IC-Prologue-See Emily Play(Alan Gains only)

[Mr. Handy]

Alan Gains's Law Office, Rittenhouse Square - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2:00 PM - Wednesday, July 16, 1969
Alan Gains was sitting behind his desk going over his paperwork when there was a light rapping on his door. When he looked up, he saw his secretary, Betty Florio, open it. "Mr. Gains?" said the tall brunette. "Your new client, Miss Emily Simmons, is here."

Alan remembered what he had read about the case. Emily Simmons was an 18-year-old freshman at the Universiry of Pennsylvania who was arrested after plowing her car through a storefront. Nobody was injured, but she had been ranting and raving about monsters chasing her and she was believed to be high on hallucinogenic drugs at the time. She had no prior record and was from all accounts an upstanding student who never had anything to do with drugs.

[dualshock71]

Alan was, in his heart, relieved at the arrival of this strange new case. It allowed him to put aside the paperwork, which he absolutely despised. He had become a lawyer to put protect the innocent and punish the wicked, to fight those delightful mental battles as he struggled to uncover the truth. He had not done it to sit at his desk and go over wills and such. And it seemed like he'd been doing that more and more these days.

But THIS case...this was interesting. He briefly reviewed the information the case presented.

No history of drugs.

Claimed to be chased by monsters.

Possibility of mental illness?

Take careful note of her, and question her about these "monsters."

After a moment of organizing his mind, and carefully setting the hated paperwork where he could find it later, he smiled at his secretary.

"Thank you, Betty. Please send Miss Simmons in, would you?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Right away, Mr. Gains," said Betty. She ducked out into the waiting room and came back a minute later with a young lady more than a head shorter than her. The girl, apparently Emily Simmons, had long blonde hair and was dressed conservatively in a long, black skirt and a blue blouse buttoned all the way up to her neck. She entered the office hesitantly and then sat down in a chair across from Alan's desk, looking at her feet and fidgeting awkwardly, rubbing the hem of her skirt between her fingers. "I'll be outside if you need me," said Betty before leaving the office and closing the door behind her.

OOC,[b]Alan[/b], roll Psychology to get an impression of [b]Emily[/b].

[dualshock71]

OOC,Rolled a 93. As I recall, that's an almost epic failure. I must still have my mind in the land of paperwork.

Alan flashed the girl one of his "winning" smiles. He'd practiced it for years; it general helped in winning people over. Made them feel like they could trust him, somewhat. At least, that's how it usually worked.

"I'm very glad to meet you, Ms. Simmons. Thank you for coming. Now, just to make sure I have all the facts, could you please tell me what happened?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Um, okay, Mr. Gains," said Emily. "It happened last Friday night, around 9:00. I was driving home when I saw something in my rear view mirror. It was dark out and I couldn't see it clearly at first. It was very indistinct, but it seemed to be flying above and behind my car, following me. There was no other traffic on the road nearby at the time. I didn't know what to think, I was so scared. I tried to lose it, but it got ahead of me by flying over city blocks while I had to stick to the streets, so it could take shortcuts when I turned corners. It swooped down towards me and I got a clear look at it. It looked kind of like a dragon, with scaly skin and huge wings. When I saw it up close, I just panicked and tried to swerve to avoid it, but I'm a terrible driver. I crashed through that store's plate-glass window. Luckily it was closed and nobody was in there, and I was wearing my seatbelt so I wasn't hurt, but the car was damaged. I thought the monster was going to get me when a second one showed up. It was black and hard to see in the darkness, but it looked different than the dragon-thing, and much smaller. It had wings and a tail, but I couldn't make out any details. The dragon flew away fast, and then the second monster flew after it. I was so shaken I didn't know what to do, and then the police arrived a few minutes later. I know it sounds crazy, but that's what happened."

[dualshock71]

Yes, if she's not on something, she's insane, were the words that occurred to him when she finished her story. But he kept the smile on his face, and made sure none of his immediate thoughts showed. There were still a few questions to ask.

"Tell me, Ms. Simmons, have you been getting enough sleep recently? And have you been involved in any stressful activity lately? Not that I don't believe you, mind, but I have to ask this, just to cover all the angles."

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, I have been getting enough sleep most nights," said Emily. "It's summer session, so it's not as stressful as it normally is. Funny that you mention sleep, though. I took part in this psych experiment a couple weeks ago about sleep and dreams. There was a flyer on the bulletin board asking for undergraduate and graduate students to volunteer. They paid us fifty dollars and we slept overnight in this lab a few nights in a row while they monitored our brain activity. Before we went to sleep, they gave each of us a drink. Half of us were the control group and just got chocolate milk, but the other half got some herbal concoction that was supposed to induce lucid dreams - that's where you can control what you dream about. Then as we lay with our eyes closed, the psychiatrist in charge talked to us while we fell asleep and told us what to try to dream about. They never told us who was part of the control group and who wasn't. I can't remember the details of my dreams any more, but they were pretty weird. They had us go to the moon on the last night, I remember that."

[dualshock71]

He filed away a mental note.

Look into 'lucid dreaming' experiment. Determine effects of this herbal concoction. Possibly dangerous? Could be cause of hallucinations; brain damage?

"Thank you for telling me this, Ms. Simmons. This could be very important. Where did these experiments take place? And are you sure you cannot remember any details, however small, of the dreams? I think that they could be instrumental in helping you."

[Mr. Handy]

"It was in a lab in the Psychiatry Department," said Emily. "It's part of the School of Medicine." She thought for a moment. "Yes, I remember, it was in Room 110 in John Morgan Hall. The guy in charge was a Dr. Anderson. They had these six cots set up in the lab for us to lie down on. I was interested in the experiment because I'm a psychology major, and it was right up my alley - plus I could also use the money." She lowered her head. "Especially now, huh? I can't really remember much about my dreams. Most people can't, you know. That's why Dr. Anderson and his assistants interviewed us as soon as we woke up, so we could describe our dreams to them before we forgot them. The experiment was three nights long. It started on Thursday - the third, that is - and ended Sunday morning. I remember that they told us to try to dream about being on the moon on the third night, and I was able to do it. I vaguely recall a couple of the other students in the experiment being in my dream too." She closed her eyes for a minute and tried to remember more. "I think...I think I saw flying monsters on the moon in that dream too. And just before I woke up, one of them saw me! It was really scary. At the time the dream felt so real. When that thing chased my car, I thought maybe it was a dream too. I kept trying to wake up after I crashed, but I soon realized I was already awake. When the cops came, I told them what happened. They looked at me like I was high or nuts, but what else was I supposed to tell them? I can't lie to the police."

[dualshock71]

Again, he mentally jotted down the details. He'd have to look into Dr. Anderson and his associates. Perhaps there was something going on here...

"Of course not, Ms. Simmons. I understand completely. You did the right thing. And thank you very much for sharing this information with me. I don't have any more questions for you, and unless that's all, I'd like to end the meeting here. I think I've got all the information I need for now. Unless you have something else to add, I'd like you to go home, rest, relax as well as you can, and calm down a little. If you can think of anything else I need to know later, tell my secretary, and she'll get it back to me. Does that sound alright to you?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Okay, thanks," said Emily. She stood up and shook Alan's hand nervously. "Um, I'm not going to go to jail, am I?"

[dualshock71]

The handshake he gave her was firm, confident, and as with the rest of the interview, intended to leave her with a little assurance that all would be well.

"Of course not, Ms. Simmons. Even if they have no proof that there really were creatures after you, the police also can't prove you were drunk or under the influence of illegal drugs. At the most, you'll have to pay for the property destruction and maybe face charges for reckless endangerment. And, if my suspicions are correct, we can probably even get you out of those. You have absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Trust me."

After showing the girl from the office, he instructed Betty to inform anyone who asked that he was out on business, then left. He didn't have any other meetings scheduled for today, just more paperwork. And, all things considered, he'd much rather be out looking into this. Alan did not trust private investigators, and endeavored to do as much of his own legwork as he could manage. The walking got him a little badly-needed exercise, anyway, and the investigation kept his mind sharp.

With the information Emily had given him, Alan departed to learn more of these strange experiments. Without a first name or other such information, he couldn't find much information about this Dr. Anderson fellow, who could have been anyone, if Alan's suspicions were correct. He decided to go straight to the School.

[Mr. Handy]

John Morgan Hall, School of Medicine, University of Pennyslvania
2:45 PM - Wednesday, July 16, 1969
Penn's campus was a couple of miles west of Alan's office. He crossed the South Street bridge to get to the other side of the Schuylkill River and soon reached the university. After looking at a campus map, he found John Morgan Hall without much difficulty. Entering through the building's high double oak doors, he found himself in the lobby. Stairs led up to the upper floors, and a hallway led back toward classrooms and labs on this floor. A bulletin board was posted on the wall on the left side of the lobby, with notices and flyers stuck to it with pushpins and thumbtacks. A few students and faculty members were walking through the lobby on their way in and out, but it wasn't too busy.

[dualshock71]

Alan began his investigation at the bulletin board, hoping maybe to find a leftover handout or flier advertising the experiment.

[Mr. Handy]

Alan spent a few minutes looking through the papers tacked to the bulletin board before he found what he was looking for.

Undergraduate and Graduate Volunteers Needed for Psychology Experiment
Earn $50.00 For Your Participation

We are seeking undergraduate and graduate students for a psychological experiment about sleep and dreams. The study will last three consecutive nights, and volunteers will need to sleep in the lab overnight. Participants will need to arrive at John Morgan Hall, Room 110 at 8:00 PM and will stay until approximately 8 to 10 AM the morning after, depending upon when they awaken. Snacks will be provided in the evenings, and breakfast in the mornings. The study will be conducted twice, from Thursday, July 3 through Sunday, July 6 and from Friday, July 18 through Monday, July 21. To volunteer, please contact Dr. Gregory Anderson, either in person at his office in Room 322 during normal office hours or by telephone at 5-2009.

Interestingly, the experiment was scheduled to run again this weekend. The phone number must have only had five digits because the first two digits for the University's exchange have been assumed.

[dualshock71]

Alan carefully looked over the paper.

Dr. Gregory Anderson, phone number (University exchange)5-2009

He had most of the information he needed to come up with a plan. For the next few nights, he would look into Dr. Gregory Anderson. Then, he needed a way to spy on Anderson's investigation.

At the moment, the plan was only half-formed. But it was a start. With a smirk, Alan departed to gain more information on Anderson.

OOC,I'm thinking maybe a Library Use roll for looking up information that way, and a Luck roll, one for getting info out of the students and faculty. I'll just have to come up with a better plan and I'm all set.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,You can try to look up information about him in one of the University's libraries by rolling Library Use, which will take four hours. You can also ask people in this building about him. A Luck roll will work for that; even if you fail the roll, they'll still probably have heard of him, but you'll get more information if you succeed. Let me know what you decide to do when you're ready.

[dualshock71]

OOC,Library Use roll: Roll(1d100)+0: 35,+0 Total:35 Luck roll: Roll(1d100)+0: 62,+0 Total:62 Both passed, thank you Lord. For my personal sheet, Library Use is checked now, correct? .

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Yes, I'll mark Library Use as checked on your character sheet. It'll be some time before I update this thread with the results of your inquiries. I started this thread earlier in time than the other new one, but I don't want it to run too far ahead, so there may be some delays if the other players don't post as frequently.

[dualshock71]

OOC,Alright, I can wait.