Babadon't Room Crawl

[piper90npcs]

[OOC: Please tag in to the assigned room. There will be at least one NPC tag to the thread per day. Remember that your characters can still use the network to communicate findings or questions to those still in the living quarters.]

Once word is out that the victim was dragged to the Rewards Lounge, the hires who’ve been cleared head are given permission to enter that rare knock-off paradise. Somewhere along the line, someone suggests splitting into groups, an idea that gets all the more appealing when they see that the Rewards Lounge has at least five suites to investigate, perhaps in case Corporate ever decided to enlist a stable of bootlickers and snitches to feed them intel on the other hires in exchange for feather beds and middle-shelf scotch.

It becomes clear that the intelligence they got was likely correct: there are streaks of black goo along to doorframe to the lobby room between all the suites.

Comments

[greyerrant]

[ Loken stays quiet, letting the other two talk out their nerves, his own focus intense as he prods the wood and cloth structure above the jacuzzi tentatively with his knife, probing for any kind of trap or living form before he shoves it aside, still suspecting their opponent is hiding somewhere. ]

[fuckingaqua]

What, you never made casual conversation before? I'm not getting paid to fuckin'... [ Oh he didn't plan out finishing that thought before speaking, uhhh. ] Stealth Force One this thing.

[ Tucker crumples the torn paper pieces into one hand, then drops to the ground to make an under-the-beds survey. Two beds, weird vibe, Simmons would be crying about Mimics or whatever. But execs are probably just into group things. ]

Kids these days. Jesus.

[piper90npcs]

[The mystery door doesn't budge - it seems more secure than the other doors in the Rewards Lounge - and it has a lock that requires a keycard to open.

The jacuzzi, on the other hand, stinks of rot once the cover is taken off, and the water inside is ice cold, black and full of strange clumps, some of which appear to be wads of hair.

The mini-bar is just full of alcohol.

There's nothing in the trash except those torn papers, some used kleenexes and a pen that's run out of ink.]

[ragefeathers]

I'm not a kid, asshole. I just think your small talk sucks.

[ Kenzie frowns when the door refuses to budge. She wants to get through there! The simple solution would be to get big and furry but she doesn't want to do that if she doesn't have to, yet. She takes a step back and calls over shoulder. ]

Hey, big guy, gimme a hand with this door!

[ She grunts, draws a leg back and delivers a firm kick just next to the lock to see if she can force it open. ]

[greyerrant]

A moment, Mamzel. I believe we have found something. Some... remnant of our foe. Or his victims.

[ Loken fishes a clump out with his knife, careful not to touch it, and sets it on the floor, saying to Tucker. ] Find something to bag that in. I must assist her.

[ He nods to Kenzie and says. ] I'm going to attempt to breach. Be ready to follow.

[ He focuses his significant physical strength, and attempts to shoulder barge through the door, obviously used to this kind of room clearing though normally he has powered armor and a chainsaw sword on hand ]

shoutout to my phone for not copy-pasting my whole tag 2021

[fuckingaqua]

[ He should've let the robot girl "you guys are basically Power Rangers" statement rest. Gross shit duty. This sucks.

Tucker shoves the torn paper bits into a pocket and starts poking around for something appropriately baglike or container-shaped, rolling his eyes. ]

Might have to settle for a thermos, dude. We're looking at some real Campbell's chunky corpse chowder to stuff in a pillowcase. No way I'm dripping that back down the hall.

[ Lacking an option he finds satisfactory, not wanting to look all that hard, and/or just being less than willing to let his assigned teammates out of his sight while they attempt something that could be dangerous, Tucker grabs the wastebasket again and begins the awkward process of trying to scoop the clump into it in one piece.

It's a sad day when using a used tissue as a makeshift scooper is the lesser of two evils. ]

[piper90npcs]

[The clumps of hair are long and coated in the rotting black goo.

The door, however, remains unmoved. It doesn't look like brute force will work to getting through it.]

[ragefeathers]

[ Kenzie growls in annoyance when the door fails to give under the insistent pressure from both herself and Loken. She gives it a last thump and then turns away to start looking over the rest of the room. Maybe the key is hiding somewhere here? She moves to check over the kitchen, opening drawers and cabinets to see if she's missed anything. ]

That stuff smells foul.

[greyerrant]

Correct. [ Loken assists Kenzie searching various nooks and crannies for the key, overturning any objects large enough to possibly hold it ]

[fuckingaqua]

Tell me about it. That's gonna be stuck in my nose all week.

[ He sets his bucket o' hair on the ground and uses his device to get a couple of pictures of the hot tub situation, for the network updating post. Maybe some other group will see it and solve the whole mystery. Weirder things have happened. ]

I'm gonna check out the bathroom. If nothing's waiting in the toilet to murder us, maybe we can jigsaw together some of this gross trash paper and see if there's anything good on it.

[ Clues or hot gossip accepted. ]

[piper90npcs]

[Kenzie's efforts will be rewarded: a lanyard hiding in plain sight above the sink contains a key card and an employee ID for an "Edgar Quintero".

There's nothing murderous in the bathroom, but there are more torn papers in the wastebasket.]

[ragefeathers]

Sounds good.

[ Kenzie calls over her shoulder. Ah! She grins toothily as she finds the lanyard hanging over the sink. SHe plucks it up, waggles the key towards Loken. ]

Score. Let's see what we got. Hey! I'm gonna open the door!

[ That last bit is called over to the bathroom, so Tucker gets clued in on the plan. That said, she scoots past Loken's impressive bulk and swipes the keycard before shoving the strange door open. ]

[greyerrant]

[ Loken has the knife ready in case there is something nasty behind the door, standing so he can safely engage without injuring Kenzie should something leap out at them ]

[fuckingaqua]

Okay!

[ Tucker will add these torn papers to his growing collection and step back out to the main room, just in case they wind up needing an extra dash of backup. Easier to start doing this paper assembly on a bed, anyway. ]

[piper90npcs]

[There's no enemy on the other side of the door, but there is a very nice hallway that looks less like a tacky hotel and more like a tech startup, with several many-windowed offices with glass doors, and a large open area with cubicles that a discerning eye could tell from the tacked-up family photos belong to the relatively elite employees on the Rig. There's a water cooler, a kitchenette, and so many bobbleheads and candy jars.

There is no black goo or stink.]

[ragefeathers]

What the hell...?

[ Kenzie mutters, half to herself. The lanyard is hung around her neck to keep it out of the way first, then she takes a few steps into the office space and starts to look around. The werewolf casually swipes some candy here and there as she goes. She's not quite sure what she's looking for, especially since there's no stink here, but that doesn't mean there's nothing. She opens office doors, peers under desks, and rifles through cabinets. ]

I feel like there's gotta be something here.

[greyerrant]

Sometimes an office is just an office. Find actionable intelligence on our erstwhile masters.

[ Loken realizes he is unlikely to find the babadon't here. But a forgotten key card to the armory or other access might be possible, which will help with later struggles. He searches for that kind of thing. ]

[fuckingaqua]

[ Oh, sure, office workers are allowed to have pictures of their kids. That's discrimination. He doesn't know exactly what kind of discrimination yet, but it is.

Tucker opts to take a couple of minutes to finish climbing Single-Minded Dumbass Mountain. Which is to say, he keeps his ears peeled for signs of trouble with his teammates while he hangs back, and tries puzzling together some of this torn paper to see if anything worth finding is on it, instead of going down the cool new hallway. Just in case.

No one wants to be the dude who fucked everything up by forgetting about some paper that was in the trash one time.

Plus, you know. Maybe it's a phone number for one of the 400 Pams in accounting and she'd be interested in some clearly-outlined-as-casual hookups. He misses fun. ]

[piper90npcs]

[Most of the offices are locked. The one that is open has bean bags, a couch that's clearly a futon, and a little plastic baggie that has a travel toothbrush and dental floss. Whoever works in this office clearly is married to the job. A whiteboard on the wall has Parking Lot in the righthand top corner. The computer is password-locked, but there's a crumpled up piece of paper next to the rolling desk chair.

Tucker's papers, pieced together, seem to be a to-do list - but something liquid and dark, maybe computer printer ink, was spilled on the paper and rendered several words illegible.

To-Do ████ 12.10.2020
- ████ laundry
- select first targets
- investigate potential costumes
- ████ ████ ████
- ████ janitor schedule
- ████ ████ and ████ in garden
- change rooms]

[ragefeathers]

[ Kenzie stoops to pick up the crumpled paper and casually uncrumples it to see if it contains anything useful. As she does so, she plops down into the computer chair, then frowns over at the whiteboard. Hm. She wakes the computer. ]

I don't think anyone is that obvious, but...

[ She asides to Loken, then punches in Parking Lot as the password, just to see if it works. ]

[greyerrant]

[ Loken naturally falls into position of cover for Kenzie, and comments, ]

The competence of our captors knows no beginnings, so they just might be that foolish.

[fuckingaqua]

[ It's no phone number (Tucker you don't have an actual phone), but it does feel like a win. Tucker takes his requisite pictures of the list and jogs his way into the office space.

He knocks over a couple of family photos on his way. Not for any good reason. He does it to be an asshole.

Kinda cool that they've got hacker shit to think about now, too, though. ]

Hey, I found a murderer to-do list in the trash back there. You guys want pics? It's got stuff on it, but lucky for everyone here it's not the stuff you'd expect from a Rewards Lounge.

[piper90npcs]

[Alas, this person isn't quite stupid enough to write their passwords on the whiteboard, but the crumpled paper might be a little interesting. It's a print-out of an email, sender and recipient unknown.

Hey, sorry for the delay

Since you asked, so, this is the part of Chandler's email that I think was a little aggressive.

"Either way, you're wasting time and resources even proposing investigating the K collective. We have more important threats to prioritize than a benign cult, and your emphasis on them is starting to make me worried about how satisfying your home life must be. Regarding the Other K, she honestly should never have been promoted beyond fetching coffee and holding pipettes. Your concerns about her getting into The Array are overblown and aggravating, especially as she lacks the necessary security clearances."

Like, how satisfying my home life is? At least I have a home life and don't sleep on my desk like that dick. Does this count as sexual harassment? Should I take this to Lindsey in HR?

See you tomorrow afternoon for the team-building seminar.]

[ragefeathers]

[ Damn. At least the paper is mildly interesting. She looks it over before glancing up at Tucker, now that he's arrived. ]

No luck on the computer but... I got this.

[ She smooths the email out on the desk. ]

What do you guys think?

[greyerrant]

[ Loken looks up from the communicator where tucker posted his findings ] I am puzzled. But we have a possible stalking point for the creature, at least where it might be. Let us consider proceeding there, if we are done with everything in here. Or we could... Ask Alia if the password for this computer might match any of those she has borrowed for her gaming server.

[ Loken looks disgusted by the idea of asking the AI for help though ]