mikc wrote:"Well, the man is a visionary, don't you agree?" returned Barney, whilst thinking, who is this old geezer and why is he sticking his nose in?
"Listen, man," rejoins Barney, "not meaning to be impolite, but really don't think this is the time to be discussing creativity and its manifestation in the artist. I've got a plane to catch, want to speak to Mr. Anderson, then get out of here, to be frank. Very uncool vibes, you know," he adds sotto voce.
Returning to a normal speaking tone, he addresses the man directly, looking him in the eye, "I don't believe we've been introduced properly; what are you doing here, actually?"
Bill flashed his shield. "I work here," he said grimly, "And your visionary is helping us with our enquiries..." He smiled nastily at Barney, who was really starting to get on his nerves, "Uncool, eh?"
Jones returned from the cell block with Brian Anderson. Bill and Barney recognized him from Lenny's Bar and Anthony recognized him from his class, but he was currently wearing a prison uniform instead of his usual clothes. Jerome knew him from the description he had been given, though he had never seen Brian before. Mary saw him too and lowered her head, tears in her eyes.
"The interrogation room is too small for all of us," said Yeager, "so we'll just have to hold this conversation in the guard room."
Stepping in close to Mary, Bill pulls a clean handkerchief from his pocket. "Here, miss," he said, offering her the handkerchief, "Perhaps you'd like to sit this one out?"
ooc - I'll be away until next Thursday and may be unable to post. To avoid holding things up, I'll post now - if it's pre-emptive, just edit it out. mik
Barney backs away from Bill, a little shaken, but does his beat to recover his composure.
When Brian is led in, he addresses the young man, "Well, Mr. Anderson, looks like you're in a bit of trouble, eh? I hope this is all a misunderstanding; Mindstorm Entertainment is still interested in your "Morpheus" cycle, but I need your assurances that you're still commited to the project. Perhaps you'd like to comment on your plans for its development?
You realise, time is limited and I would have wished a more private audience, but you can be assured that Mindstorm will handle your interests with discretion."
Barney pauses, giving Brian his best `you can trust me, mate´ smile, thinking I hope he's quick on the uptake ...
"Thank you," said Mary, taking the handkerchief from Bill and drying her eyes. "You're very kind, but this is something I need to face."
Brian looked back and forth between the people who had come to see him, a confused look on his face. "Who are the hell are you?" he asked Barney suspiciously. "How do you even know about me? Mindstorm Entertainment, what's that? Mary, what's going on?"
Mary strode up to him, determination in her eyes. "That's I wanted you to tell me," she said. "How could you, Brian?! Don't even try to deny it! You've been selling drugs, and you've tried to kill someone!"
"Mary, I never tried to kill anyone! It's a setup, you've gotta believe me."
His words fell on deaf ears. "No, I don't. I can't ever trust you again. I don't know why I ever had anything to do with you in the first place!"
"Come on, miss," said Bill gently taking Mary's arm and trying to ease her away from Brian, "I don't think this is the sort of thing that you want to get involved with."
OOC,If she moves away with him, he'll find her a seat, a drink and start asking gentle questions about Brian to see what he can find out.
Barney tries to surreptitiously make it clear to Brian that he should just play along, "Listen, we're here to help, just go along with it", he whispers.
Mary nodded silently and went along with Bill into an empty interview room. She leaned against him as he led her inside and eased her into a chair. Officer Jones brought her a cup of water. "Thank you," she said, taking a sip. "Thank you both."
"Look, I don't know you," said Brian to Barney. "Why the hell should I trust you, anyway?"
OOC,[b]Bill[/b], feel free to start asking questions.
[b]Barney[/b], roll Persuade if you want to get [b]Brian[/b] to open up. Don't forget to rolelplay what you say to him, whether or not you succeed. Unfortunately, social skills such as Persuade have no effect on PCs. If you want to convince [b]Jerome[/b] of anything, that's entirely up to the two of you.
"Well," answers Barney in a low voice, "you're right that you don't know me, and I bet you're not in a very trusting mood right now, having just been busted and with all these accusations flying around. But it's a maxim of mine that when a wayfaring stranger comes offering help, you don't look him too closely in the mouth, if you know what I mean.
I mean, what have you got to lose? I'm not a cop, I can promise you that. And I do have connections.
Let's just say that I've been pulled into your story and I'm trying to do my bit to see that it has a happy ending."
OOC,Failed Persuade by 11%: [url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2307035/[/url]
Brian frowned, then glanced at Jerome. "He's got a good point," he said to Barney. "Just what do you know about Morpheus, and how do you know it, anyway?"
OOC,[b]Barney[/b], roll Psychology to see if you pick up anything from [b]Brian[/b]'s reaction.
OOC,[b]Barney[/b], you can't tell any more from that. Go ahead and continue speaking if you like.
[b]Jerome[/b] and [b]Anthony[/b], feel free to roll Psychology as well regarding [b]Brian[/b].
OOC,Anthony failed his [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2309984/]roll[/url], he is interested to see how this plays out as everyone else seems to know a little more than himself at thsi point so he's just gonna wait this out a bit.
Bill sat on the edge of the desk as Mary sipped the water Officer Jones had brought her. "I'm afraid, miss," he said quietly, "That Brian appears to have got mixed up with a crowd selling drugs. I don't think for a moment that you've anything to do with this but have you noticed anything unusual about his behaviour recently?"
Barney does his best to keep his temper under control, and to keep his voice down, "What do I know about Morpheus?" he addresses both Brian and Jerome, "Well, actually, I heard it was a new experimental drug. That's about it. I've had a lot of drug experiences in the past myself, but I don't do that shit any more. Why am I here? I thought I could do the lady a favour and possibly help you out of a tight spot. Obviously, I shouldn't have bothered!"
Leaving the statement hanging, Barney waits for a response. He is doing his best to make his position clear: if you're just going to give me a hard time for trying to help you out, I certainly have better things to do with my evening, and goodbye!