IC-Chapter 1-Comfortably Numb(Barney Brainstorm/Bill Johns)

[Mr. Handy]

3701 Spruce Street - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
7:04 PM - Thursday, July 17, 1969

Maxine let Barney off in front of his studio and home after giving him a lift. They had had an interesting and successful time at the library, having found some information about Dr. Gregory Anderson, and Maxine had also seen that strange old man they had first encountered at Lenny's Bar at the library. Had he been following them, or had he been there for some other reason? Max's friend Kathleen had never turned up, and Barney had spent the rest of the afternoon helping Max look for her before giving up and having dinner. In Barney's opinion, Kathleen was probably off shagging someone, but Maxine had seemed a little worried.

OOC,Here are some links to posts that you should read in another thread that cover what happened in the library. Please do not read the other posts in that thread: [url=http://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/viewtopic.php?p=112591#p112591]Conversation with [b]Maxine[/b][/url] [url=http://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/viewtopic.php?p=112754#p112754]Research results[/url] You may also make a Medicine roll to see what you understood from the medical texts.

[ImpInTraining]

Medicine Roll - Failed,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3523864/]Medicine (5%) (1d100=59)[/url]

"Listen Maxine, I wouldn't worry too much about Kathleen. She seemed to move like the wind - flowing to what ever caught her fancy. I'm sure she'll show up soon," Barney said with as much a comforting smile as he could muster. "If not tonight, I bet she'll show up at that research place in the morning." He shrugged and said, "I'm just not sure what I'm going to do with myself tomorrow."

[Mr. Handy]

"You're probably right," said Maxine. "She'll turn up sooner or later. She always does. The experiment doesn't start until eight at night, so we'll have plenty of time to look into things further before then. I'll pick you up in the morning. Is nine okay?"

[ImpInTraining]

"Sure," Barney says. "I'm beat... going to jump in the shower and then get some shut eye. See you in the morning."

[Mr. Handy]

"See you later, alligator," said Maxine. She drove off as Barney went to the front door of his studio and unlocked it.

Barney entered the vestibule and locked the door behind him. A flight of stairs went up to his apartment above the studio, and a door led into the studio itself.

OOC,[b]Barney[/b], please roll Listen.

[ImpInTraining]

Listen - success,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3529296/]Listen(65%) (1d100=31)[/url]

Barney took a few steps in and paused when he thought he heard something out of the ordinary. He tilted his head to try to get a better vantage point so as to hear it better.

[Mr. Handy]

Barney had been about to head upstairs when he heard a faint sound coming from somewhere deep within the studio. It sounded like footsteps followed by a door opening. Nobody was supposed to be back there.

[ImpInTraining]

ooc: Apparently,Barney is stark nekkid - cuz he doesn't have any equipment at all.

Barney looks about for something he can use as a weapon - like a club - before proceeding forth.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,I haven't recorded equipment on character sheets, but [b]Barney[/b] isn't carrying anything special. You can assume he has his clothes, his wallet, and the usual things he'd keep in his pockets. He does have a lot of equipment kept here at the studio (audio and video equipment and musical instruments, primarily). He also owns a ranch outside of town (I just reviewed the character creation notes of his original player), though there's an apartment above the studio where he can stay when he's in town.

Barney grabbed the coat rack standing in the vestibule, which was bare since he didn't wear a coat in the hot summer weather. It was big and unwieldy, but it could cause a lot of damage if he managed to hit anyone with it. He entered the studio itself, most of which was taken up by a large soundstage. This part of the studio was deserted, but a hallway on the left side led back and around a corner to some storage rooms. It was from this direction that he heard the footsteps.

[ImpInTraining]

Barney continued towards the storage area as quietly as he could hoping to catch the would-be thief red-handed before he bludgeoned the poor sap with the coat rack.

Sneak - fail,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3533943/]Sneak (10%) (1d100=30)[/url]

Unfortunately, the wood floor tiles gave away the man's every step with betraying creaks.

[Mr. Handy]

Barney made his way around the corner, where he saw the stretch of hall leading to three storage rooms and the studio's back door. The storage rooms' doors were open, and the footsteps were coming from the nearest one, where he kept his audio equipment and his synthesizer. He gripped the coat rack in both hands as he moved to the doorway, blocking it. Inside the room he saw the old man he had first seen at Lenny's Bar looking around the room!

Bill had found nothing of note during his search when he heard approaching footsteps in the hall. However, he only had time to turn before Barney arrived and filled the doorway.

[ImpInTraining]

"I'd offer you a warm beverage, but I don't tend to do that to people who break into my studio," Barney said coolly, his eyes narrowed at the burglar that he now recognized. "What are you looking for, man? If it's a beating from a coat rack, I think I can probably help you find it."

[Philulhu]

Bill started - he'd not heard Barney's approach. "Easy," he said, "I'm a cop - and you can put that down for starters." He held out one hand to keep Barney at bay and reached for his badge with the other.

[ImpInTraining]

"Funny... I don't think being a cop gives you free reign to everyone's house. You have some sort of writ giving you permission for this home intrusion?" Barney asked, as he looked at the badge to see if it looked genuine.

[Mr. Handy]

As best as Barney could tell, the badge was real. The number on it was 716.

[Philulhu]

Bill ignored the question and said, "I'm looking for Braithwaite. Is he here?"

[ImpInTraining]

Barney set his coat rack down and nodded, "You're looking at him." He'd done nothing wrong, so he didn't know why the coppers would be seeking him out. It was curious.

[Philulhu]

"You're Braithwaite?" asked Bill, one eyebrow raised. He'd not picked up on Braithewaite's accent so the identity of the man before him had caught him by surprise.

He pulled himself together. "I'm looking for Brian Anderson. Do you know where he is?"

[ImpInTraining]

Barney blinked a few times, the gears rolling about in his tiny mind. He tilted his head and asked, "I'm afraid I have no idea. Would you like some tea, officer?" Barney smelled a rat. He knew Brian Anderson was taken to the police station, under arrest. This cop... if that's what he truly was... should have known that as well. He wanted to delay the man long enough to get some real police to his pad and straighten things out.

Barney started heading for his kitchen.

[Philulhu]

Bill studied Braithwaite carefully. The younger man seemed tense and Bill thought it would be a good idea to keep him in sight so followed him to the kitchen.