[Day: Thursday, May 12. Time: 12:50 p.m.] ( Uhh.... Want me to just start you at the office? ) (sure, and brb) [You're back at the office! Killing time til nightfall, presumably. Or possibly checking leads. Or eating lunch. I dunno.] [Start!] (I guess it's a place to be for a moment!) (Where's Jeff?) ( He gave you a number and went off to do his own thing. ) (... that doesn't seem safe, given that he was about to be kidnapped?) ( He said he'd be fine, trust him. :D ) (>_>) ( :D :D ) (bak) (Still not thinking that's a good idea. Either we're in the process of getting him hidden, or he's with us. Unless he throws a total fit. Not like we can jail him.) ( K. That's what you're doing then. XD ) [Jeff is there. He looks bored.] * Melanie knocks on the door, then swings it wide open without waiting for a response and GLARES. "You three owe me a job!" '...' * Michel is eating lunch, then. Sandwiches are magic. Well, not really. So Melanie busting in is a bit of a surprise! [Jeff jumps in his seat.] 'I, uh...beg your pardon?' * Melanie is wearing the same thing she had on before - a black T-shirt and black slacks, with a ball chain hanging around her neck and falling underneath her shirt. If you are the sort to notice such things, she is now wearing a wedding ring. Johnny's anxiety problems got to be too much after that stunt and he's closing up shop. Where does that leave me? Lacking in employment. 'My humblest apologies...' * Michel looks up from his sandwich to Melanie and swallows. "Uh... well, I guess I can talk to some people I know and see if they need the help." * Michel leans back in his chair and rubs his head a moment. "Did the cops take the other guys away when you'd left?" * Melanie looks quite a bit calmer once Michel gives in to her demands. "Yeah. You expected them to brush the guys off and send them on their way?" Although I got some grief when I said my fingerprints would be on their guns. * Michel shakes his head. "No, people with guns tend to make the cops a bit annoyed. Uh, have a seat miss..." * Dicesuke has quit IRC (Ping timeout) * Michel trails off in classic 'No, I don't know your name, you could tell it' fashion. Mrs. Melanie Carson. Thank you. * Melanie sits down in whatever's available. * Dicesuke has joined #mcbe Sorry for yelling like that, it's been a day. What are your names? * Michel takes the Mrs in stride and nods a bit, before chuckling. "Doc, you can talk to our new guest. I think I should call the cops about now." I swear, by the end of this week I'm gonna be taking out the entire force for drinks. [Jeff says, "Hey, I'm Jeff Williams.] * Melanie waves. "What did you do to upset off those Reds?" ["Uh... Long story."] * Michel flips through the phonebook for a moment, then picks up the phone! It's police phonin' time. No offense to these guys, but if you're in serious trouble, you should probably turn yourself in to the real authorities for protection. ["Well, they're seeing to that now." He glances at Michel. "Right?"] [Michel dials up the police, and gets a response. "LPD, officer Marls speaking."] * Michel nods slightly at Jeff as he dials. Sure, we're not gonna turn you into stew! On the pickup he says, "Yeah, my name is Michel Chaffee, and I'm a PI. We need to talk to the person in charge of the shooting at Johnny Flat?" ["One moment, please." And Michel hears hold music.] * Melanie swings her legs up onto the arm of her chair and starts humming very quietly. * Michel looks at the phone funny a moment, then closes his eyes a moment and pinches the bridge of his nose. (sorry, feeling a bit dazed at the moment...) ( orz ) [Eventually, Michel's call is recieved. "Detective Franchek here. What is it, Michel?"] * Michel reopens his eyes and says, "Yeah, I'm callin' to talk about the Johnny Flat shooting. We got a related case." ["Again? You're beginning to have one too many 'related cases' to my investigations, pal."] * Michel chuckles. "Yeah, well, I wasn't plannin' to. Just you and I gettin' lucky, I guess." A moment, then, "I had got the kid that they were tryin' to grab outta there. I'm lookin' for his professor, but we're thinkin' you might wanna keep him safe, since there's guys with guns after him." ["Probably a good idea. Bring him down to the station. We need to take his statement. And yours."] * Michel nods a little. "Yeah, I figured. And I think I need to talk to the shooters, if you don't mind." * Eric recalibrates his Ghostbuster Hand Cannon. ["Once we're done with 'em."] * Michel leans back. "How long'll that be?" ["Who can tell?"] * Michel groans slightly and says, "Alright. We'll be down there." ["Good. See you in a while." He hangs up."] ( -" ) * Michel hangs up too and leans forward on his elbows a moment, before looking over to Jeff. "Well, they'll take you, so you'll be safe for a bit." [He nods. "Alright. Hey... If you hear anything about the doc..."] * Michel stands up slowly. "Yeah, we'll try to let you know. Let's get going." He looks over to Eric. "You wanna go to the police station?" (If you stay here, Melanie could stay with you! If not, everyone gets to go!) 'Alright then...' ["Thanks."] * Michel nods slightly, then looks to Melanie. "So, uh, are you gonna follow us around today until we find you a paying gig?" Hey, you're a quick study! * Melanie stands and stretches. * Michel chuckles a little and rubs the back of his head. "Yeah, well, I know a little somethin' about women." He grabs his coat off the hook. "Let's go." ( Want to FF past this part? ) (Seems reasonable!) ( To nightfall, then? ) (Well, if Melanie's gonna be around past nightfall, that might be kinda odd if she's actually got, like, a home to go to. What's her opinion? ;) (She stays with you. If you want to actually ask about her home, go ahead.) (Alright, just checking. Yeah, nightfall is fine.) [One spinning MC logo later, and you're parked across the street from the Diamond house, a bordello in the seedy underside of the city. This probably isn't a good place to walk around alone at night. Time is 8:30 p.m.]] * Michel is finishing explaining to Melanie what's going on, then, "So basically... we're pretty sure the madame of this house took the guy... but we're not really sure why." A moment, then, "You wanna just stay out here, or... it's not really a place for married women." * Melanie says absently, "Jesus, I haven't seen a place like this since Hay Street. ...Nah, Sam's not really in a position to care. I'll follow if it won't cause trouble." * Michel nods slowly and starts, "Was more thinkin'... eh, forget it." He's silent a moment, then says, "Just... be careful. I mean, you handled yourself alright earlier today, but things could go pretty badly here." * Michel then looks over to Eric. "Ready?" (For what it's worth, uh, we've got Vamp stuff again. Also, did the commies give us anything at all?) * Eric nods, 'Let's do it.' ( Michel finds some borscht on the communist leader. ) (Does it give stat ups?) (:D) * Michel gets out of the car, then! Time to ford into the dangerous late-night world of vampire bordellos. * Melanie follows the menfolk. (I saw 'merfolk' for a second.) [You come to the entrance. There's a reception desk behind the front door, with a woman wearing a bikini. And two big burly men guarding the front door. The woman grins and says seductively, "Hi. Welcome to the Diamond Club. Tee hee hee!"] * Michel looks strangely at the woman in the bikini, then clears his throat and says, "Ah, yes, we've got some business to discuss with Miss Carmilla." [She loses her grin. "I see. Name?"] Chaffee. [She looks at a nearby notebook, because computers aren't popular yet, dangit. "Sorry, sir. You're not on the list." The two brutes in back shift their weight meaningfully.] (They're not popular because personal computers are 20+ years out!) * Michel rubs his face. "I know I'm not on the list." A moment, then, "Tell her I know something about what happened at the Black Dawn. She'll want to talk." (My name is Michel Chaffee. I lie a lot.) [She furrows her brow, then picks up the phone. "Hi. Ginger? There's a guy named Chaffee here... No, he's not on the list.... No, but he says to tell Carmilla he knows what happened at the Black Dawn... Sure, I'll wait."] * Eric waits nervously. [So does everyone!] * Michel does his best to not look nervous. He does run his hand back through his hair, though. [Then finally. "I see... Okay, I'll tell them."] [She hangs up, then smiles. "You can go in. Carmilla's waiting on the second floor."] * Michel clears his throat again and says, "Thank you." He heads towards the door, because they go places. * Eric follows behind Michel. * Melanie walks along and looks around curiously. (Curiously? Not lookin' for a job, are ya?) (Not that desperate! :P) [You go inside. It's dark and smokey in there, except for the brightly lit stage where women dance -- not very well -- in various states on undress. The audience doesn't seem to mind, and are cheering and howling away. Mostly they're men, but there's an occasional woman.] * Eric clears his throat and looks away bashfully. (Is the music being played live or is it a recording?) (Good question. It could be a record, but a small band is not necessarily out of the question.) ( it's a recording. ) [There are stairs that lead to a second floor in the back, guarded by a big guy in a dark suit. A sign warns: "Second floor: Private invitation ONLY"] * Michel looks around for the way to the second floor, and when it appears in the description, he says to the other two, "Over there," and heads over. He glances to the stage for a moment, then chuckles and shakes his head before looking back stairswards. [The big guy eyes you as you pass.] * Michel heads past him, saying, "She said we could come up," as he does! * Eric chuckles apologetically at the man as he passes. ^_^; * Melanie ignored the man altogether as she walks by. (*ignores) [You climb the stairs. It leads to the second floor, which is much like the first, except there's a lot fewer people in the audience. In fact, there's only three tables, and only one has people. There's three men, three women there. Each nicely paired: two blonds, two brunettes and two redheads.] ( Awareness check! ) 2d6+8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Eric (2d6+8) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 17. 2d6+4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Michel (2d6+4) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 11. (+1 if body's allowable!) 2d6+5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Melanie (2d6+5) and gets a natural 8 for a result of 13. [Y'all notice that the women on stage in this room look scared.] * Michel gets a little more tense as his hands go in his pockets. Are there any other exits to the room than the down stairs? [The people at the table are laughing and generally having a good time.] ( There's a door at the end of the room. No telling where it goes. ) * Michel heads for that door, then, under the assumption that the woman is in an office. [The redheaded male is up in a flash, blocking Michel's path. "Where ya going? Sit down. Relax. Enjoy the show."] * Michel looks to the guy and replies, firmly, "Nice offer, but we're here to talk to Carmilla." [The dark haired woman says, "So? Talk." She's wearing a red dress with a slit up one side.] (Is there a telephone on the table too?) (That be Michel's department more than mine... ^^;) (Just try not to die when we get jumped!) ( There is not ) (Incidentally, if I make up a character for MC5, I think he'll be more socially adept. :S) * Michel looks to the woman and says, "You're Carmilla? I'm lookin' for someone I think you know about, and I figure knowing about Black Dawn might be worth it to you." ["And what might that be?"] * Michel shakes hie head and says, "We're lookin' for a Doctor Gutenberg." ["Really. And I happen to know one. Now, what's this about the Black Dawn?"] * Melanie still looks curious about her surroundings, but much more wary of Carmilla and her friends. [I hope you know what you're doing Michel. ^^;;] (So do I!) ( Starting to fall asleep ) (Dawww D:) * Michel licks his lips, then says, "We... talked to Madrax an hour or two before it got burnt down." A moment, then, "You let us take Doctor Gutenberg, I'll tell you what he told us about who I figure burnt down his place." [She smirks. "Is that a joke?"] * Michel replies, with a wan smile, "Not really. We were hired to retrieve the guy before, uh, I knew you were involved." ["Let's see, give up a guy who's worth a fortune in the Black Market for something I don't REALLY care about?" She shifts her weight. "How about you tell me what happened, and I don't tear your throats out?"] * Melanie raises a hand. "Ma'am, I'd like to point out that I'm only tagging along because I'm looking for work." [She grins. "Alright then. You can live as one of my strippers."] Not that sort of work, ma'am. I could play piano or sing, class up the place a bit. ["You can be a stripper, or you can be tonight's main course. Your choice."] * Michel glances to Melanie's attempt to keep herself alive, sighs, then says back to the woman. "Well, if you don't care, then we shouldn't waste any more of your time, huh?" All due respect, ma'am, I'd rather not do either. [The two vampires nearest to your group are very suddenly behind you're group. Carmilla smiles. "By all means. Stick around for a bit. I insist."] (I hope everyone's ready to bust down a door.) [And then her smile vanishes as gunfire is heard down stairs. "What the fuck?"] [End!]