IC-Chapter 1-Big Brother(Bill/John/Jerome/Tony/Remy/Markus)

[Philulhu]

Bill clicked his fingers as if he just remembered something. "You know," he said, "Mary said that the prof is going to be carrying out some experiments on Friday night - some experiments about sleep and dreaming? He might be using that Morpheus stuff! You reckon we can get someone in there to find out what goes down?"

[Mr. Handy]

"We just might," said John Yeager. "Harry's cover is still intact, and he's young enough to pose as a student. Brian saw him in Lenny's Bar in his disguise, but he doesn't know he's a cop, and the prof has never met him. In fact, Brian thinks he was a customer. He's already had one dose of Morpheus, and he seems all right after that, but should he risk possibly taking more? We don't know if that stuff is addictive."

[Philulhu]

"Harry sounds like our man," replied Bill, but I've no idea whether Morpheus is addictive or not. I can't remember what we did..." Bill shook his head, he was getting confused again. "We had the Morpheus analysed, didn't we? Can we find out from the hospital what's in it?"

OOC,Can Bill recall any of the details of the experiments he took part in?

[Mr. Handy]

"There wasn't anything left to analyze," said Yeager. "Harry drank the whole thing. They took a blood sample at the hospital and tried to analyze it, but they couldn't identify whatever this substance is. Still, maybe Harry can sneak out a sample for us while he's inside." He got on the radio again and called Charlie back. "We've got something else we can try, Charlie. Have Harry head down to the University of Pennsylvania, using his established cover as a student. He needs to try to sign up for Professor Anderson's experiment so we can have someone on the inside."

"I'll send him right over, Lou," said Charlie.

Bill thought back to the experiment. He had only vague memories of it, but he knew there were six subjects including himself and Mary. Now that he thought about it, Harry did seem sort of familiar. Had he been there? He also had fleeting memories of the redheaded revolutionary girl he had seen at Lenny's Bar and her older drinking companion. Mostly he had eyes only for Mary at the time. He knew that half of the subjects were part of the control group, who drank ordinary chocolate milk instead of the drug, but none of them ever knew to which group they had belonged. That was about all he could recall, but after forty years he was lucky he could remember that much.

[Philulhu]

OOC,Does Bill recall if he drank the Morpheus or the choco-milk :)

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Nope. As I said, he never found out.

[Philulhu]

"I hope Harry's a bit more alert to what he's drinking than last time," commented Bill wryly. He was trying to remember what had happened at the trial but without success.

He rubbed his hands over his face distractedly. "So much I don't remember," he muttered to himself.

[Mr. Handy]

"Don't worry about it," said John. "You never forget how to be a cop. It's like riding a bicycle. You've been doing a fine job so far." He drove onto the exit ramp for State Road. "We'll be at the academy in the few minutes. Once you get out on the range, those memories will come right back."

[Philulhu]

"I hope so," said Bill, "It's been a while..."

In all honesty, Bill was worried about how it was going to work out at the range. He'd handled guns before - he couldn't think of anyone he knew who hadn't at one time or another - but he'd never considered himself a crack shot. He didn't want Yeager drumming him out of the force before he even knew what he was doing here.

[Mr. Handy]

"If it doesn't come back right away, keep practicing," said Yeager. "I'm an excellent shot, but I keep coming here to practice all the time. That's part of why I got so good at it." He turned off into the lot of the police academy and found a parking spot near the door. He slid in and turned off the engine. "You ready?"

[Philulhu]

"Yup," replied Bill, with more confidence than he felt. His dad had a gun he'd brought back from the war, a German Walther, and he'd popped off a few rounds from time to time with Bill, but that was a long time ago. He shook his head at the memory and opened the door. "Let's go blow the rust off, yeah?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Now you're talkin'," said John Yeager with a grin. He got out of the car too and walked with Bill into the police academy's main entrance, flashing his badge to the officer at the front desk. He led the way through the halls until they reached the firing range. The indoor range contained a tall wooden barrier that rose up to chest height, where there was a flat surface. It was partitioned into several aisles with overhead tracks in the ceiling. Paper targets hung from the tracks in each aisle. They had the black silhouette of a man with concentric white rings over the chest and smaller ones over the head. A tall, uniformed sergeant with gray hair who looked to be about fifty years old, though still in good physical condition, was there to greet them.

"Good to see you again, Lieutenant," he said to Yeager.

"Likewise," replied Yeager. "I'd like you to meet my newest sergeant, Bill Johns. Bill, this is Sergeant Dave Hendricks."

"Hey, there." Hendricks shook hands with Bill.

"Bill's a retired cop from Chester who just couldn't stay away from the job."

"Don't worry, I'll have you back up to speed in no time, Bill. This range is probably better than what you're used to. I should have a service weapon waiting for you in the back room, and I'll bring you some ammo and ear protectors. Any questions?"

[Philulhu]

"Not from me, thanks," replied Bill. He shrugged his shoulders to work out the tension he was feeling and turned to study the targets. His palms were sweating and he subconsciously rubbed them dry on the seat of his pants.

[Mr. Handy]

Hendricks went off to the back room while Bill examined the targets. They were spaced about thirty feet away from the wooden divider. In a couple of minutes, Hendricks returned carrying a box with a couple of forms on top of it, as well as two pairs of ear protectors around his neck. He handed the papers and a ballpoint pen to Bill. "Here's some paperwork for you," he said. "Just sign and date on the lines at the bottom. Make sure you press hard, 'cause you need to make three copies. You'll keep one copy as your receipt. This is just to indicate that you were issued your service weapon, and to indicate that you used the range today. I'll fill in your scores when you're done." He handed another form, which also had carbon paper between the copies, and a second pen to Yeager. Then he set the box down on the counter and opened it up. Inside was a belt holster containing a .38 Special revolver, as well as two speedloaders filled with bullets. He gave a pair of ear protectors each to Bill and John. "I'll get you more ammo when you're done shooting what you've got here," said Hendricks. "Any time you're ready, gentlemen, put on your ear protectors, pick a target, and start shooting."

OOC,[b]Bill[/b], when you're ready, please make six Handgun rolls.

[Philulhu]

Bill signed the paperwork and pushed it back across the table. He picked up the holster and carefully withdrew the revolver, feeling its unfamilar weight. He turned it over and found the latch that let the cylinder open and depressed it, opening the cylinder with a slight flick of his wrist. He picked up the speedloader and fed the tips of the bullets into the open cylinders then depressed the plunger so they dropped into place.

He checked the safety was engaged then put the gun down on the table while he adjusted his ear protectors. Making them comfortable, he picked up ther gun again and turned to the target. Remembering the 'Weaver Stance' he'd seen used in the cops shows he'd watched as he was growing up, Bill took careful aim and squeezed off all six shots.

OOC,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2955284/]Barndoor and banjo time! (1d100=50, 1d100=74, 1d100=10, 1d100=8, 1d100=23, 1d100=49)[/url] Umm, how does two hits and a near miss sound?

[Mr. Handy]

The first thing Bill noticed about the revolver was that instead of a safety as an automatic pistol would have, all he had to do was make sure the hammer wasn't cocked to keep it from discharging. The weight of the gun felt surprisingly comfortable in his hand, and he discovered that he was a better shot than he'd thought he'd be. In the aisle next to him, Yeager had put on his own ear protectors and had adopted a similar stance. He emptied his revolver into his own target.

Sergeant Hendricks pushed a pair of switches on a panel nearby, and the two targets slid forward along the tracks until they reached the counter. The men removed their ear protectors so they could hear him. Four of the bullets on John Yeager's target had hit within the circles in the center of mass, but the other two had barely clipped the paper. "Four out of six," said the sergeant, writing down his score. "That's respectable, sir."

"I shouldn't have missed with those last two," said Yeager. "Must be getting sloppy."

Hendricks inspected Bill's target next. Two of the bullets had hit well within the circles on the target's chest, and a third was just outside them, touching the target's shoulder. The other three had at least hit the paper. He wrote down a score. "Not bad at all. That's about as close as you can come to a qualifying score without getting it."

"And you said you were rusty, Bill. I've served with guys in the war who couldn't shoot half that well." He turned to Hendricks. "Surely that's close enough, isn't it? That third shot of his is practically on the line."

[Philulhu]

Bill examined the paper carefully. "You want me to take that again, Sarge?" he asked, looking up at Hendricks.

[Mr. Handy]

"I don't think that'll be necessary," said Yeager. "It's close enough, for crying out loud!"

Hendricks squinted at the target. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant," he said, "but rules are rules. One point less than a qualifying score still doesn't qualify. Surely it wouldn't be too hard to just do it again."

OOC,[b]Bill[/b], if you want to try to convince [b]Hendricks[/b] to give you a qualifying score, roll Persuade. If you want to try again, please make another six Handgun rolls.

[Philulhu]

Bill studied Hendricks. The sergeant looked uncomfortable and Bill guessed he didn't like to fail anyone, particularly an older guy whose job might rely on someone passing the test. "C'mon Sarge," he said, "The LT's right - some guys in the army can't shoot that straight. I'm a little rusty, is all. We're in the middle of an important case right now. As soon as we're done, I'll be back down on the range, getting some practice in." He shrugged his shoulders, "So what do you say?"

OOC,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2975483/]Bill tries to persuade Hendricks to give him a pass. (1d100=12)[/url] Bills Persuade score is 75. PS. Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I'm applying for jobs, preparing for interviews and dealing with a deranged ex-partner! :(

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,I'm sorry to hear that. Don't worry about not being able to post. The game can proceed at your pace anyway, especially since you're the only active player remaining. Good luck finding work!

Hendricks examined the target again. "Well..." he said. "It looks like that third shot did touch the line. That gets you just enough to qualify." He wrote in Bill's score on the form and signed it, then tore off one of the copies from each form and handed them to Bill and John Yeager. "I do recommend that you keep practicing whenever you have the time. I'll just get you some more ammo to replace what you've used, and then you can get back to it." He took the empty speedloaders from the two of them and went into the back. He returned a moment later, the speedloaders filled with bullets once again, and handed them back. "If there's nothing else, I'll see you gentlemen around."