[Plot] [Open] Week 093: Everyday Apocalypses

[K3]

The day had begun to rise in earnest in the Emerald Jewel. The district was the heart of commerce in Terminus for its citizens, the whole of the plot separated into two large semi-circular blocks of infrastructure. Stores lined each open space, packed together like herded cows. Steel catwalks and stairwells led up to a second story where even more shopping was crammed into the buildings.

It was not uncommon for the bustle of the Emerald Jewel to reach the peak of any of the metropolis' three great jewels. The citizens made up numbers with eagerness, turning the commercial district into a visible social gathering. Grey stone was covered over in layer after layer of murals and graffiti art, a positive outlet for vandals to avoid the law whilst expressing themselves.

Along the central street that divided the two semi-circle buildings was a wide gathering of gazebos and tables, chairs and benches, street performers and various friends and family gathering to mingle. Today was like any other, the loud din of the district drowning individual conversation out. Amongst this everyday scene was a peculiar trio of people.

Auspex Diana Zephyrus was a striking figure, but even the velen-enlil mixed blood was lost in the rush of trade and commerce. Her white plumage was matted against her neck and chest, running around her collar where the otherwise-taut musculature of her velen blood displayed a well-built soldier of a woman.

The amber-skinned spurii's hard taloned feet clacked against the stone streets as her two erstwhile companions trailed shortly behind her. Perseus Artifex, a curious boy with a discerning eye; and Cicely Akvavit, a barkeep with a strong heart and an ever-spanning imagination. Presently, the three were making their way to the hopefully-untouched office that the Conexus kept in the Emerald Jewel.

It would be a short walk yet, but after the short detour to Perseus' workshop, her confidence was on the rise. Perseus had elected to bring along his drone. She knew not of its capabilities, but the extra addition was at least helping somewhat to ease her mind on their less-than-suitable numbers.

[ 351 / 351 ]​

 

[Redfin]

Cicely also had new equipment. She had topped up her flask with more alcohol! With a bit of brown sugar, dark rum and a lime, she had created the black bomb, a simple drink that was nonetheless satisfying on a cold day. The sugar gave her more energy to go about with the investigations.

She was bundled up in a jacket with her hands stuck in mittens. Of course the flask was attached to her wrist for easy access. Cicely's chubby cheeks were a tint of rose. An earmuff clamped down over her neck-length blue hair. A long lock of light-blue hair was tucked underneath her coat. Those people that actually walked outside in the winter for fun? They were crazy.

"Are we there, yet?"

[125]

 

[Inks]

Bringing up the tail-end of the group, and trailing several steps behind Cicely, Perseus Artifex showed no signs of having heard the young woman’s question at all. His head was canted sharply to one side, chin tucked into the thick material of his scarf, his mismatched gaze staring blankly at nothing in particular. One hand he had jammed into his coat pocket; the other drummed an erratic beat against his thigh.

Pers’ wide-eyed, unblinking stare and pallid features stared out beneath the brim of a dark hand-knit cap lined with fleece, which he’d crammed over his dark, messy black hair before heading out into the cold.

The young craftsman’s drone followed at his right shoulder – the blue glow of its lens matched the robotic lens fitted over Pers’ own right eye.

Had she known of the drone’s specifications, Auspex Zephyrus might not have felt nearly as reassured by the new addition to their little ragtag investigative group. For one, the drone was roughly the size and shape of a grapefruit. Three pincer-like appendages drifted in the air after it, attached to the drone’s main body only by a complex system of magnetic circuitry and sensors.

For another, Pers had designed the drone solely for visual and audial recording, storage, and playback (so far only to Perseus himself, although he’d been working on that). In a pinch, the robot could deliver a short-range electric shock, and that was as close as it came to combat capability.

It also had a minor pathing issue, meaning it would – on occasion – get stuck on doorways, walls, and other obstructions, which was why Pers hadn’t had it with him the other night. He’d meant to fix that while he’d had it powered down, but...well. It could wait. Another set of eyes and ears might prove useful in an investigation.

And Pers liked PIA’s company.

[330]​

 

[K3]

Shooting a half-sure look over her shoulder at Cicely, Zephyrus answered with a quick, "Almost."

The three ducked into a small divot in the Western compound of the Emerald Jewel, a small plaque hung in the short alley with the Conexus crest emblazoned across it. It was a relief when the Auspex found the office intact, but a new tension crept into her shoulders.

Trust only Inimicus. It had been her only warning from the now-missing Lieutenant Leidan Halbert. Not her subordinates, not the people she'd fought and bled with to keep this city safe. She kept a quiet composure as she led the pair to the front doors. The dark alley was broken by the light that streamed from within the office, a simple steel door with a large frosted-glass window to its right. Producing a key from seemingly nowhere, Zephyrus opened the door and ushered the pair inside.

Intact had been a presumptuous statement, the Auspex realized belatedly. The office itself was mostly pristine, nary a paper out of place. Its occupants, however...

Several Conexus officers were splayed across the office, unconscious. It only took a moment for Zephyrus to get over her shock and take charge, barking out a quick request-turned-order at Cicely, "Akvavit, help me check over them. Yell if there are any injuries."

Turning immediately to Perseus, her keen eyes darted to his drone before back to the young man. "Check the evidence locker. Down the east hallway, last door on the right."

Not waiting for an answer, she shoved the keyring she'd used to open the office into Perseus' hands and immediately drew up next to the nearest downed officer. A few gentle slaps to the side of the head later, the man was groggily coming about, "Ungh, wha..?"

"On your feet, Sergeant." The Auspex commanded, and the sergeant's eyes came alive and panicked.

"Ma'am! They came for it!" Was the first thing he blurted to her, and Zephyrus' lips thinned into a grim line. She didn't have to look over to know Perseus was already down the hall towards the new destination.

She turned her attention back to the sergeant shakily pulling himself to his feet. "I need details on the attackers. How many, anyone we recognize from last year?"

A shake of the head was all the sergeant could offer, "Sorry, ma'am, it was all over too quickly. They had a mage with them, that much I know. First and last thing I remember before taking a pistol butt to the face was a Star Shriek thrown through the door."

"Then they had access," Zephyrus concluded. The sergeant turned guilty eyes away, and the Auspex nodded – more to herself than him – before moving to the next downed person.

[ 456 / 807 ]​

Status

Perseus acquired "Zephyrus' Keychain"!

Clues
????
????
????
????

Final: ????

 

[Redfin]

"Uh, oh, uh, yeah." Cicely scanned the room of fallen officers. At least they were only unconscious and not worse. Still, she had no real idea of what to do to help them. Unless, well, slapping them wasn't something she really wanted to do. For one thing, she was not their boss, and she was not keen on hitting officers of the law.

There, that would do it. Cicely went over to the janitor's closet. It was a messy place, ironically enough. A broom and mop stood in the corner. There were rusted buckets with dried stains. And then the thing she was looking for, strong cleaner. Cicely opened the stopper and sniffed it. She shut her eyes, wrinkled her nose and moved the bottle away. That had ammonia, alright.

She brought it out and started waving it under the noses of the knocked out officers. And just wondering out loud for anyone that heard, Cicely asked, "What knocked everyone unconscious?"

[286]

 

[Inks]

Perseus wandered his way down the office’s east hall, PIA trailing a couple of feet behind. Along the way were several more bodies, which Perseus avoided and navigated around with absentminded ease. His gaze flitted from the bodies to the heavy ring of keys Auspex Zephyrus had pushed into his hands to the end of the hallways up ahead.

The young man’s blank stare and lethargic pace belied a mind working in overdrive. In his pocket were folded several pieces of paper and a business card, and at his workshop sat an unpowered oculus and several tapes. Clues, all of them...and still Perseus felt as though he were working at a deficit. An uneasy feeling – not dissimilar to what he’d felt when he’d seen a grandis speculum for the first time. Or when the magister’s pen had exploded on-stage.

Perseus reached the end of the hall and turned to the right. He tried the door’s handle, blinked to find it locked. He turned his attention to the key ring in his hand. One...two...three, four, five six seven eight nine...

Hm.

Perseus picked a key at random from the chain and tried it in the lock. It went halfway in, then stuck. Wrong.

He moved on to the next. Wrong.

The next three keys were wrong as well. As were the five after that. Perseus tried them with the same patience he tried anything tedious but necessary – perhaps thankfully, as a crafter he rarely lacked for tedious but necessary tasks.

Key number eleven slid into the lock and, when Pers turned it, a solid clck echoed in the still and silent hallway. This time the handle turned beneath his gloved hand, and the door swung open on its hinge. As open an invitation as any. He stepped inside.

The Conexus’s evidence locker was conspicuously uncluttered by bodies – unconscious or otherwise. The room was, however, full of shelves. Shelves full of labeled metal bins. As with the rest of the Conexus office, everything seemed neat and orderly. Perseus wandered between the rows, eyes raking over the orderly lines of bins and labels, not particularly sure what he was looking for – only that he was looking for something.

Like. Well, like that.

Perseus tilted his head. He jammed the Auspex’s ring of keys into his unoccupied coat pocket and made his way down a line of shelving. At the end of the row, a single evidence bin had been emptied and left out. It was, in fact, the only one not in its place. The label read ‘0500-UM-ANO’, and Perseus stared down at it for a long, long moment.

Then he picked it up and began to turn it this way and that, inspecting he sides, the bottom. He considered the scraps of paper in his pocket for a moment, and his mismatched gaze fell upon the bin’s label.

When turning the bin on its side and shaking didn’t dislodge the label, Pers fished a set of needle-nose pliers out of his toolbelt.

There was not, as Perseus had suspected, a series of letters scrawled on the reverse of the case label. There was, however, another slip of paper folded to fit behind the first.

He put his pliers away and worked the paper open.

"GSVKVMRHNRTSGRVIGSZMGSVHDLIWURMWGSVHVXLMWQVDVO" read the slip.

The faintest hint of a smile touched Pers’ expression.

[714 / 1044]
(sorry for the monster-post and slow reply, guys =( )​

 

[K3]

As the contents of the building began to rouse, groaning and rubbing at their noses, Zephyrus hummed thoughtfully. "A good question. A suitably powerful Star Shriek Blast doesn't lend itself to seeing anything, and it appears this was multiple people. It's not unlikely they didn't utilize multiple spells to take this place by surprise."

Towards the rear of the main room, one young man raised his hand sheepishly, leaning slightly on a nearby desk for support. The young enlil's voice was plaintive, but hopeful, "Ma'am, I err... I may have seen something."

Nodding diligently in response, the Auspex took quick control. "Excellent. I want a perimeter reestablished for the nearest block, and a runner sent to the Diamond Jewel branch. The Conexus is entering a state of lockdown until further notice. This is not to reach the public. Who is Lieutenant of this branch?"

A small murmur rushed through the crowd, before a laicar spoke up. "Lieutenant Juvenis appears to be missing, ma'am."

Zephyrus' face became unreadable for a moment, and she turned back to the Sergeant. "Take the witness and Miss Akvavit to another room, please."

The sergeant replied with an owlish blink, scratching at his graying beard as he shot dubious looks at both the unsteady enlil and the young woman still rousing guards with whiffs of cleaning product. Shrugging and saluting – if a bit unsure – he went to collect the pair to debrief the young enlil.

[ 239 / 1046 ]

Status

Clues:
Slip of paper #3
Eyewitness
????
????

Final: ????

 

[Redfin]

Cicely was patting an officer on the shoulder in an attempt to wake him up faster. From her questions, no one didn't know nothing. So many people in the room knocked without a large enough fuss to cause a huge mess. It was a real conundrum, that was for certain.

"You're all useless," Cicely grunted in frustration as another Conexus said he had no idea what happened.

She let out an awkward chuckle while looking around. "I'm speaking in hyperbolically, of course. Please protect me. I really appreciate all that you do!" She backed away with a bright smile and batting eyes. "I should go. The sergeant needs me, apparently, for some reason, mumble mumble."

Cicely followed the man to another room. How she could help, she had no idea. Along the way, she dropped the cleaning supplies onto a desk.

[427]

 

[Inks]

The pen is mightier than the sword – find the second jewel.

Another code. Another message. And another clue. Pers’ gaze drifted from the slip of paper in his hand to the label from the bin that had been left out for them to find.

ANO.

Perseus tilted his head, and blinked slowly. He certainly knew of a pen mightier than a sword. Its whereabouts, however...

Pers turned on heel and strode over to the shelves of undisturbed evidence bins with renewed interest. He walked the rows, eyes wide. Thinking. Each bin was labeled; some seemed recently-added, while others were coated in thin layers of dust.

The bins seemed to be organized by case number, and it only took him a moment of pacing down the rows to find the empty space where the now-empty ANO evidence bin was supposed to go – on a bottom shelf near the back of the room. Pers hunkered down in front of the shelves, PIA's blue glow at his shoulder, but none of the bins nearby shared the ANO letters in their label.

Hm.

Too long. It would take too long.

Perseus retreated from the evidence room and made his way back down the hall, far more quickly than the first time, stopping only once he was within reasonable conversational range of Auspex Zephyrus.

“The pen,” he said, eyes intent on the spurii woman. “Is the pen being kept here?”

[340 / 1384]​

 

[K3]

When Perseus found her, the Auspex was in the process of attempting to glean any useful information from the rest of the downed officers. The monotone drawl of the laicar drew her attention immediately, and Zephyrus paled.

"It's gone?" She murmured, "Was it Halbert, or..?"

If the biggest lead on the Astra Non Obligant was gone, there was no overstating how harsh the blow would be. To morale, to public relations, the Conexus would lose much of its public credence. At her prompting, Perseus produced the slip of a note and passed it to her.

Her amber eyes scanned it quickly, the phrase clicking in her mind for a moment. Gingerly handing the slip back from her ebony talons, she spoke plainly, "Check the armory."

Seeming to have other goals in mind herself, Zephyrus absconded to the door, stooping low to examine the ground and frame.

Perseus wasted little time returning to his work; eyes raking over the labels beside each door in the same hall as the evidence room, stopping at the one marked 'ARMORY'. After a brief moment of trial and error, during which he successfully eliminated the evidence room key from the possible keys which opened the armory, he was in.

The artificer came face to face with a plain room, mostly unfurnished. There were no windows, and only a pair of glow weed lanterns to light the room. A large shelving unit occupied the center of the boxy room, with cases lining the rest of the walls. To his right, Perseus could see the stocks and butts of rifles locked in a rack, secured by padlock. To his left, a similar rack of longswords and halberds – the trademark melee of the guardsmen – similarly fastened. Amongst the shelving unit were neatly folded stacks of various kit: tabards, shooting gloves, and neat rows of individual pieces of armor. Finally, against the back wall, Perseus could see a row of lockers; each labelled with an officer's name.

Among the names was one Perseus had heard from the commotion: Lieutenant Juvenis.

[ 341 / 1387 ]

 

[Redfin]

Cicely was speaking with the sergeant in quick, hushed tones. Or rather, she was doing most of the listening. He wanted her to try and get information out from the young enlil witness. It was the most obvious choice, after all. As a bartender, her entire role was to listen and make people feel at ease. The sergeant nodded to her and motioned towards the side of the office.

The room they were taken too was a private office that was not important to the rest of the investigation. It was a bit trashed with papers on the ground, though considering the rest of the office was not damaged, it was probably the owner’s doing. Cicely pulled open the back window’s shades to bring in more light. Instead, her view was of a dingy alleyway. At least it was clean.

She turned to the young enlil with a bright smile. “Hi there, I’m Cicely Akvavit. Welcome to my interview room! How are you doing this day?”

The enlil officer frowned, looking over at the sergeant outside the room. He pointedly rubbed the back of his head and noted, "I'd be doing better if not for the fact that I was just knocked out and woke up to seeing my companions like that." The edge of sarcasm in his voice was pretty weak, however, and the young man sighed. "Sorry, sorry, that's uncalled for." An average height and build, the officer had light blue feathers, several shades brighter than the blue tabard on his chest. He looked up at Cicely, obvious confusion in his green eyes. "I'm Officer Guradie. First week at this branch, but two years on the force."

Cicely continued her smile in an attempt to ease tension in the room.“It’s great to meet you, Officer Guradie. I guess to find out what’s going on, we should start from the beginning. What was this morning like? Before the attack. Anything suspicious?” She leaned forward with an intriguing eyebrow.

Shaking his head, Guradie confirmed, "Business as usual. Wasn't busier than normal, or quieter."

“Okay, what about the actual attack? When did it happen? How much do you remember about it? Try to think of as many details as possible.”

"I don't know how long we were out before you arrived," Guradie mused, looking around the room for some indication of the time. The alleyway outside didn't give much of an answer. "Perhaps an hour after sunrise? The sky was blue, but the mountains still kept the district in shadow. I was... ugh, what was I doing?" He rubbed his sore head again. "Someone told me... Halas told me to grab his coat from a back office. The one over there." One talon pointed at the next office over to the right.

"There was deafening wail the likes of which I'd never heard before, and I rushed out only to be blinded by the most painful light I've ever imagined."

“Huh, alright.” Cicely nodded with attention. They were out for quite some time if the attacks happened in the early morning. Perhaps the attacks were coordinated with the one at the Ruby Jewel. Something powerful and mysterious knocked everyone out for a good while.

She walked over to the open door. “Mind pointing out which one is Halas? And does he usually ask you to get his things?” Cicely was really just hoping some train of thought would lead to a station instead of a cliff. She was just a trained listener and not a questioner.

"Tall, skinny velen with red scales," Guradie replied without leaving his seat. "It's not unusual, no. I'm pretty sure he only asked because I was standing closest to the office."

“Alright, neat.” Cicely scratched her nose. “So, you said you think you saw something. Aside from blinding light, what did you see?”

Here, Guradie hesitated uncertainly. "I'm... not completely sure. That light was blinding, but maybe just by being a few seconds later, not completely? I think I saw a person, a man. I mean, I saw a lot of people, everyone was in the room, but there was a blurry figure that looked right at me, rushed at me. I only got a brief look before I felt a pain in the back of my head."

“Did someone hit you? Let me see.” It was less a question and more of a statement as Cicely was already walking around behind the young enlil. Her face bunched up when she saw a not insubstantial bump. It was a serious blow that might have been fresh.

From arousing most of the other officers, Cicely had gotten a look at the back of some of their heads. Some of them had similar injuries.

Since she was standing behind Guradie at the time, Cicely took a moment to jump and let out a silent squeal of excitement. Things were getting intriguing. She tried to hide the giddiness in her voice. “Where were you standing and which way were you facing when the attack happened?”

Guradie started to explain, but then thought better of it and stood up, walking out into the small hallway between the offices. There were only four doors on that particular hallway, each leading to a small room like the one they had been talking in. "Right about here," he said, moving a few steps out into the main room where the rest of the officers had been. "I was facing toward the left when I saw the figure." The entrance to the station was straight ahead.

Cicely nodded. She really should be writing things down and making notes. No one would mind her taking some paper and pen. There was a scratching noise as she jotted down information he said.

“Alright, so if the attack came from behind it would have to come from this hallway?” Cicely hoped someone would confirm, but it did seem like the only way to get behind Guradie from where he was standing.

“This figure, could you tell how large he was?” Cicely extended her arm up to show height and spread them out for girth. “Anything like feathers, fins, mechanical whirrings?”

"Nothing like that," the officer explained, rubbing the bump on his head as if trying to remember. "Very tall, average for a slickskin. Hair or maybe a wig, long like a woman's, but this was definitely a man." Guradie held a hand in front of his face as if sliding something on. "Everything was blurry and distorted and it was only for a second, so maybe I'm imagining all of it, I don't know. Only thing I know for absolute sure is he had on one of those metal masks covering his mouth."

Redfin [1012]
Will [532]

 

[Inks]

Perseus sank Auspex Zephyrus’s keyring back into his pocket and stepped deeper into the armory. PIA trailed behind him, its lens clicking and whirring as it adjusted its focus to comb over the room in its entirety. The glow weed lanterns and the light from PIA's lens reflected, bright in Pers’ eyes as they trailed over the locked gun- and blade-racks at his left and right.

He took another few steps. Slow, considering. He stopped again in front of a shelf filled with more equipment, took a bracer from the shelf and turned it over in his hands for a long minute. Then he caught himself, returned the equipment to its shelf, and turned his attention to something else.

A row of lockers dominated the back wall, and Perseus’s gaze was drawn to the labels assigning a name to each one. But.

A small bureau of dark, lacquered wood stood solitary in one corner of the room; curiosity pulled Perseus over to it. The cabinet was not, as he had halfway expected, locked. He opened it, revealing several shelves of terra regia reagents – kept in tightly-sealed vials and organized by state and grade. Some of the vials were empty, likely waiting to be refilled…and several vials were missing altogether.

Perseus blinked, then slowly closed the bureau’s cabinet doors, one at a time, while he considered.

He was still considering when he turned to the line of lockers and began skimming the labels on each one. Feeling strangely engaged in the pursuit, mind still on the newest message that had been left for him to find, Perseus sought out the locker labeled Juvenis and reached out to pull it open.

[417 / 1801]​

 

[Redfin]

“What metal masks?”

"The ones that Astra non Obligant were wearing."

Cicely laughed. “Well, that shows how many times I’ve come face to face with an Astra non Obligant member.”

She starting poking around the office. It must belong to someone of a higher rank, and those people usually had... Look around the drawers. Take a peek in the file cabinets. Gander behind the door. Ahah!

...hard liquor. People always enjoyed a stiff drink during a day of crime and punishment. And of course there were glasses, too. No one drank straight out of the bottle like some drunkard. They were refined.

“Last question. Drink?” Cicely set two cups down on the table.

The enlil watched uncertainly as Cicely rooted around, unsure if he should say something or not. After all, this office belonged to one of his superior officers.

Guradie stared at the bottle of liquor and the two glasses, then lifted his eyes to Cicely. "No?" he replied uncertainly, before suddenly shaking his head and repeating more assertively, "No, I'm on duty." The entire interview had been somewhat strange, but now Guradie looked uncomfortable, leaning over to see if he could spot Zephyrus. It was really her, right? Then why would the Auspex set someone to toy around with him like this?

"Who exactly are you?" Guradie finally asked.

"I thought I told you. I'm Cicely Akvavit." She poured herself a glass of whiskey, half-full even. "Oh, don't worry about this." She showed off the bottle more. "It's not a top-shelf brand. Believe me, I would know.

"And today, I am Zephyrus's special consultant. I'm going to ask for a badge or something." Cicely turned to leave. She stopped. Returned. Poured another two glasses of liquor. "No really, have one. You are too tense."

Redfin [1192]
Will [648]