Play@YSDC

"Yes, thank you, Klaus," says Daniel. "Well done. Abbo, this building is where Mr. SInclair has his office. It's a suitably secure location where we can discuss whatever we need."

"All's secure at my end," says Francesca, opening up her door and stepping out onto the rain-slick rooftop.

"We're good at our jobs," says Mr. Sinclair as he cracks a smile. He slides open the door and hops down into a puddle that splashes up around his leather boots. He turns to assist Natasha and Milly get down from the helicopter. He'll also offer assistance to any man who appears to need it, such as Timothy, who seems a little queasy. Then he leads them over to the elevator where two men currently stand in the rain.

"We held the elevator for you, sir," says the man on the left.

Mr. Sinclair nods and leads them into the elevator.

Daniel climbs out of the helicopter on his own and hurries through the rain to reach the shelter of the elevator.

Abbo Durer-

He follows Sinclair to the elevator.

Even that short walk across the rooftop leaves them dripping with rain. It runs through their hair and down the backs of their necks and through their clothing, chilling them instantly. Herr Sinclair leads them all inside and then presses the button for the 15th floor. The elevator doors close with a ping and slowly descend. Soft Muzack plays from the discrete speaker in the top left corner of the room. Finally, the elevator doors open, again with a ping, and Sinclair leads them down a corridor carpeted in grey, past a receptionist with her hair up in a tight bun, and down another passage way to a door with black stenciling over the glass that says: Meyer. Sinclair knocks briskly against the glass.

"Come in," calls a male voice from inside.

Sinclair opens the door and beckons them to enter. The office is rather plain with bureacratic gray carpet and creamy walls. The man behind the desk has grey streaks of hair across his temples and is currently typing away at his computer. The office itself is ringed in filing cabinet and shelves that bow under the weight of many folders. There are three seats across from Meyer - certainly not enough for the seven people who have just entered.

Fransesca remains standing in the door way, adjusting her leather jacket to let some rain trickle down her back. Makes you feel alive... she ponders as she waits for Meyer, Klaus and Carter to get the negotiation of terms for the expedition and the security issue solved.

Daniel enters the office but remains standing so that others can have the seats. "Guten Tag, Herr Mayer," he says, speaking in German. "I'm Daniel Carter of Ophidian Enterprises."

"And I'm Abbo Durer--the cameraman."

Sinclair raises a hand to half cover his smirk at the standing group of Kamchatka expedition members. Even Tash seems to be standing. Finally, Timothy shrugs and takes one of the seats.

"Herr Mayer, this is Natasha Chaikovskaya, Timothy Wells, and Milly LeCrique," says Sinclair. "Perhaps we could all go into the meeting room?"

"One moment," says Mayer, tapping away at the computer. Finally, after a full two minutes, he rises. "Right. This way." He leads them out into the corridor, down two doors, and then into a large meeting room containing an oval table and a dozen leather-backed chairs. "Take a seat. Right now, let me introduce us. We are your new security team but we aren't a part of any company you'll find listed on the books. We work for the German government. What department needn't concern you. I tell you this so that you know that you are not our employers and that you are expected to obey any directions we give you as a matter of national security. We will not tolerate any successes by this terrorist cell. Now that revelation is out of the way, brief me on your experiences to date."

Natasha's eyes go wide at the revelation and she grips the chair arms tightly enough that her knuckles turn white. Timothy just starts fiddling with a pencil. Milly LeCrique's mouth makes a little 'o' and she raises one delicate hand to shield it.

"Well, I only joined the team today, but already I have had some excitement. (This was before the suicide bomber!) Earlier today, a few of us went to the Berlin museum where I overheard a death threat against Natasha. After some chasing around the museum Natasha caught the helicopter back to Ophidian and Timothy and I returned to Ophidian by taxi."

ooc,That was totally from my memory of 18 months ago. Do I get a prize?

Daniel sits down at the table. "Thank you," he says. "I'm glad you're on top of things, and I can certainly understand why the German government has a vested interest in stopping these terrorists." For one thing, they don't want an international incident on their hands if anything happens to the Russians while they're in Germany, he thinks. Daniel proceeds to explain what he has observed and learned today, from the massacre of the candidates for the cameraman position to his experience at the police station and finally the latest incident at Ophidian with the would-be suicide bomber.

OOC: Tabs, you were right but for the helicopter part.

Hey Mr. Handy, if your character is going to do a big run-down on the whole event, we'll probably need it in more detail than that for the benefit of the players who haven't read what happened yet. The other characters might have a few questions depending on what you say. As it's quite a bit of background history to go over, I'm happy to do it for you if you'd like. UP to you.

"The first thing that happened this morning was that my regular personal assistant wasn't able to come in today," says Daniel. "She had to search for her daughter, who was missing. I hadn't thought anything of it at the time, as her daughter is troubled and has been suicidal, but since these events started I have to wonder if the girl was waylaid to make sure my assistant wouldn't come in today. I was interviewing candidates this morning for the position of camera operator for the expedition. The first candidate, Charles Hubert, arrived early, so I buzzed him in and interviewed him. After he left, the next applicant was Carl Noether. After I interviewed him, he was on his way out when he found the bodies of the other three applicants. What apparently happened was that one of them, Bernhard Riese, killed the other two. I later watched a copy of the security video that showed the murders. For some reason, the victims didn't even move when he killed them. After he was done he just collapsed, like a marionette after its strings are cut.

"I went to the police station to give my statement, along with Herr Noether. While they were interviewing him and I was waiting for my turn, I saw a vagabond drop a note in a rubbish bin and then look at me. I retrieved the note and read it. I also took his picture on my mobile. Here it is. The note said:
'The City of Berlin wants your subservience.
Turn from it and to the Mother of Awakening.
She will hold you in her hands.'

While I waited, I did an Internet search on this Mother of Awakening and found this website for the Chapel of the Grief-Stricken Mother." He gives the URL. "They have services every Wednesday, three hours before dawn. The address is 32 Gruber Street in Kreuzberg. Also while I was waiting, I heard a disturbance in another interrogation room. There was a crack like bone breaking and a scream that was cut off partway, yet nobody paid it any heed. Then two policemen came out with a third man, this one tall, chubby, and sweaty. During my interview, I learned more. A tall, pimpled man in a grey suit and bowler hat had been run down and killed in the Ophidian car park, probably by someone driving a black jeep or a van painted with rainbows if the questions they asked me are anything to go by. The dead man had tattoos on his arm with several names. Me, Milly LeCrique, and two Russian scientists on the expedition named Alexander Lozynsky and Nikolai Lebedev. Both of them are missing, presumably kidnapped. The greeter from Ophidian sent to pick them up at the airport was delayed through a series of contrived events, and they must have been picked up by an impostor instead."

"OK, my name is Fransesca Morletti. I´m a helicopter pilot and I´m supposed to get the expedition to a base camp or such. . I met up with Aleksandra Romaschkova and Nikita Mikhalkov at the Ophidian´s roof. They are Russians and works for the University and the government." She hesitates and adds, "We flew to a biologist named Schneider, not far from the Ophidian, he´s German. Before we went a security officer named Chiang spoke with the two Russian ladies. We returned to the Ophidian and I met up with some of the team at the exhibit. Later we had a brief meeting with Daniel Carter. I don´t know where either Romanschkova or Mikcalkov are at the moment. They never came to the expedition meeting..."

Fransesca takes off her leather jacket and hangs it over the back of one of the leather chairs and takes a seat. "So, as we seem to have a serious compromised expedition situation, I guess we´ve to postpone any flight to the site? Do we have any information from the actual site? Or are we in the blind, totally?"

She has a strong feeling something is not quite right, here. But she keeps it to herself, only showing a troubled wrinkle between her eyebrows.

Sinclair whistles and shakes his head a little. "Well, that's quite a story."

Mayer raises a finger, indicating silence. "And the rest of you?"

Natasha stares at her fingers. "I was meant to do tour guides about the Kamchatka exhibit but something happened. I was told to leave and I went with them to Ophidian. I-I don't know anything else." She twists the edge of her shirt between her fingers. "I-I really don't know ... anything." She sucks in her bottom lip. "It doesn't seem okay, though."

Abbo instinctively touches Tash's shoulder--to reassure her--but quickly withdraws his hand.

Milly LeCrique shakes her head. "I don't really have anything to add."

"Very well," said Mayer. "We have sent people to the conference hall to go over the place for any sign of additional danger. We have also sent people to speak with the remaining expedition visitors. I have spoken to Mikhalkova and both she and Romaschkova are safe and well. The show must go on, as they say, but I think it would be best if you conclude your Berlin business as soon as you can and go to the University of Moscow somewhat earlier."

"Yes, that is a good suggestion," says Daniel. "The sooner we get this expedition off the ground, the better." Of course, the German government would like to pass off this problem to the Russians as quickly as they can too, he thinks. "There have been threats at the University of Moscow as well, so that won't be without danger, but the Russian government should be aware of the security situation by now. Have you shared all of this information with them yet? Did they have any further intelligence?"