Play@YSDC

"You go ahead," said Yeager as Bill entered. "I'll just nip round the back and let Hendricks know we got inside. Then I'll catch up with you."

Bill recalled the way to the study from when he had been here two nights ago. It was through the dining room and then the door on the right. He returned there and found it unchanged. Two black leather armchairs sat on either side of a small reading table. Bookshelves lined most of the walls, filled with books of various sizes. There were medical journals as well as popular fiction and books on mythology. A writing desk also sat against one wall, and there was a liquor cabinet.

OOC,I'd forgotten that you'd already been here before, and that I'd already described part of the house. I edited my description above to make it consistent with the initial description I'd given three years ago, so you may want to reread it.

Bill started with a methodical search of the desk and the desk drawers, looking for anything that had a reference to Morpheus, its effects or anything to do with the Government agency bankrolling the experiments.

Bill found that one of the drawers was locked, but he was able to go through the others with ease.

OOC,[b]Bill[/b], please roll Spot Hidden. If you want to try to pick the lock, it will take a Mechanical Repair roll. There are plenty of implements on the desk that you could use to help you jimmy it.

Bill sat down in the chair behind the desk, methodically going through the contents of the open drawers to see what he could find.

OOC,A successful Spot Hidden roll: [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4087390/]Bill checks the desk. (1d100=4)[/url]

That done, he turned his attention to the locked drawer. A letter opener was sat next to an old-fashioned desk jotter and Bill used that to try to open the drawer and find out what Dr. Anderson was hiding from prying eyes.

OOC,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4087441/]Bill tries to pry open the locked desk drawer. (1d100=42)[/url] Nope - that's some skinned knuckles right there, or worse! :(

Bill couldn't get the locked drawer open, but he was able to do a thorough search of the rest of the desk. There were a number of papers in there that mentioned Morpheus, but they were technical and scientific in nature, and way over his head. Nothing referred to the government except for one paper that mentioned that his research project was funded in part by a grant from a government agency called the ARPA.

"Here, let me try," said Yeager, taking a paper clip from the desk and unbending it. He fiddled around in the lock, only for the end of the clip to snap off inside it! "Dammit! Now I've really gone and screwed things up. He's bound to notice that the next time he tries to open the drawer."

OOC,[b]Bill[/b], please roll History.

OOC,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4090080/]Bill Johns, professor of history, does some thinking... (1d100=37)[/url] Yup, got it :)

"See if you can find a magnet," said Bill absently, "You might be able to fetch it out with that..." He sat back in the chair in front of the desk, racking his brain and trying to think of where he'd heard of 'ARPA' before.

"I don't know," said Yeager. "It's jammed in pretty good. Maybe there's a magnet on the fridge or something. I'd better go get Hendricks. Maybe he can sort this out. I'll cover the back while he's in here." He headed out of the study.

Bill recalled that ARPA stood for Advanced Research Projects Agency, which the government created in 1958 following the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik the previous year in an effort to spur technological research. ARPA was best known for creating ARPANET, a computer network that was a precursor to the Internet, in the 1960s, but it had worked on many other projects. A lot of them did not have direct military applications, but this gradually changed starting in the late 1960s. In 1972, it was renamed DARPA, where the D stood for Defense, and in 1973 Congress restricted it only to projects with a military use.

Bill rattled the drawer vigorously one more time then turned his attention to the bookcase while he waited for Hendricks to come through and get the drawer open. He carefully examined the tops of the books, looking for those that were dusty and those that looked as if they had been handled recently.

Hendricks came in while Bill was examining the shelves. "Hey, Sarge," he said, kneeling down in front of the desk and taking out his tools. "My brother told me he met you down at the range yesterday."

OOC,[b]Bill[/b], please roll Spot Hidden.

OOC,Nope! Shouldn't have tempted fate! [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4131952/]Bill's all seeing eye... (1d100=62)[/url]

"Yeah," replied Bill, "He showed me the ropes down at the range. Seems like a good man." He sighed and stepped back from the bookshelf to study it at a distance. "If you were going to hide something in a bookcase, where would you put it?" he asked Hendricks.

"Yeah, Dave's a great guy," said Hendricks, poking around inside the lock. "Let's see, if I were going to hide something in a bookcase, I'd put it in a book. If it's something thin like a piece of paper, I'd just slip it into one of the books and remember which one and which page it was on. If it's bigger, I'd hollow it out and stash whatever it is inside. Seen that before on a narcotics bust." He frowned. "That piece of metal's in there pretty good. This might take a while. The magnet didn't work, either."

Bill looked over the bookshelves carefully, but he couldn't tell which books had been handled recently. The titles were largely scientific, mostly to do with the medical field, though there was a shelf of books on mythology and another with popular fiction.

OOC,[b]Bill[/b], if you want to try to help dislodge the obstruction from the lock, please roll Mechanical Repair.

OOC,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4142795/]Bill tries the drawer again (Mechanical Repair = 20) (1d100=47)[/url]

Bill knelt down next to Hendricks and half-heartedly jiggled the drawer, without result. With a hand on the desk, he pushed himself up. "Over to you," Bill said as he turned back to the bookcase. He studied the books on mythology, looking for any reference to Morpheus, the god of dreams.

Hendricks continued fiddling with the lock. He checked his watch. "I hope I can get this thing fixed before someone comes home," he said. "It's already past five." He kept trying while Bill perused the books.

OOC,[b]Bill[/b], please roll Library Use.

Bill swore. "This is hopeless!" he grumbled, "it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. This guy needs a catalogue!"

OOC,I've not checked against my stats but something tells me this is a fail: [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4152560/]Bill searches for a book. (1d100=96)[/url] PS. How heavy is the desk?

Bill spent the better part of an hour leafing through the mythology books, but he didn't find any references to Morpheus. Meanwhile, Jim tried and tried again to repair the lock, without success. It was now past six.

"Maybe we should just force the lock and be done with it," said Jim.

OOC,The desk is pretty heavy, but the two of you together could most likely move it.

"Do you reckon if we tip the desk we could shake the piece free?" asked Bill, studying the desk, "I can't really think of anything else that's going to get it outa there."

"I doubt it," said Jim. "It's jammed in pretty good. Besides, if we tip the desk, everything on top of it will slide off. We could memorize where it all goes, take it off, and put it back later, but it probably wouldn't be exactly right. The whole point of getting that bit of metal out is to make sure he never knows we were here."

"Got any gum?" asked Bill, "Put some of that in the lock and we might be able to snag that missing piece. If not, I'm all outa ideas."

OOC,Apols for the lack of posts. Got caught up in holidays and other stuff :(

"Gum?" said Jim, frowning. "That would just jam up the lock even worse. Well, I'll keep trying." He tinkered for another half hour. "I think I'm getting closer. If I keep at this, I think I'll get it eventually, but I don't know how much time we've got before someone comes home. Do I keep at it, Sarge, or should we just pry open the damn thing?"

"I thought that a touch of gum on the end of a screwdriver might have done it but you're the expert," said Bill. He glanced at his watch. "I've no idea what time Professor Anderson will be back," Bill said to Hendricks, "But if you think you're nearly there, let's give it a few more minutes".