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

[passifloraincarnata]

[Setsuna grabs hold of the comm in one hand, angling it down on the flowerbeds, just to keep a clear record.]

No natural blight can kill lilacs and roses alone without killing the flowers around them too. But lilacs are innocence in the language of flowers, and roses symbolize love. A monster that preys on both, and thrives as their opposite, can easily make the floral representatives of such delicate emotions wilt in its presence. Such is exactly what's happened here, I'm afraid.

[If anyone - like Kokichi, perhaps - ever doubted she's a real deal magical girl, a speech like that rolling off her tongue as naturally delivered and completely committed as it was should dispel all doubt. No normal person makes declarative monologues that sound like that. She stands up, brushing dirt off her knees.]

There's nothing else here. [And to Kerrigan and South, specifically, though it broadcasts to everyone, of course:] If you two don't find anything else, we might be better suited helping out somewhere else, if we can.

[zerg_rush]

[Oh...kay. That may have been the dumbest thing she's ever heard, and she's spent the last decade hanging around with marines. Kerrigan decides to ignore it.]

I think something got washed down the drain. The smell's really strong here.

[Kerrigan's leaning over the sink, not enjoying the mixed odor of peppermint and rot.]

Might have to break into the plumbing and see if anything got caught.

[Ordinarily she wouldn't be relishing the prospect, but hey, plausible deniability for flooding the suite.]

[ownperson]

Eugh. Gross. [ she pulls a face ] You do that, I'll check the mini-bar and then walk around, let Delta do a proper scan of the place, see if there's anything we missed.

[ Delta's capabilities are somewhat limited from his puck, but not entirely, and he's still inherently quicker-minded than the non-AIs.

She does check the mini-bar in earnest, not just to quietly pocket a couple little things (though she does do that), and tells Delta to start his scan whilst she does. If she finds nothing of interest she then starts to walk him around the room. ]

[piper90npcs]

[Inside the garbage disposal, Kerrigan will find a ton of the clumpy black goo, what looks like some human teeth, and a silver key on a ring. There's a laminated label on the key that says FILES in marker.

Neither Delta nor South will find anything interesting from the intruder in the room or mini-bar, but South will find some surprisingly high-end cognac.]

[passifloraincarnata]

[There's another flash of red light, and Setsuna Cure Passion lands, crouching, atop the sink near where Kerrigan's comm screen is pointing, nodding as she takes in the sights with a thoughtful frown. She feels like there's just something at the edge of her awareness about all this, but she can't put her finger on what. Her frown turns more nauseated as she gets a closer look at the clumps Kerrigan kicked out of the garbage disposal.]

.... oh god, that's horrifying. I really hope those teeth didn't belong to an actual person ...

[She turns her head away and makes the quick hop down, before rooting around in the kitchen area for some sort of garbage bag. Then she starts shoveling candy into it, aggressively calm, silent and studious in her motions, as a distraction, the disquiet and bemusement still evident on her face.]

... you two do good work. I hope we'll get to work together again sometime ... on something less horrifying, preferably. Be safe. But if you're ever in danger, don't be afraid to call for Cure Passion. I'm always ready to help.

[She switches off her comm from broadcasting to all the New Hires, then, and reopens the direct, locked feed to Kokichi, a determined, close-mouthed grin on her face, before standing and turning in the direction of the hall.

[Halfway through a step, red light flares around her like a bursting star, and then she's gone.]

[zerg_rush]

[After kicking the garbage disposal off its mounts, Kerrigan investigates the contents. The room smells distinctly more like rot now that she's exposed more of monster goo to the air.

She watches Setsuna, relieved that the girl didn't say anything about the key, which she palms while "Cure Passion" makes a farewell speech.]

Uh...sure.

[After Setsuna is safely away, Kerrigan looks at South, and no one needs to be a telepath to pick up her "WTF?" mood. But then she shrugs and goes back to sorting through the gunk from the garbage disposal.]

Anyway, like she said.

[Kerrigan holds up her hand, dripping black gunk and holding, yep, teeth.]

Hair and teeth don't prove someone's dead...but everybody be on the lookout for bone fragments.

[ownperson]

[ After carefully pocketing her spoils and finishing her loop around the room, South does return to Kerrigan, hovering back away from the sink with her nose scrunched up in disgust, just in time to watch Setsuna appear. At her departure, South blinks and meets Kerrigan's 'WTF' look with her own before just shaking her head. Guess she's off... somewhere. ]

This is fucking disgusting. I've seen some gnarly shit but, this? Yuck.

[ She pulls a face. ]

Anyway, Delta found fuck all around the rest of this place and if he didn't spot shit, I'm definitely not going to.

[zerg_rush]

I've seen worse.

[The zerg are bad, okay.

Kerrigan gets back up, leaving the floor a mess, and proceeds to leave more black smudges on cabinets as she looks for a baggie or small container for the teeth. Someone might want to run the DNA.]

The weirdo had a point. If we're clear here we should split up and help with the other rooms.

[ownperson]

[ South internally groans. Kerrigan may be right, but that doesn't mean she likes it. Price is in one of those rooms, Wash is in another, and the sim trooper who apparently knows Wash is in the last. None of those options are appealing if she can avoid them. ]

You go ahead, I'll go do a pass over the gardens with Delta in case that pink girl missed something whilst giving her dramatic speeches about love and shit. Just uh, contact me if I'm needed or it's time to make our way back.

[zerg_rush]

[Uh-huh. Kerrigan's a telepath, South.

Still, as long as it serves her purposes, she doesn't care where South goes, and it's not a bad idea to double-check the garden, anyway.]

Sure. Yell if you're about to get eaten by, I don't know, an undead rosebush or an evil sports mascot.

[ownperson]

[ South snorts a laugh. ]

Fuckin' hell, that'd be my luck. Yeah, I'll yell. And I'll keep up with whatever the fuck the rest of you find on the network.

[ She gives Kerrigan a casual, friendly two-fingered salute and then she'll make for the gardens, leaving Kerrigan to go do what she needs to do. ]