* Keiko drifts astrally out of the room, floating through random walls and
ceilings/floors in a panic to try to find someone, anyone, who's asleep.
<Brett> ( Which way is she going, in particular? )
<Keiko> (We'll say deeper into the compound.)
<Brett> ( Towards the control room? )
<Keiko> (I suppose that's the case, yes. But she's looking into rooms and so on,
on the way.)
<Brett> ( Gimme a luck roll )
<Keiko> (Not lucky enough! Miss by 5.)
<Brett> [Keiko finds nobody! But she does spot a security bot in one of the
corridors.]
* Keiko looks at the bot and whispers in a ghostly astral manner, "You're not
gonna help."
<Brett> [*Beeep!*
<Brett> ]
* Keiko blinks, and says, "You can't possibly see me. I'm not that tired."
<Brett> [It doesn't respond that time.]
* Keiko walks past the bot and continues her search.
<Brett> [Keiko gets further along! She gets to the round section.  Luck roll!]
<Keiko> (Miss by 2!)
<Brett> [Keiko still can't find anyone! D'oh]
* Keiko 's ghostly form shakes for a moment, then she says quietly, "No. No. I
have to find a way out..."
<Brett> [She goes even further.  Let's try onnnnne more soul roll.]
<Keiko> (Luck is not her forte today.)
<Brett> [Keiko finally senses people!  Two of them, coming from... the control
room.  She knows it's the control room because of a sign that says "Control
Room."]
* Keiko heads into to the control room. They're people! It's better than
nothing!
* Keiko is still invisible, but psychics and such can probably sense her!
<Brett> [Keiko enters, finding the monitor-man with two others, a woman with
short blond hair and the ninja.  They start leaving. "Come on.  I don't know
what he's doing here, but we don't need to be here for whatever it is."]
* Keiko looks at the one she _can't_ sense, then looks around at the monitors,
murmuring, "I knew it. I can't see people."
<Keiko> (Er, Can't see not-people.")
<Brett> [That one is, in fact, the monitor-guy.  Who now that she realizes, she
can sense. He's just very well protected.]
* Keiko blinks, then murmurs, "Oh right."
<Brett> [They leave the room!]
* Keiko looks at the monitors and buttons. Which button is the right button?
<Brett> [Good question.  Electronics roll!]
<Keiko> (... Miss by 1.)
<Keiko> (The dice haaaate me tonight. ^_~)
<Brett> [There's so many buttons, Keiko doesn't know!]
<Keiko> (It's like the dice know she's tired.)
<Brett> ( Oh dear. I messed something up. Welll... Not too important. )
<Brett> [The door opens!]
<Keiko> (Wait, the door into this room, or the door down there?)
<Brett> ( The door to your room! )
* Keiko looks over at the door, tiredly, even in astral form.
<Brett> [And a man walks in! But he looks kind of weird.  He's very pale, with
red eyes like an albino.  His hair is very dark though, shoulder length and tied
into a ponytail.  He wears black slacks, a black shirt, and a dark purple trench
coat with a black-feather collar.  Must be an emo.]
* Keiko stares. Is he detectable? Shielded? Open?
<Brett> [Keiko can't sense him at all.  He strides in with a wide grin.  Maybe a
bit too wide for a human. "Well, things are turning out rather interesting,
don't you think?  There's a button here.  Shall I push it?"]
* Keiko doesn't respond. Unless he's looking right at her the whole time.
<Brett> [He doesn't wait for Keiko to answer. "Yes, I think I shall!"  And he
hits it!]
<Keiko> (Did they leave through the way he went?)
<Keiko> (Er, the way he came in?)
<Brett> [He smiles... at Keiko! And it seems like a darker smile than the one
before. "And now I'll hit this one."]
<Brett> ( Yep. Only one door here. )
* Keiko blinks, then says, "The other people went out that way!" She points.
"Didn't you come here for them?"
<Keiko> I don't know how you can see me, but I saw them go!
<Brett> [He grins. "Oh no. I just came to see the excitement.  Humans are
creating such terrible monsters these days.  It makes it hard for the rest of us
to keep up, wouldn't you agree?"]
<Brett> [He hits a few more buttons.  All the monitors that were off turn on.
"Shall we watch?"]
* Keiko looks at the other monitors with a mix of curiosity... and growing
horror.
<Brett> [Keiko sees the rest of section 2! She also sees several people tied up
in a storage room somewhere.  And there's also a man and a woman on the first
floor, walking towards the section 2 group.]
* Keiko whispers quietly, "What are you?"
<Brett> ["A poet! Sometimes."]
* Keiko murmurs, "Me too."
<Brett> [He jumps on a chair. "Sometimes a poet! And don't you know it!
Sometimes a writer! I'll right the bloody blighter! Sometimes a sociopath!
I'm...."  He pauses, then cups his chin. "Oh dear.  I can't think of a good
rhyme for that one."]
* Keiko replies wearily, "Also good at math?"
<Brett> ["No.  Not really."]
<Keiko> Oh.
* Keiko looks for the other fleeing people. If they show up on monitors.
<Brett> [They don't.  Looks like they gone.]
* Keiko sighs and says, "Do you at least have a name?"
<Brett> ["You can call me the Ravenman.  I make your dreams come true! When I'm
not killing you."]
* Keiko sucks in an astral lip. "I like half of that."
* Keiko points at the people and asks, "What are they?"
<Brett> ["You'll love the other half, too! Or at least, someone in this room
will."]
<Brett> [He claps his hands together. "Ahhhh!  Watch! Mankind's own folly." He
grins. "We'll both enjoy this, won't we?"]
<Brett> ( Hearing roll! )
<Keiko> (... miss by 1.)
<Brett> ( Not your day, is it? )
<Keiko> (It's really not.)
<Brett> [Keiko doesn't hear something important.]
* Keiko shivers and wraps astral arms around herself. "Maybe, I---no, I can't.
Not without knowing."
<Brett> ["Oh.  Well, that's too bad for you, I suppose.  But since you're
here... I guess I should tell you something."]
* Keiko tilts her head.
* Keiko also seems to fade for a split second, but then she's back. Not quite
gone yet!
<Brett> [He grins nonchalantly. "I'm going to kill you! Not tonight, though.  Oh
no, not tonight.  Probably."]
* Keiko shivers and says, "That's... not helpful."
<Brett> ["But it doesn't hurt anything either, does it?"  He pauses, then shakes
his head. "Well, I suppose it does.  But that's how it goes, you know."]
* Keiko smiles weakly, in a hollow manner. "It's not much of a reward if it
doesn't help."
<Brett> ["Nonsense.  Death is a beautiful reward!"]
* Keiko fades out a little again, and murmurs, "I've felt dead people. They're
not often beautiful."
<Brett> [He grins, that same dark, wide grin as before. "I like you, you know. 
You make me want to just wrap my arms around you and hug you until your eyes pop
out of your head."  He gestures with his hands. "POP!"]
* Keiko smiles wanly, then says, "You... only get to do that once, though."
<Brett> [He nods. "Alas, 'tis the tragedy of murder.  But! There are plenty of
people in the world.  Even people with such a funny face as yours."  He grins. 
"The other funny face was here before, too. Shall I tell you a secret?"]
* Keiko nods a little.
<Brett> [He grins, even wider.  Somewhere in the back of her mind, Keiko
realizes his mouth is wide enough to put her head in. "He's going to ask me for
help.  Oh, he doesn't know it yet.  But he will once he realizes the book he
took from the foolish humans is incomplete."]
* Keiko blinks, then says quietly, "He?"
<Brett> ["The other funny face like you.  He just left."]
* Keiko is silent a moment, then says in a voice as she fades out, "Thanks."
Beat. "See you before I die?"
<Brett> [He grins. "Please don't do anything foolish before then.  I'd hate to
not be able to wring your neck."]
* Keiko shivers as her astral form falls away, and she wakes up.
<Brett> ( Creepy enough? )
<Keiko> (I don't knoe exactly what you were going for, but the concept
definitely worked. Felt like something a little out of Sandman.)
<Brett> ( Woot. )
<Brett> ( Actually the image I kept coming up with was more like Him.)