The Last Equation

[HoneyDog]

Persuade,Persuade 73,[url=http://orokos.com/roll/692027]Persuade[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]76[/b] It's up to Vanessa!

Nik realises that he's making a gamble, but after listening to Gossel's story about how he used Wei he's not afraid to use violence against this man. He walks around the side of the desk so that it isn't between them any more.

"Don't start getting ideas, Doctor" he warns, still pointing his gun at the man's face. "You'll answer the question".

[Mr. Handy]

"You left out the most important part," Vanessa says to Gossel. "The package you sent to Wei? That's where you screwed up, big time. You used your real name, when you should have used your David Farmer alias. I understand you're an amateur and are not familiar with tradecraft, but this should have been obvious. You're just lucky we found out before anyone else twigged to it. We're going to have to bring you in, for your own good." He doesn't seem to be infected by the equation, and bringing him in alive is the smart move. They need to know everything he does about the people who hired him, and it's better to question him in an environment they control.

OOC,HUMINT roll (54% skill) about [b]Gossel[/b]: [dice]0[/dice] Persuade roll (71% skill) to convince [b]Gossel[/b] we're who he thinks we are: [dice]1[/dice] Oops! :oops: I just hope my knowledge of exactly what he did is good for a bonus.

[Silver Priest]

ooc,You know what, I'll give that to you. You made a good argument. ;)

Gossel groans in frustration, his doubts forgotten, for now. "I suppose I did get a little too cute there. Given everything I felt it prudent to mask myself with a bit of deniability. Of course, I never expected one to investigate the package. Can't your people take care of it? You have as much to lose as me if this all gets out."

"And you can put the gun away," he tells Nik, looking rattled by it. "We're in the middle of one of the busiest hospitals in the country. Shooting me here attracts attention, and I'm cognizant enough of that fact. So forgive me if I'm not eager to head off with the both of you to who knows where. If your men want to debrief me, tell them I insist on doing it in public. After what I've seen of your organization, I have ample reason to be paranoid.

"To answer your question, I only met with L twice, and each time he showed up here. I sent email reports on my interactions with Wei to an email address, but it's been deleted since his killings made the news. It's one of the things that led me to conclude my part in this all was finished. You are more than welcome to go through the emails I do have, however; most of them are rather mundane. I was instructed to gain his confidence and once I did so I received the package with that coded equation and was told to mail it. I didn't ask questions. I was being paid enough not to."

[Mr. Handy]

"All right," says Vanessa. "Let's see those emails."

[Silver Priest]

"By all means," Gossel says, pulling them up on his computer.

The emails are to something that is obviously a throwaway address of random numbers and letters. On Gossel's part, most of them are just forwards of that day's correspondences with Wei. The replies the doctor is sent are filled with instructions. Probe him on his work Or Suggest using the Laqueus Equation would be good evidence for his thesis.

Gossel points at that one. "They sent me the package the next day, and told me to send it to Wei."

It seems clear from a quick scan that the doctor's replies were carefully fed to him every step of the way.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,What floor are we on, and is there a window in this office?

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   12th floor. Roll luck to see if there's a window.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Luck roll (75% stat) to see if there's a window: [dice]0[/dice] No window.

[HoneyDog]

Nik holsters his weapon.

"Okay, Doctor, we want to debrief you. Let's get to somewhere where we can discuss this more comfortably. Come with us now please. If you're worried about your safety, you can choose the location, within reason."

[Silver Priest]

Gossel nods. "Fine. There's a cafe a few blocks down, its popular with people who work here. It should be busy this time of day, but the conversations are loud enough to give us some cover." He starts to rise.

"I'm on my lunch break, as it happens, so I can go now. But this is the last time I'll see you Outlook people, correct? After this: we're done."

[HoneyDog]

“That’s correct”says Nik. “You two go on ahead, I just need to make a call and confirm our whereabouts. Okay Vanessa?” he asks. “I’ll catch you up at the car.”

[Mr. Handy]

"Sure," says Vanessa, holstering her own weapon. She had just been about to call McRay herself. "Let's go, Professor."

[HoneyDog]

After Vanessa and Gossel have left in the elevator, Nik looks around the corridor to make sure he is alone and calls McRay.

“Gossel is David Palmer, but he’s not infected. He was paid to set Wei up on the instructions of something called the Outlook group, if that means anything to you. Gossel seems to think that the equation was a means to send assassination orders to Wei, who he believed was a government agent. I think he’s been fed a line of bullshit. He doesn’t seem to have any means of contacting Outlook; they come to him. He thinks me and Marchand work for them, and now we’re going to take him to a café for a debriefing. He’s wary but I think he trusts us. What shall we do with him?”

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Why doesn't Nik roll luck? Let's see if McRay's in his office. Even he has to do his job at some point.

[HoneyDog]

Luck,Nik calls McRay's cellphone: Luck 55 - [url=http://orokos.com/roll/692951]Luck[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]29[/b]

[Silver Priest]

Fortunately for Nik, McRay happens to be able to answer. He listens to the report.

"You think the doctor's a patsy, then? Sounds as though he's convinced that this is all some sort of psyop and has nothing to do with the unnatural. If you think he can keep his mouth shut and bolster that impression, do so. Otherwise, other lines are authorized. Be careful before you make a decision; if he goes to the press or attempts blackmail, this becomes a much bigger problem. But making such a prominent figure disappear could prove difficult. .

"Outlook Group?" He pauses for a moment.

know roll,[dice]0[/dice]

"The name rings a bell. They're a foreign policy think tank, based in the Maryland suburbs of DC. Fairly secretive, even for a think tank. I'm unsure why they'd be involved in all of this. Unless..." He does not finish his thought, instead abruptly changing the subject.

"Be careful. Deal with the doctor however you deem necessary, and wait for further instructions."

[HoneyDog]

Nik calls Vanessa and relates to her what he has just learned. “Why don’t we just play this out with Gossel?” he suggests. “We might learn something else.”

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes," replies Vanessa on her cell phone, not wanting to give Gossel any indication of what they're discussing. She checks to make sure they're not being followed by anyone but Nik.

OOC,Alertness roll (50% skill) to spot any potential tail: [dice]0[/dice]

[HoneyDog]

Nik joins the others, intent on thinking about what the next step needs to be. He is too engrossed in his thoughts to be able to efficiently read his surroundings.

Alertness,Alertness 51: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/693146]Alertness[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]97[/b]

[Silver Priest]

Neither of the agents think they see a tail, at least. They make it out of the hospital without trouble, and Gossel offers to drive them to the cafe. If the agents express wariness, he will acquiesce and go in their rental.

OOC:   Assuming you both got a rental. Also assuming you continue to the cafe. If you've any other plans I will happily retcon.

The cafe itself is busy. It's filled with the lunch crowd, and loud conversations mix with country-western music as the trio enter. Gossel leads them to a table nestled in the corner that offers some slight seclusion from the other diners. He orders a beer, and looks very much like he needs it.

"Say what you need to say, please. And then get out of my life.I don't care to know more than I have to; I'm intelligent enough to want to avoid becoming a liability, and asking questions seems an excellent way to become one."