Track Six: Up, Up and Away

[Mr. Handy]

Liz suits up, carefully double checking all the seals to make sure there are no leaks. When the professor types in the password, she surreptitiously watches to try to see what it is. Ordinarily she could have taken out her compact ostensibly to apply makeup while watching the keyboard through the mirror, but that wouldn't work with a spacesuit.

OOC,Wisdom roll (10 + 3[Sharp Eyes] + 1[Discover Secrets] = 14): [dice]0[/dice]

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Hair coiffured and moustache waxed, Tony is in his element; so much so that the idea of dropping his chosen profession for that of the heady world of international modelling is considered more than once. However the thought of abandoning his friends (not to mention earning the ire of the Russians) repeatedly brings him back to Earth.

Thus, while enjoying an evening out with Draper and the two glamorous models, he takes pains to moderate his alcohol intake. When their two companions disappear to powder their noses, he leans across and jovially elbows his boss.

“Spiffing night eh Don? Another bottle of bubbly and we’ll have those two fillies nicely on the boil, what? So, tell me about yourself - what brings you to Takara Electronics?”

Heavily into his cups, Draper grins at Tony.

"You're OK, pal, ya know that? You're OK in my book. So I'll tell ta something. Those so-and-so's back in the Big Apple are just jealous, see? I come up with some great campaigns, make 'em a million bucks, and what do they do? Throw me out on my can, just 'cause I like to have some laughs now and then with the dames. So I start my own agency, but no dice. Can't be a little fish out there. Too many sharks. The little woman thinks she can act, so what the hell. We move out here so she can do soap commercials while our marriage goes down the drain. Hell with her. I got a good future with these folks. They're going right to the top, and I'm gonna be right with 'em. Blast off!"

By this time the two models return, and seem amused by Draper's inebriated state.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Zara secretes some carbon paper into the typewriter while doing the typing, hiding the copy away in her bag to show Liz later.

On breaks she chats the other typists, saying this is a better place to work than her last job.

"Oh, yeah? Where was that? Coulda swore I'd seen ya somewhere before," remarks one of the secretaries.

Meanwhile, when Liz has a chance to examine the Professor's papers, she attempts to make sense of them.

Spoiler:

INt = 14 + 1 Scientific Knowledge = 15[dice]0[/dice]

After a while, she is able to decipher the Professor's eccentric notation system, and figure out that he is working on a way to produce magnetic monopoles, in order to use them as a means of propulsion.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Lew doesn't have to do much research on this as he has always been interested in the intersection of law and science and technology.
"It just so happens that the United Nations passed the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 in January of this year. It states that any nation is free to conduct experiments but no nation can establish sovereignty over any celestial bodies, which would include asteroids."

Lew will cite the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/ ... reaty.html)
and provide a copy of the treaty to Takara. (https://history.nasa.gov/1967treaty.html)

When this information is given to Takara's legal department, there is evident disappointment.

"Hmm," remarks one of the staff. "Bit of a roadblock. Well, if there were something of a fait accompli, I suppose the UN couldn't do much about it."

Another gestures for him to keep quiet, and dismisses Lew with a check for his consultation fee.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Liz suits up, carefully double checking all the seals to make sure there are no leaks. When the professor types in the password, she surreptitiously watches to try to see what it is. Ordinarily she could have taken out her compact ostensibly to apply makeup while watching the keyboard through the mirror, but that wouldn't work with a spacesuit.

OOC,Wisdom roll (10 + 3[Sharp Eyes] + 1[Discover Secrets] = 14): [dice]230590:0[/dice]

Spoiler:

We'll make that a borderline result, just to make things interesting.

Liz is able to catch a few of the keys that the Professor touches, but not all. The password has eight letters, apparently no numbers, and fits this pattern:

G - - L - - - N

The inner chamber is barely large enough to hold two people, as well as a transparent cube, about a meter in each dimension, sitting on a concrete block which raises it to a comfortable eye level. There are a large number of tangled wires leading from the base of the block, which contains a power supply, to various points of the cube. As of the moment, the cube seems to be empty. The Professor moves to the opposite side of the block, which has a control panel with multiple dials, switches, and levers. He fiddles with these for a while. The room fills with a loud humming noise. A pale blue glowing light appears in the center of the cube. The walls of the cube bend inward slightly. In response to this, the Professor adjusts the controls so things go back to the way they were.

"That's the problem," he explains, once the pair are safely out of their suits. "Lack of control. I can produce a cluster of gravitic wavicles about the size of a hydrogen atom, but then it tries to pull everything into itself. Produces a lot of gamma radiation as a side effect, too, which is why we need the suits. Oh, well, back to the drawing board."

[jp1885]

Ordering another round of drinks, Tony sits back, arm around one of the girls.

“Blast off indeed!” he declares, raising his glass in a toast. “The sky’s the limit for you and I my friend! Or even higher! I heard someone from head office saying something about the moon..?”

[Starspawn338]

"Hmm," remarks one of the staff. "Bit of a roadblock. Well, if there were something of a fait accompli, I suppose the UN couldn't do much about it."

"Better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission." He says with a smile as he accepts the check.

[Mr. Handy]

Liz makes a mental note of the partial password, thinking that she may be able to fill in the blanks by examining the keyboard later and seeing which keys show signs of having been pressed recently, such as having the professor's fingerprints on them. "Well, it's an excellent start, at any rate," she says after the experiment. "It's a bit of a sticky wicket, but I'm sure we'll figure it out in time. What we need is some way to channel the wavicles, much like light can be guided through a telescope with a series of mirrors. It's a good thing you had the suits on hand. Where did you get them? They look like something they'd use in the space programme."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Ordering another round of drinks, Tony sits back, arm around one of the girls.

“Blast off indeed!” he declares, raising his glass in a toast. “The sky’s the limit for you and I my friend! Or even higher! I heard someone from head office saying something about the moon..?”

Don nods slowly, a more serious expression on his face.

"You got that right, pal. Project Gossamer Wings. Strictly hush-hush, dig? Just between you, me, and the lamppost, I think those cats in the lab coats got bats in their belfries. Whatever a belfry is. Where was I? Oh, yeah, Project GW. They want me to come up with an ad campaign. Get folks to buy lunar property. Big joke, huh? Don't suppose you've got any ideas I could use to get the chrome domes off my back, do ya?"

After singing, not very well, a few bars of Fly Me to the Moon, he soon falls asleep, leaving Tony and the models on their own.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Hmm," remarks one of the staff. "Bit of a roadblock. Well, if there were something of a fait accompli, I suppose the UN couldn't do much about it."

"Better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission." He says with a smile as he accepts the check.

Not long after leaving the legal staff, an nondescript fellow bumps into Lew on the street and mumbles an apology. He also surreptitiously hands him a small scrap of paper with the words what have you learned scrawled on them.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Liz makes a mental note of the partial password, thinking that she may be able to fill in the blanks by examining the keyboard later and seeing which keys show signs of having been pressed recently, such as having the professor's fingerprints on them. "Well, it's an excellent start, at any rate," she says after the experiment. "It's a bit of a sticky wicket, but I'm sure we'll figure it out in time. What we need is some way to channel the wavicles, much like light can be guided through a telescope with a series of mirrors. It's a good thing you had the suits on hand. Where did you get them? They look like something they'd use in the space programme."

"Well, NASA always needs funds, and Takara has deep pockets. These suits are surplus. Only used once, by a little old lady astronaut, ha, ha," he adds, obviously not very used to making jokes.

Spoiler:

int = 14 + sharp eyes + 3 = 17; not really "discover secrets" here, I think[dice]0[/dice]

Because the Professor already had his suit on, including gauntlets, there are no fingerprints on the keyboard.

[jp1885]

“Hmm, well the first thing that pops into my head is an image of an astronaut playing golf on the moon - no doubt Freud would have something to say about that,” grins Tony, making a mental note to tell the others about Project Gossamer Wings.

When Don nods off, he quietly nudges the two girls.

“Time to find somewhere more intimate perhaps? Though it’d be a rum do if we were to leave our pal sleeping here. Let’s find out where he lives and get him into a taxi hm?”

Tony carefully rifles through the man’s pockets in search of an ID, taking the opportunity to look for anything else of interest upon his person (an alternate name perhaps?) Assuming an address is found, he will see Don off in a cab before turning his attention to his female companions.

“So ladies, what next? A nightclub, take in a show or a nightcap at my hotel?”

[SunlessNick]

"Oh, yeah? Where was that? Coulda swore I'd seen ya somewhere before," remarks one of the secretaries.

"Maybe?" Zara says. "Ever work for the Bank of California? Don't. Heavy boring, and the guys there treat girls like they treat money."

[Mr. Handy]

Suddenly, all the pieces fall into place for Liz. Eureka! she thinks. Of course! A brilliant professor who was lost at sea...the actress I remind him of must be beautiful redhead Ginger Grant...and that means the password must be Gilligan! It fits perfectly!

[Starspawn338]

Lew glances at the note before continuing on. "Interesting. I wonder why all the subterfuge." He muses. Then he looks around a bit more closely.
"I wonder if I'm being followed right now." He thinks to himself.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

“Hmm, well the first thing that pops into my head is an image of an astronaut playing golf on the moon - no doubt Freud would have something to say about that,” grins Tony, making a mental note to tell the others about Project Gossamer Wings.

When Don nods off, he quietly nudges the two girls.

“Time to find somewhere more intimate perhaps? Though it’d be a rum do if we were to leave our pal sleeping here. Let’s find out where he lives and get him into a taxi hm?”

Tony carefully rifles through the man’s pockets in search of an ID, taking the opportunity to look for anything else of interest upon his person (an alternate name perhaps?) Assuming an address is found, he will see Don off in a cab before turning his attention to his female companions.

“So ladies, what next? A nightclub, take in a show or a nightcap at my hotel?”

Spoiler:

wis = 11 + 1 for Detect Lies = 12[dice]0[/dice]

Everything the man carries identifies him as Don Draper, and is either authentic or so good a forgery as to escape detection. What may be of more interest is the fact that his wallet bulges with a large number of hundred-dollar bills; much more cash than you'd expect a man of his profession to have on hand.

Once Draper is sent off to his bachelor apartment -- the address suggesting a modest neighborhood, when it is obvious he could afford something more luxurious -- where he currently lives, separate from his soon-to-be-ex-wife, the models accompany Tony to the hotel, where a pleasant time is had by all, upon which we shall draw a curtain. Suffice to say that none of the three will be getting up early the next morning.

Which works out for the best, as Tony receives a message, courtesy of the hotel switchboard, that Draper expects him at a meeting with the heads of the publicity department in the late afternoon. Arriving at the appointed hour, Tony finds Draper and several older men in expensive suits waiting for him.

"Tell the guys about that golf idea," Draper says, apparently completely recovered from his indulgence of the night before. "Run it up the flagpole and see if they salute it."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Oh, yeah? Where was that? Coulda swore I'd seen ya somewhere before," remarks one of the secretaries.

"Maybe?" Zara says. "Ever work for the Bank of California? Don't. Heavy boring, and the guys there treat girls like they treat money."

Spoiler:

the secretary's int = 9[dice]0[/dice]

"Yeah, that must be where I saw ya," she responds, easily accepting Zara's story.

Meanwhile, having earned a certain amount of trust around the office over the past few days, and a few of the other secretaries out sick with the flu (influenza striking a bit earlier than usual in 1967), Zara is called in to transcribe the meeting taking place among Draper, Tony, and the execs.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Suddenly, all the pieces fall into place for Liz. Eureka! she thinks. Of course! A brilliant professor who was lost at sea...the actress I remind him of must be beautiful redhead Ginger Grant...and that means the password must be Gilligan! It fits perfectly!

Having put two and two together, Liz is able to recall, from certain news articles read long ago, a curiously vague incident in which several tourists were marooned on a tiny island somewhere in the general vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands, although its exact location remains a mystery. Curiously vague, in that, after initial reports, there was unexplained media silence about the event, which would normally have been of great interest to the public, given the presence of one of the world's leading scientists, a pair of millionaires, and a glamorous movie star, among others lesser known. All of the castaways, after returning safely to their various homes, have refused to discuss their adventure, for unknown reasons.

Although the mystery of the password is apparently solved, there remains the problem of gaining access to it without the Professor's knowledge, given the presence of an armed guard.

Meanwhile, the Professor being busy with one of his many side projects -- possibly a revision of his popular book of botany for the general reader, Fun With Ferns -- Liz is requested to show up at the meeting with Draper, Tony, and the executives, in case they have any technical questions.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Lew glances at the note before continuing on. "Interesting. I wonder why all the subterfuge." He muses. Then he looks around a bit more closely.
"I wonder if I'm being followed right now." He thinks to himself.

Spoiler:

WIS = 10 + 3 for Shrewd = 13[dice]0[/dice]

Once alert to the possibility of covert observation, Lew notices, on more than one occasion, a person of Slavic features casually casting glances in his direction, and walking into the same places he does.

Meanwhile, the same legal team at Takara Electronics who paid for his opinion on space law have asked him to sit in on a meeting that Don Draper is having with several executives about a new ad campaign.

"We want to have an independent expert there, so we can get an objective opinion on the legal aspects," they explain. "We're a little too close to the project ourselves."

[jp1885]

An impeccably dressed Tony arrives at the meeting with a spring in his step and at glint in his eye. Acting the vain model, he makes something of a show when introduced to Liz, handing her his number. Hidden somewhere on this card are the words ‘Project Gossamer Wings?’

“Ah yes,” he says when addressed by Draper, “I had the notion of an astronaut playing golf on the moon; and from that, it came to me! What’s the great American dream? Freedom. Freedom to own some land. And on that land, build a house. Then mow the lawn, wash the car and, while the little woman cooks supper, go out and play golf. To wit: the great American dream is the great suburban dream. So that’s my idea for the campaign - buy yourself a slice of suburbia, on the moon!”