[Day: Wednesday, Feb. 9th. Time: 3:15 p.m.] [Location: Milan, Italy] [You're at the Milanese Natural History Museum (THe MNHM), a bizzarely shaped building that if seen from above would somewhat resemble a tie-fighter <-O->. Oh how architects love museums.] [You've come because Alysha dragged you all there! Although some of you might have wanted to see the Azda artifacts on display anyhow. In case you've forgotten, Azda is a pyramid in the Northwest part of Egypt, hidden under the desert and unearthed only a few decades ago. There's only twelve objects on display from there, but they're all considered priceless.] [Anyhow, you're at the south entrance of the museum. Alysha's already climbing the (many) stairs towards the entrance.] [Start] * Montana is in normal clothes! Which probably have work clothes under them. Still, hat: he has it! And he's looking around in interest as he's walking up the stairs. (Computer problems; going to reboot - be right back!) * Montana has quit IRC (Quit: Reboot!) [Other factoids: The museum is 3 storeys high (plus a basement area). Most of the objects are located in the wings, the central area is for the lobby, a cafe, a restaurant, gift shop, and other facilities.] [The museum houses a large collection of objects from Italian history, and smaller collections from Europe, and even smaller collections from other countries. Objects from the entire Western Hemisphere take up only about half the rooms in the basement under the east wing.] [The African section is only slightly larger, also located in the basement. The Azda artifacts are located in the special exhibit section, however, located at the top floor of the two wings (in this case, the west).] * Sonia heads up the stairs with a light step. She's straightened her hair, with pink in the front, and the rest hidden by her hood. * Montana has joined #mc5 * Shiho is walking up the stairs with Alysha, wearing a long coat that somehow manages to conceal her weaponry. Her hair's in a ponytail instead of its usual braid. * Gordo is less than enthused as he climbs up and hasn't done anything in particular with his hair. (LOSER) [Alysha's hair is in two ponytails, making her look like a teenage girl who watches too much anime.] [her attire consists of leather boots, tight black pants, a white windbreaker an a low-front top. And pink sunglasses.] (I enjoy her outfit!) * Montana keeps an eye out for general security as he heads into the building. [You enter the lobby. It's huge, a giant O with a glass ceiling, supported by greco-romanesque columns spaced roughly halfway between the O and the center. There's some information desks in front of you, and donation boxes, 'cause the museum is free. The aformentioned restaurant, gift shop et. al. are located in the center of the O. ] [There's a large crowd of patrons at the museum today.] * Sonia glances to Montana under her glasses and says, lowly, "Not a safe time to be flashy." 2d6+10 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+10 for Montana and gets a natural 3 for a result of 13. [Montana does spy some security guards amongs the crowd. They wear all black and have shifty eyes, looking like they view everyone as a potential threat. They probably don't get paid enough.] * Montana is sure that they don't, in fact, get paid enough. [Alysha heads towards the elevator. "Only twelve objects, huh. This shouldnt' take too long.] * Sonia stretches and says, "Doesn't take much to look." [Alysha grins. "Nope."] * Gordo perks up. "Maybe I'll have time to visit the air museum after all." [You get to the elevator for the west wing just as the elevator arrives. It's big and roomy. And yet tons of people begin pushing their way in.] * Shiho sticks close to Alysha and keeps an eye on the area. * Sonia gets up against a wall, pulling an earbud into her ear. [Alysha crowds in with everyone else. Might as well. People are talking in many different languages. One of them bumps into Alysha and says something in Polish, she responds in kind.] * Montana talks to Gordo as he checks out the security. "Air museum, huh? Like plains and stuff?" (s/plains/planes) 2d6+10 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+10 for Montana and gets a natural 8 for a result of 18. Yeah, they've got one of the largest collections of Italian planes from the second world war. * Montana grins. "Sounds right up your alley." Tis. [The elevator opens, and people move to escape the stuffy interior, Alysha included. It opens to a wide corridor, with red walls, a white carpet and a green ceiling. HAY GUYS YOU'RE IN ITALY! Most patrons are heading towards a gallery entrance to the left, where the Egyptian objects are located.] Amazing they didn't all crash. * Nigel looks around and starts to head over towards the Egyptian exhibit. ( though I guess a red ceiling, white walls and a green carpet would had made more sense... oh well. ) Macchi and Fiat made a couple of decent fighters, couldn't build 'em fast enough, but that's a different problem. Like... hundred year old planes nobody smashed into the ground. Seems pretty boring to me. They don't fly them anymore of course. * Sonia shrugs. "Only soundin' worse, flyboy." Vehicles want to move. Like a 100 year old hole in the ground would be more interesting? * Sonia smiles a bit. "Proper grave, sure." [And so you follow the crowds to the gallery, where it disperses as people look at individual objects. Security guards are in full force here, with two posted at each (of two) entrance of the gallery. There's four plexiglass cases, one in each corner, a large but broken tablet of heiroglyphics against the north wall (cordoned off by a red rope), and a large statue of a man with an owl head, sitting on a throne and holding a staff of sorts. Gimme a cultural arts (history) roll if you like.] 2d6+5 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+5 for Sonia and gets a natural 8 for a result of 13. (BAM) * Shiho yawns and checks her phone, then pockets it again. She looks around at the exhibit with mild interest. 2d6+5 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+5 for Shiho and gets a natural 4 for a result of 9. 2d6+5 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+5 for Gordo and gets a natural 5 for a result of 10. Anyone who gets 12 or above knows it's probably a statue of Horus and that the head is actually supposed to be a falcon, but the small beak makes it kind of look like an owl.] 2d6+7 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+7 for Montana and gets a natural 11 for a result of 18. 2d6+7 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+7 for Nigel and gets a natural 7 for a result of 14. (I actually bought that, but I forgot to send my sheet. I'll send it tonight.) * Sonia nods slightly to herself and says, half to herself, "Someone break his nose?" (Oh wait. No I did) (Sorry. That's a 17) [Alysha looks it up and down. "Wonder if he really looks like that..."] Maybe he fell over a few times in the past few thousand years. Whadya mean 'really'? * Montana nods after Sonia asks that, as he was wondering the same thing. * Nigel shrugs at Alysha. "Probably not. Run ins with gods tend to be pretty traumatic. People don't generally remember what they actually look like." [Alysha grins at Nigel. "I bet I would if I ever met one." She moves over to one of the cases.]] * Nigel nods. "Personally, I tend to try to avoid the experience. But then... most of the gods that I have a chance to meet are being summoned by a bunch of crazy blokes who want to destroy the world." * Sonia rolls her eyes and says, "Doesn't make 'em very godly. Makes 'em sound like operators." * Sonia steps away to a different case. You meet the most interesting crazy blokes. 2d6+5 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+5 for Montana and gets a natural 7 for a result of 12. 2d6+6 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+6 for Montana and gets a natural 8 for a result of 14. [You look over the objects! Among them are a pharoah's headdress that apparently contains real gold, an ivory scarab necklace, and sculpted sandstone crocodile's head. Which is the one Alysha's looking at when a familiar white-haired man named Sebastian approaches her. approaches her.] ( I said it twice because it's important! Or maybe I just messed up ) (He's twins now) (oh balls) [He's lacking the giant sword, FYI.] * Montana sees Sebastian approaching and makes with the frown. Although it's not like he'd recognize him, but still. [Alysha takes a step back as he leans over the case, peering at the objects. This time it's his turn to grin. "You recognize me. So it's true, Karrin's little girl has turned into a criminal."] ( One r in Karin :P ) * Shiho steps between Alysha and Sebastian and puts a hand on her sword, under her coat. "Can I help you?" [Sebastian grins. "Easy now. You wouldn't want to try anything with all these people around, would you?"] Sure I would. Step back. * Sonia turns around casually to face towards the two of them, a hand in her pocket, but doesn't really lock in on him so much. [Alysha glares at him from over Shiho's shoulder. "Who are you calling a criminal? You're a terrorist!"] * Gordo rubs his face. * Montana figures enough people are paying attention to Sebastian and he goes about keeping an eye out for any other threats, from Sebastian's crew, security, or other. Boss, you and I are leaving. Come on. [Sebastian laughs. He stays a respectable distance away, though. "It's business, dear. Zukunft's business."] [Sebastian's crew doesn't seem to be around. At least, not in this area.] [Meanwhile, Alysha says, "Hang on. He won't try anything here." Then she glares at Sebastian. "So you're Zukunft's pawn now. I was wondering how you survived. You're supposed to be dead."] * Shiho doesn't look thrilled about the order but does as she's told, staying between the two of them. [He laughs at that. "I could say the same to you. A lot's happened in the past decade." He turns to leave, but not before he says, "I'd advise you to collar your dogs, Johnson. You don't want to get in my way."]] [And then he heads out the gallery exit.] [The idiot guards don't realize he's a major character and just let him go.] * Sonia clucks her tongue. [Alysha stares after him, pointedly not grinning. "What the hell was he doing here?"] So, you think Zukunft is interested in this stuff, or is he just here becauese? Pissing you off. But he knows to be here *to* piss you off. Thinkin' that's the trouble. [Alysha shakes her head. "No. He was here for a reason." She moves over to another case, one containing a small ebony statuette of a man with a jackal's head. . "And it's this."] ( Cultural arts (history) if you like. ) 2d6+5 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+5 for Sonia and gets a natural 9 for a result of 14. 2d6+5 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+5 for Gordo and gets a natural 6 for a result of 11. 2d6+5 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+5 for Shiho and gets a natural 7 for a result of 12. Anyone who gets above 12 knows it's Anubis, the god of death and ceremony.] 2d6 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6 for Nigel and gets a natural 9 for a result of 9. 2d6+7 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+7 for Montana and gets a natural 5 for a result of 12. * Sonia rubs her neck. "More death stuff?" 2d6+10 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+10 for Nigel and gets a natural 3 for a result of 13. (... That first roll was a misclick, but yeah. I still made 12) That's Anubis, right? * Nigel shrugs. "A statue of Anubis? It's a pretty well done statue, but what does it mean to him?" [Alysha grins, staring at it. "It radiates magic. I don't know what it does, but it's strong. What else could he be after?"] Plus, death. And Phoenixes... they're s'posed to do death too, right? [Alysha nods. "Well, rebirth anyway."] * Nigel nods. "Yes. That would make sense. A god of death and a phoenix egg for a resurrection ceremony." * Montana keeps casing the area as the others talk... his eyes widen and he sighs a little, pulling his hat down a touch. "'Scuse me," he says to the others before walking off to chat it up with a very pretty blond lady. * Nigel shakes his head. "But who would they resurrect?" Didn't you mention a girlfriend? ( Anyone who's eavesdropping, #MCtana ) * Sonia shrugs and says, "If you ain't got someone to raise, you ain't livin'." ["Gertrude. But we don't even know that she's dead. My parents, Fritz, Pavla... None of them have had contact with her since escaping Germany."] * Shiho is scowling and keeping an eye out for any other strangers looking to talk to Alysha. (LOOK OUT A STRANGER) (Damn strangers! All making my boss be upset instead of just annoyingly perky!) Any way to find out if it's her or some other body? (STRANGER DANGER) [Alysha shakes her head. "Not easily. Unless we can stumble across someone who knows for sure whether she's alive or not..." She grins. "Maybe check the papers for the last twenty years for an obituary?"] * Sonia rolls her eyes. "You ask someone on the internet. Pay them money." Or talk to other people your parents and the higher-ups knew, see if anyone else knows. [Alysha grins. "Contrary to popular belief, there are some things you cna't just look up on the internet. If she's alive, she doesn't want to be found." She pauses. "Or someone doesn't want her to be found."] [She also nods to Shiho. "I thought about that. But if Pavla and Fritz don't know, I don't see why anyone else would."] * Nigel shrugs. "I may be able to find out. Finding people... and things is what I do." [Alysha shrugs. "It's worth a shot."] [She turns back to the statue. "In the meantime we can't very well let this fall into their hands." She blinks a few times, then looks up, looks at you, an looks at all the people. "Uh... Where's Montana?"]] * Sonia points back behind her. "Just hittin' on the prettiest woman in the room, don't mind him." [Alysha blinks a few times thataway.] * Montana is, in fact, talking to a woman! He glances back in your direction before turning to her and continuing the conversation. ["Of all the times to... Be right back," she says, and makes her way over.] * Sonia ask/protests, "Where you rushing to?" but doesn't really get in her way. * Shiho follows Alysha. ( Alysha went to #MCtana ) (Come with, Shiho!) * Gordo looks at Nigel and nods at Montana. "Two quid says it ends in fire and with at least two of us running for our lives." * Nigel shrugs. "Usually does." What's it? I don't mind some action. Montana talking to a woman for more than ten minutes. ( Suddenly Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots attack! ) (LEFT HOOK!) * Sonia snorts and says, "I haven't lit him on fire." [Alysha returns, casting a glance over her shoulder at the woman, muttering under her breath. Whether it's about the woman or Montana, who can tell?] ( Though I guess if you really wanted you could give me hearing rolls :P ) (Sweet, do it!) * Shiho comes back just behind Alysha. "So, that was worth interrupting their conversation over." (What the hell, rolling a hearing check.) 2d6+7 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+7 for Shiho and gets a natural 6 for a result of 13. 2d6+5 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+5 for Gordo and gets a natural 10 for a result of 15. (Heh) 2d6+7 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+7 for Nigel and gets a natural 7 for a result of 14. (Hearing check totally.) 2d6+6 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+6 for Sonia and gets a natural 5 for a result of 11. (Okay, somebody roll a 12) (Someone already did!) Told you, Alysha. [Anyone who gets a 12 or above hears Alysha muttering about bad timing and big boobs and annoying and god she needs a drink.] [Alysha sighs. "I know, I know... I think I'm about ready to leave, how about the rest of you?"] * Shiho tells Alysha calmly and quietly, "You can be resentful about the attention a larger chest gets, or you can be grateful that you don't bounce everywhere when you run and will likely avoid a lot of lower back problems later in life." I do have another museum I'd like to hit... * Nigel is in the process of looking at another exhibit and shrugs. "Sure... if you want to, miss." [Alysha blushes. "W... When did I say I was jelous?" She moves towards Nigel. "At least one of the brothers knows how to be polite."] * Sonia shakes her head slightly and lets Alysha step away before saying to Shiho, "Jealous of what?" ["Nothing," says Alysha quickly.] ( Op. ) ( My bad ) ( Alysha, for the record, is not flat, but noticably below average size. It seems an important thing to establish >.> ) (That's what I had believed, yes, so it's good to not be crazy!) * Montana , by the way, tips his hat to the blond lady with the boobs as she leaves, then glances in your general direction before moving to follow her some distance behind. * Shiho smiles and shakes her head as she replies quietly, "Our poor, small-cupped boss." 2d6+10 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+10 for Montana and gets a natural 10 for a result of 20. * Sonia sighs. "It's a modern age. Find a doctor." A small pause as she tilts her head, then she says, "Montana's probably going to tail her a bit. Actually another operator." Working with a team. * Nigel looks over to Alysha and nods. "Happy to be of service. Where's our next stop?" Right, let's be off then. * Sonia stretches her neck slightly. "Complicates things." * Shiho nods. "Sure," she says, and moves over to Alysha. "Montana'll catch up with us later. Want to get going?" [Alysha says, "I nice Italian-Chinese restaurant I heard about. I've got something to discuss over dinner." She looks about. "Assuming Montana is done chasing booty before then."] Who ever is. 2d6+6 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+6 for Montana and gets a natural 4 for a result of 10. (DR1) 2d6+6 * Chibi_Vernon rolls 2d6+6 for Montana and gets a natural 5 for a result of 11. * Shiho looks incredibly amused by Alysha, and isn't bothering to hide it. [Alysha looks annoyed at the world in general.] ( Pretty much done here, I think ) Let him get inta trouble, knowing him he'll call us around midnight with his hat on fire and some stolen artifact that we'll need. (Okay. ["That's the problem," Alysha says when no guards are around, glancing back at the Anubis statue. "We need him to steal an artifact."] [End!]