The Last Equation

[HoneyDog]

"Okay" Nik sighs. "Let's go see Markell, and then deal with our evidence problem. Maybe we'll turn something up."

[Mr. Handy]

"All right," says Vanessa. "We can also fabricate something that purports to show a relationship gone wrong between Wei and Mrs. Ridgeway, to explain things away and give us something to show to the cops. That will give us a reason to go see them and keep them from thinking we've been wasting our time. Let's go."

OOC,It should be [b]Nik[/b] who puts together the forgery, as his INT is a little better than mine.

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Okay, I'll roll for Nik to forge the documents now for later use. HoneyDog, if for whatever reason you don't want to do this we can retcon:

Don't look,Pass.

The agents finish up with the evidence they found in Wei's room, and head for Tia Markell's residence.A small apartment in a gentrifying part of Brooklyn, the neighborhood largely seems to be made up of young professionals. According to the information McRay had been able to find out, Markell's home is one of four units on the forth floor. There are two units on each side of the hallway. Tia's should be the far left from the stairs. If the agents try the door, they discover it is locked.

[HoneyDog]

Nik unsnaps his holster and with his hand on his sidearm, he knocks on the door.

“Tia Markell, this is the FBI. Open the door please.”

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   For some reason I messed up my spoiler block, but I remember the original roll. So long as you both trust me we'll go with that.

There's no response or sound from within the apartment,. Across the hall, a door opens,and a woman looks out curiously for a second. She closes it if either agent looks in her direction.

[HoneyDog]

OOC:   No problem.

Nik crosses the hall and knocks on the door. “Excuse me madam, can you help us?” he calls out.

[Silver Priest]

The door opens again, though only halfway, and the same woman appears. She's pretty and looks to be college aged. She looks at the agents with caution.

"I don't really know anything, I'm sorry." She starts to close the door, clearly not wanting to speak.

OOC:   both of you can roll persuade or bureaucracy( with a -20 penalty) to convince her to talk.

[HoneyDog]

Persuade,Persuade 72 -20 52: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/687888]Persuade[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]25[/b]

"Please" says Nik urgently, putting his hand on the door. "We think she may be in danger. If you know anything, you can help us help her."

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Sorry, only bureaucracy was at a -20 penalty. Not that it matters in this case.

The woman deliberates, but Nik's words are evidently enough for her. "Alright then. I know Tia and Brian, her boyfriend. We go running together sometimes. I have a key for their unit." She returns with it a moment later and hands it over.

"Here you go. Actually, I am slightly worried. I rang Tia to ask if she wanted to go grab some drinks and no one answered. She should be home. Is she sick?." It's clear the woman is concerned about her friend.

[HoneyDog]

“We’ll find out” Nik replies. “I’ll come back and return the key. Please stay here until then.”

“That should be enough for probable cause” Nik mutters to Vanessa when they are back at Markell’s door. He unlocks it with the key and with his hand on his weapon, opens the door.

[Silver Priest]

The door opens with a loud squeak.

The apartment itself opens into the living room and kitchen. A half eaten bowl of cereal sits on the counter near the refrigerator. A television blares at a slightly high column, a commercial for life insurance. Pictures dot the place, presumably of the couple who live here. They're smiling in each one and look very much in love.

A few feet from the entrance a body is sprawled out. It's male and looks to be in its late 20's or early 30's. There's very little remaining of his head. A bloodied hammer lays next to him on the floor and would seem to be the murder weapon.

The television switches to an old episode of Friends. Canned laughter fills the apartment.

ooc,Both agents get to make San checks for violence, 0/1. As Nik is adapted he auto succeeds and takes nothing. Lucky him. If you want to examine the body in more depth, please make criminology rolls.

A side door is half opened and leads into a bathroom. Directly across from the entrance is another door. Only slightly opened, it likely leads into the unit's bedroom. At present, the agents see no other signs of life.

[HoneyDog]

Nik pulls his sidearm and cocks it, ignoring the body on the floor for now. Raising the gun before him, he pushes open the bedroom door, nerves taut.

[Mr. Handy]

Vanessa also has her pistol drawn, gripping it with both hands and keeping it pointed downward at an angle for now. When she sees the body, something dies within her. "That must be Brian," she says. "So it goes." She keeps Nik covered, and once the apartment is clear she will give the corpse a cold and thorough examination.

OOC,Actually, there's a glitch on boards like these with the spoiler-buttons. They won't open if you have an apostrophe in the button text, though it's fine if it's in the hidden spoiler text. You can still see the contents of the button by editing or quoting the post, though dice rolls won't show. You could fix this by editing the spoiler button to remove the apostrophe if you want, though there's no reason not to leave it the way it is if you remember the roll. Sanity roll (current level 66) for seeing the body: [dice]0[/dice] Criminology roll (50% skill) examining the body: [dice]1[/dice] That's my third violence check that's cost me Sanity without hitting the Breaking Point (actually the sixth, though I chose not to become adapted after the first three). This time I will become adapted to violence. CHA loss: [dice]2[/dice]

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Yikes! That is nasty for Vanessa.

From what Vanessa can tell, the corpse does appear to resemble Brian. And something about seeing how happy he and Tia look in the pictures all around the room bothers her immensely. They had clearly been in love, until the unnatural equation had invaded their lives. Would that happen to her and Malcolm? It seemed as though it could very easily. Love, friendship, devotion... none of that seemed to matter at all when things like this happened. Was it better to just not be close to others, to push them away for their own safety? Or was it better to not even bother at all?

She tries to shake away these thoughts and numbly does her job. Based off the state of the body, Brian did not put up the slightest bit of a struggle. He was either attacked from behind or utterly surprised to be be attacked to begin with. Judging by the wounds he had been attacked by someone in absolute fury who wanted him dead. He was hit at least a few dozen times with the hammer, and the assailant may not have stopped until they were unable to lift it anymore.

Nik meanwhile ignores the body and cautiously opens the bedroom door. It too creaks, and he flinches inwardly as the door opens and reveals a small bedroom. There on the bed sits a cross legged young woman. She is young, perhaps 30, and blood covers her clothing. She does not look up as the door opens, but instead continues to type feverishly on her laptop. A sharp kitchen knife lays next to her on the bed, on Nik's side.

[Mr. Handy]

Vanessa quietly moves into position so that she can see through the door, aiming her pistol at the woman, who is presumably Tia. She lets Nik take the lead, as he is in a better position.

OOC,Yeah, I knew I was going to roll a 6 for that. I didn't solve the Laqueus Equation or anything, I just knew it. Fortunately I had built up my bonds high enough that I haven't lost any yet.

[HoneyDog]

”Shit” Nik says, realizing what she might be doing.

”FBI!” he shouts. ”Put down the computer!” His gun is aimed at her chest, ready to fire.

[Silver Priest]

Nik's shouts are enough to stop the woman. She stops typing and looks up at him, not seeming surprised in the least. She smiles,and it's a pretty and genuine, as if she had not apparently just bashed her boyfriend's brains in and was covered in his blood.

"What's the answer?" she asks him.

[Mr. Handy]

"I want to say 42," whispers Vanessa to Nik, "but that couldn't really be it? Could it?"

[HoneyDog]

”Put the computer down and we’ll tell you the answer. Put it down now” Nik tells Tia.

[Silver Priest]

For just a moment, Tia's smile fades.

"No. That's not it." she says, disappointed.

Then with a primal scream she leaps to her feet, her computer being pushed away by the sudden movement. Grabbing the knife next to her, she lunges at Nik, her face contorted in a look of absolute rage.

"9 9 2 0-" she begins, screaming a series of numbers.

ooc,Tia is going to try to stab Nik with the knife. Her dex is lower than both of yours, and you have guns while she has a knife, so you both get to act first.