[Taki and Haruko arrive on the roof. Sure is roofy. There's like vents and things up here.] * Taki glances around nerviously. "Uh... good luck." * Haruko quickly thinks over the vent possibilities and then slides into the most promising seeming one, her body melting away into liquid form as she goes. ~Want to avoid fans and fast drops.~ ~Fast normally good, but not here~ ~This should do.~ Thanks... * Taki vanishes from up here. [Haruko goes into a vent. It sure is dark in here.] [And windy. The airconditioning is on.] ~We've got a field up down here. Possibly from Taki, but be on the lookout.~ * Haruko ripples from the cold. ~Dang I thought we fixed that~ ~Gah, cold and dark~ ~Take care~ ~I should have mixed myself with glow stick fluid~ ~Isn't that stuff poisonous?~ * Haruko tries to work her way down to the appropriate floor by trial and error. Whenever she passes wall vents she looks out to get her barings. ~Uh.. maybe.~ ~It was Taki's field.~ ~Ah, Remind her not to escape.~ ~Still cold... oh well, better than hot.~ ~Although running away is her forte~ ( Gimme a navigation roll, Haruko ) (Make exactly.) * Haruko tries to keep Satoshi updated with a rough idea of her location as she goes. [Haruko finds her way to a vent in the ceiling of the first floor.] * Haruko looks through the vent. * Haruko mentally sings the melody line of the Bond theme in her head. In her head, she can actually sing on pitch. ~Um... could you stop that? It's kinda distracting.~ ( <.< ) * Haruko awws and stops. ~Ask Taki if she really wanted to get off the roof?~ ~Not like she'd be found up there.~ ~But still, safer to be at street level. Hard to drive anywhere on roofs.~ ~I don't think she was worrying about that.~ [Looking throughthe vent, Haruko finds herself above the cubicles. Out of about 30, eight are occupied.] ~General angst?~ ~Eight of the thirty cubicles are occupied~ ~I'd hate to work in a cubical~ ~Was he in a cubical?~ ~Checking.~ ~Office, not cubicle.~ * Haruko glances around to see if she can see any offices. [Haruko can! They're lining the cubicles. There's about... we'll say eight, four on each side.] * Haruko checks the ventilation system to see if she can check directly on the offices. Offices, being swanker and cut off via doors, often have their own vents. She's careful when doing this so she can be sure to find her way back. ( Gimme another navigation roll ) 2d6 (miss by one) [Haruko isn't sure how to get there from here via the vents.] * Haruko explores a little and thinks frustrated navigation thoughts. ~Looks like I'll have to go through.~ ~I need to find a way to use gadgets while liquidy~ ~Well, on to the dark offices~ * Haruko gets a feel for the pattern of movement in the room. She then tries to figure out the best combination of unobtrusive drop point and available office. While doing so, she looks out for water coolers. [There is one, in the back of the room.] [There's two officers standing at it now, in fact.] * Haruko waits for one of the officers to lean on or bump the water cooler. She then knocks it over by thinking angry thoughts. She'll use that noise and distraction to drop down and go for an office. ( gimme a .... Hm. Soul? Roll. ) * Haruko 's angry thoughts for the record. ~Accursed unintuitive duct designs~ ~Stupid Ryuji, dumping me for a good reason~ ~Why can't Taki master it?! I'm tired of sleepy Taki~ ~Why won't father let me get a car?!~ (By 3) ~Yow! What's going on in there?~ ~Can't think, burglaring~ ~Need anger to move water~ ~Buildings are way tougher than cars~ [It happens just as Haruko planned, the officer gives a cry as the whole water cooler collapses, and most everyone in the office looks that way.] * Haruko drops down during the distraction and makes a dash for an office. * Haruko uses any navigation pointers Katie mentioned to help with this. Presumably she'd have given some details since she'd knew she'd be absent. ( In puddle form? ) (Heck yeah) [The puddle dashes across the carpet! Haruko gets to the office, but... hmm, that door is awfully close to the ground. She might not be able to squeeze under.] (Body roll?) ( Yep! ) ( I'd... offer acro (flexibility), buuuuuut... I don't see it working for a puddle. Sorry. ) (I suppose she could sit there for a bit and try to soak into the carpet. ;p) * Haruko utterly fails to get under the door. She thinks to herself about possibly needing to practice dance more to get her height down, as she forms into a crouched human to open the door a crack and then go watery to get inside. [That almost works! Except the door's locked. Crap.] * Haruko thinks a series of mild expletives. She considers picking the lock, but given her lack of tools that's not going to be fast enough. Are there any ground level vents or other offices to try easily available? ~What's wrong?~ [Unfortunately for Haruko, all the vents are in the ceiling.] * Haruko tries the door to the next available office. [Also locked. More than likely, all the ones that have the lights off are locked. That'd be, say, six of eight. The others might have people in them.] * Haruko scoots into the nearest unoccupied cubicle. She checks for keys or lockpick material. She describes the situation to Satoshi as she goes. ~Worst case, go for one of the empty offices~ ~Kyon will be disappointed in me~ ~I can listen to make sure it's empty~ ( Gimme a... Soul (luck) - burglary ) (Make by 3) * Haruko also does note any name plates by the door. If they exist that is. Incidentally her player has a name plate by his shared office door. It makes him inordinantly proud. But Satoshi doesn't pick up on any of that. ( Ahh man, don't make me make up names :( ) (No worries. Just our guy or not our guy. :P) ( Ok, we'll say Yamamura. Woo. ) ( Oh. ) (Who cares what the rest are called. :P) ( Well, Sagara's has his on the door. He's a sergeant. ) (Makes sense. Is that door going to be accessable and is the light out?) [Oh, right. Haruko finds a hairpin! It'll do for a lockpick, right?] (Right) * Haruko bides her time and when it seems safest she goes to try to pick an office lock. Sagara's if possible, but if it would leave her too exposed she'll settle for Yamamura or whoever. ( Lockpick roll! And stealth roll ) ( Stealth (silence) ) (Miss by one for body) (Make by 5 for lockpicking) (Thank goodness. That roll had me scared.) ( Erm? Which was the stealth roll? ) ( The six. Miss by one for body) (That's the one I should have boosted. Oh well. :P) [Haruko unlocks the door!] * Haruko goes watery to slip in fast and then remateralizes to close and locks it behind her. She goes watery once more to hide under the desk for a bit in case anyone heard that and comes to investigate. ( Stealth roll, -4! ) (If slipping in while staying solid is faster, she'll do that. But I figure mixing it up can save some time. Risks blowing the CG budget, but I'll take that chance. :P) (The budget couldn't handle it, apparently.) ( Oh man... ) [It's totally safe. Yep.] (Which office is she in?) (She get Sagara's?) (Also, how much longer do you guys have tonight? I probably shouldn't be staying up past 1, especially since I have a 9AM meeting tomorrow.) ( Sagara's ) ( Well, I wanted to finish this tonight, but at this rate......... >.> ) (I could probably swing 1:30.) ~I'm in his office.~ ~Laying low in case anyone heard me.~ ~Go ahead and get a visual.~ * Haruko stays under the desk for the moment. Did she see any vents in the room? As a sergent does he get a private bathroom or anything?) (Problem. I don't think Haruko *knows* about the visual thing.) (She meant look through the window from the outside.) (Or did Satoshi actually mention it once? I think he's still somewhat uncertain about it.) (Satoshi can get that wrong. :P) (Well, she doesn't exactly have eyes at the moment. ;p) (Well, she still senses.) ~Huh? I didn't think I told you about that.~ (Misunderstandings are fun!) ~About what?~ ::Her mental tone is amused:: ~Do you have a dark and terrible secret, Satoshi~ ::Her tone then gets less amused:: ~I mean, other than the sort that come from being us~ [There is a vent, in the ceiling. And no, he's not that special.] ~Um. Getting a visual? How did you want me to do that again?~ [The door opens, and a cop enters! "Who's in here?!"] * Haruko stays under the desk for this. ~Look in the window from outside~ ~Why can you see from a distance somehow?~ ~Crap!~ * Haruko stays under the desk as a puddle. ~We can talk about that later... Wait, what's wrong?~ ~Cop in the room~ ~Oh, crap, made too much noise~ ~I'm a failure as a sauve master-thief!~ ~Puddle under the desk, just stay as a puddle under the desk~ [Another cop joins him. "What's wrong?" The first guy enters the room. "I heard someone come in here."] (Is the light on?) [He flicks on the light looks around. "Sergeant Sagara always locks up when he leaves, and...." He blinks as he looks under the desk. "There's water under the desk. Someone WAS in here."] (Haruko did relock the door.) ( Oh. ) ( Well, end result is the same. She critfailed her stealth roll. ) (Oh. That's... a lot of retconning, then. Unless the cops have keys.) ( Good point. Hrm. ) ( Well, I'm sure maintenance has a master key. ) ( So we can say he got it from there. ) (Sure, that's fine. ) (Yeah. So just get rid of the part about him always locking up.) (Okay, quick are there pipes in the ceiling? Anything near on top of the desk?) [The other guy steps in, too. "Are you sure? Doesn't look like anything's missing..."] (Or just some condensation) (From the AC being on.) ( Big puddle of water under the desk? That's some AC :P ) [They check around. "Windows are locked, nothing seems misplaced..."] (Well, it's been a while since he left presumably. She just needs a little water to contribute to the theory to get them to call maintence) (In the morning.) [The second cop suggests: "You think maybe it's from the AC?"] ["What?"] ["The water. Maybe the AC's on the fritz."] * Haruko does her best to contribute a conveniently timed drop down from the AC. * Haruko thinks angry thoughts about how the cops should be this diligent when taking down drug dealers. ["Oh. Hm... But I'm sure I heard someone...." He blinks as the water falls. "Well, maybe not. We'd better get maintenance here on the double, though."] * Haruko relaxes. (If Japanese building services are anything like American building services, we've got some time. :P) ["Yeah, Sagara wouldn't want to come in tomorrow to find his office flooded (like east coast United States will be four years from now)"] [They leave, but they leave the door open. Hearing roll!] * Haruko keeps Satoshi updated. (Make) [Haruko hears one of them talking on the phone. "Yeah, Sergeant Sagara's office... AC problem... Puddle of water under the desk... I don't care, just fix it!... before anything important's ruined."] * Haruko keeps listening to see if they give a time estimate. [The guy on the other end probably does, but sicne you don't have Katie hearing, you don't know what it is.] * Haruko thinks. ~Alright~ ~We can salvage this~ ~I'll get some rain outside~ ~Taki ports in behind the door with field up~ ~Think escape!~ ~You can lift me up to the vent~ ~I'll hide there until maintenance comes and goes~ ~Can puzzle over an engine while I wait~ ~I'll call you back in when they're gone~ ~Okay, lemme get this straight. Taki ports herself and me in, I put you in the vent, then we warp out?~ ~Yes~ ~Thank the Kami it didn't just make sense to me~ ~Bring some water if you can~ * Haruko feels sad. Sad that this is much harder than she hoped. Sad that with this mission her quest for Norishige will be put off for a while. Sad that Kyon probably thinks she's a dope. That should kick in enough rain to get Satoshi a supply if he can find a bucket. (We don't have a bucket.) (Ah, oh well.) [It starts to rain!] * Haruko makes sure that it's clear that the doors open. Presumably there's places in the office you can stand to not be visible even with an open door. She communicates the dimensions of the room. * Haruko lays off the rain and actively communicates the status of potential viewers and such. ~Remember dump the water under the desk~ ::she then thinks with a touch of pride:: ~Stupid work ethic inspiring janitors to come in even late at night~ ~Haruko, can you look out the window without being seen?~ (Can she?) * Haruko maneuvers a bit if need be and makes sure there's something blocking the main room from seeing where she is. She then briefly materializes and glances outside to spot Satoshi and Taki. (Assuming she can) ( She can chance it. The door's open, but there's not necessarily someone looking into the room. ) (Okay, she chances it. She needs to get over to a section of the room that's not easily visible from outside anyways.) ( Stealth roll, -6! ) (Left off one, make by 6) [Haruko manages to do so!] ~Let's go~ ~Taki can dump the water while you put me in~ ~Fast...~ * Haruko readies herself to be lifted up and then to crawl/morph into the vent. ~We're coming in!~ * Haruko keeps prepping herself. [Taki and Satoshi arrive, and the lights go out suddenly.] * Taki blinks in the darkness. "Did I go to the wrong place?" ~No, it's a field.~ * Satoshi can still see the general confines of the office since there's light coming in from outside and quickly dumps the water under the desk. * Taki blinks. "AUGH, I'm going to spend the rest of the week asleep AGIAN!" Shh! * Haruko reaches out so Satoshi can find her. She thinks the position of the vent. ~We should still be fast~ ~Not like motorcycle fast, but bicyclist with a lot of skill~ ~Why does she yell?!~ * Satoshi grabs Haruko's hand, then walks over to the vent. ~Ready?~ ~Ready~ * Haruko then rethinks the vent tosses and advises Satoshi to that she'll climb on the desk and he can then lift her up to the vent. * Taki glares at Satoshi and whispers. "It's a field, it's my field. The only way there's going to be anybody to hear us is if one of the other survivors just happens to be a cop now!" * Satoshi lets go of Haruko's hand. "Sorry, automatic reaction." * Haruko gets up on the desk and waits for Satoshi to lift it up to the ceiling. When it gets close she goes watery. When it's flush with the ceiling she flows into the vent. * Satoshi does his thing. INTENSE! DESK! LIFTING! ACTION! * Taki boggles, and then hopes that all the stuff that was on the desk goes back to the way it was before. ~Whee!~ ~With those muscles you could probably do better than--~ ~Cars, well, aren't cars great. That one I saw this afternoon was a real hottie~ [Satoshi lifts the desk. A lot of the crap on it falls off as he does so, so it's a good thing you're in a field.] * Haruko flows into the vent. ~Huh?~ ~Oh, it had great lines~ ~Real nice engine~ ~Keep not thinking Taki~ ~Crap~ * Taki puts a hand on Satoshi. "We've gotta get out of here." ~...uhuh. You up all the way?~ Hang on. ~I'm in~ ~Put stuff on desk and go~ ~Thanks~ * Satoshi puts the desk back down. ~Welcome.~ Okay, let's go. ~We're in a field; the desk'll go back to the way it was before.~ * Taki vanishes from in here with Satoshi. ~Oooh clever!~ * Haruko settles in. If she can she'll use her mechanic skill to figure out a little easy to fix sabotage. If there's room she can do this by materializing in the duct. If there's not, she's got telekinetic powers. If neither of those work, well the mechanic makes money anyways. (Oooh, maybe it's like a FPS and there's special items when you get to the difficult to reach ducts.) ( Like Deus Ex? ) ( Exactly! ) [Haruko finds a box of tranquilizer darts, but then is eaten by a greasel D: (Doh!) [Or not!] (I was about to say. :P) (That the greasel is the downside.) ~We're going to wait half an hour before we pull you out.~ ( Actually... ) ~Only a half hour?~ ~Geez, I sometimes spend more than that washing the car after a joyride~ ~Well can't complain~ ~And I don't joyride anymore. Really.~ [Haruko doesn't catch that.] ( Telepathy wouldn't work across the field. ) (It wouldn't?) ( Nope. ) (It did earlier.) (You were both inside?) ( It shouldn't have. I mean, if they're both in the field it would. ) ( But if one's in and one's not, it wouldn't. ) (When Taki put it up outside.) (How big is the field?) (Okay, we can do some creative retconning.) ( I'm no good with measurements, but it wouldn't reach from the playground to the police office. ) (Okay, well they're briefly out of contact. That conversation can occur once Satoshi is out of the field. ~We're going to wait half an hour before we pull you out.~ ~Only a half hour?~ ~Geez, I sometimes spend more than that washing the car after a joyride~ ~Well can't complain~ ~And I don't joyride anymore. Really.~ ~Right. Oh, and I want to talk to you later about something.~ ~Oh yeah?~ ~Good I hope it's something I can help on, you taking the initiative is important~ ~Just need to be nonchalant and supportive when--~ ~Gah, yeah, we can talk when you aren't reading me~ ~...yeah.~ [It's over!]