just that. [A few interviews later.] Well supported. Kristof agreed to help us retrieve several subjects and give us a funding source to hold us over until then. My section was heavily invested in those subjects and the recent tournament losses caused shareholders to start asking too many questions. In exchange, we had to deal a blow to our competitor, but that's already done. * Jonathon raises an eyebrow. "What kind of blow? Is this Smee?" (Wait, not Smee. Darn it, who's the other one?) (Vanguard) (Right.) (s/Smee/Vanguard.) * Jonathon has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer ) * Kaede has joined #sab2020 * Kaede is now known as Jonathon Of course. Apparently Kristof wanted had set up some lesser mind to get ahold of the plans to Vanguard's mech. We then got it from her. (-wanted) * Saldin shakes his head sadly. "Of course." (-his+her) He provided the dimensional gateway. She already had one setup for some reason. Simple matter of stealth and magnetism to do the job. Already had one set up? That *is* unusual. Who is this person, exactly? * Mankin shrugs. "That's more of an operations matter." So you do not know? * Saldin says, "It can only be Raleigh." No. Raleigh? The go between? Not her. * Saldin mms. "But you do know her." * Mankin nods. "The one he sent initially was a femme fatale but no good at negotiation." So there were two sent. * Ren frowns. "Seems like a silly thing for a demon to be interested in a mecha blueprint." More than a blueprint. They apparently expected her to be able to fully reverse engineer it. They were more interested in doing something to the original than to make their own I think. So this mech was that important? Or was anything to set Vanguard back sufficient? That one. As far as I know, the tournament prototype is the only active one they have. They're hoping to get contracts for more based on its performance. * Jonathon has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) * Ren nods. "Any other ongoing projects we need to worry about?" * Jonathon has joined #sab2020 Not unless you care about the subject retrieval. Let us just say any projects will be viable. We will determine their importance after we hear of them. Well, we had not been able to track down the three of them. So he sent us a tracker. Its still working. It was taking a while, but apparently we'd made some progress on finding the source of their bail money. * Jonathon smiles slightly. "Oh?" ... three. Which three? The M-series telekinetics. * Ren frowns. * Jonathon turns towards Mankin. "And what have you found ?" They expected to have the main source identified in a few days. Mix of financial work and divining I believe. We were also recruited extra firepower for a live capture. Why are they so important to you? No one's managed production line telepathy of their strength. Nothing even close. We'd beaten the genetic component. The psychological factors were also coming under control before they escaped. * Jonathon tilts his head. "Psychological factors? Was there some instability with other test subjects then?" No, they were just limited. Yates could handle all materials, just not at a distance. Her chosen mate could do the distance but limited mass. However, the first two clones had material limitations. * Jonathon nods slightly and puts on his shades again, but doesn't give further comment. M-3 could do both, but was nigh impossible to activate. The local head of research solved that probleme on the Isle of Man. She then just couldn't be grounded. An important defect, but predominantly psychological in my opinion. Session Time: Mon May 15 00:00:00 2006 Tell me more about the tracker. That's more operations. I just know that Raleigh was handling the summoning. Which was good, as delivery undamaged was key and many extraplanar hunters are not so inclined. * Mankin rubs his brow. "I'm also getting tired. Been a long day of pacing. So, if you don't mind, wrap this up soon. * Ren chuckles. "From bored to tired." Just one more question, if you don't mind. Go ahed. At least we are a break in your routine, eh? (ahead) * Mankin nods. "True." * Ren closes his eyes, and starts humming something sad. He stops after a little bit, but the question after that is only asked with his eyes, as he looks at Mankin. * Kaede has joined #sab2020 * Jonathon has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer ) Ah, that meme hit you too. Well... * Mankin thinks for a moment. * Kaede looks over at Ren for a moment, though you can't tell much from his shaded eyes. (Jonathon does that.) * Kaede is now known as Jonathon The sacred kinetic infected our facility with it. We were able to experiment some. Apparently it had been generated by a former associate of Yate's. She didn't talk about her old days, and by the time of the infection she was in prision, so I never asked. I think her bodyswapper is still at large, but it's always hard to tell if you're dealing with him. If you want to know more, I'd ask her or him. Infected? It sounds like a bloody piece of music to me. It is, but it has a consciousness. Albiet a weak one. It can call itself up in the mind when it wants to be propogated. Sort of guided disease in that sense. * Jonathon has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) We tried making one of our own. You may be familar with the pop tune "Won't you pet my puppy love?" Moderately successful." His tone turns bitter. "But we lost control when another boyband group covered it." [The song was an incredibly obnoxious one that came up last year. Hard to put out of your mind but not actually any good. However, it doesn't fit well with sporting events, so it's starting to fade into obscurity.] Is there any way to tell if you are dealing with the bodyswapper? * Jonathon has joined #sab2020 Excellent question. He only keeps powers associated with the body itself, not anything mental: memories, skills, or special techniques. He can chain swap, and subjects remember being stuck in his body. You could probably rig up a device to note a mind change. Or passcodes or the like. * Mankin lays down on his bunk. "If that's all..." Not at the moment from me. But it has been a pleasure speaking with you. Perhaps we can get some good tea in here. * Mankin smiles. "I would appreciate that, thank you." (End?) * Saldin shifts her arms around and re-puts them in her sleeves. (Oh, and has Ren retrieved his gun yet?) [Mankin seems slightly disappointed he's not being left with a gun, but he doesn't resist.] [And you guys head out and are a safe distance away in the hall.] * Ren knee-bends down next to Mankin. "Try looking for someone who'll appreciate you, not use you." He nods as he accepts the gun. ( Err. ) (I'll up it in the log.) * Jonathon waves at Mankin as he leaves and walks down towards the hall, lastish. "So it would seem there are at least two ways to proceed from here. Unless you two can think of another?" * Saldin follows and says, "There is far too much for one mind to consider." Beat. "It is likely that this bodyswapper set up the connection between Paragene and Kristof, but as to why..." I am still unsure of the role of the bodyswapper myself. * Ren frowns. "The bodyswapper was spreading the song." * Saldin mms, then says, "It making the connection was likely to Mr. Mankin, so it is likely to us. There's a lot of ... focal points associated with that song. It might be interting to see how many of those the bodyswapper are known at. * Jonathon pauses for a moment to think. "I would think that I'd like to go check in on the three as well. But first, I think I need to put some delays in the works on them finding the donors. As soon as possible. ( interesting ) * Ren nods. "Need to do something about that tracker." * Jonathon smiles. "I'm sure Derk will appreciate it as well. He has enough bad publicity as is." * Jonathon has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) * Jonathon has joined #sab2020 * Ren glances at Jonathon. "Derk?" * Jonathon takes his shades off and picks up the corner of his coat, looking down as he wipes off the lenses. "Derk Johnson. He's one most generous fellow." (And give me a cultural arts roll, -4 Ren) [And Saldin apparently was summoned for duty elsewhere, as he's no longer by your side. How's he work into this? * Jonathon puts the shades back on and lets out a faint gesture with his palm. "Oh that's rather simple. He's one of the main donators towards their bail." * Ren raises an eyebrow. "He should at least be told he's got a tracker on him." Obviously. Hence my interest in him. * Jonathon smiles. "Well, I can find out all I can about the tracker in the first place. Or I can try to go straight for sabotaging the effort. But either way, it will take some time." Sabatoge will be quicker if we know what they're tracking, and will make capturing them or identifying them easier. Ideally, we'll want to capture the tracker. So... sabatoge, or a trap. Well, sabotage depends on the method of tracking. Ordinary methods won't work if they have employed a psychic, for example. The method of tracking, in this case, is tracing the cashflow. Though he did mentioned a diviner. ( -ed ) And I know who they might be tracking. The trouble is knowing how far along they are. Sounds like you've got a plan in mind. Somewhat. But I would need to know how much mystic influence is involved here. Raleigh would know. Would she tell us? With enough effort. Then I shall leave that part to you. Once you know of it, I will see who I can pull to counter it. And in the meantime, contact Derk, at the very least. * Ren nods. "See what you can find out abut the tracker in the meantime on your own." * Jonathon 's smile widens and he salutes. "I always do." [End!]