IC - 18 - Siege - Everyone

[Mr. Handy]

"That's a good point," says Jocelyn, "although if you do decide to go forward, I'll go with you."

[Silver Priest]

"I'm not that kind of doctor, but I'll do my best." says Simon, as he attempts to give Reginia her medicine. It seems to go pretty well. "Here you are, sweetie."

Hard success on Dex, https://orokos.com/roll/889814

Choosing to ignore Lindsay's state for the moment, he tries to answer her question. "Well, that he's dangerous for one. I've read his Book of the Passover Angel. He had a code within it that once decoded made it quite apparent that he believes and seeks the deaths of all faithless first born. He's also affiliated with an organization in Kenya on government blacklists and that the locals are terrified of and is one of their biggest sources of funds. We also have reason to suspect he poisoned George Lewiston; everyone who investigated his home came down with a nasty rash, and his cat was also in rather dire straits, suggesting a biological attack of some sort."

Here's where it got serious. He takes a deep breath. "My impression of Mr. Balfour is he is rather unstable and planning some sort of attack. He all but admits it in his book. I believe he is attempting to lead others into thinking the end times are afoot for some reason. My colleague and I were caught in a sudden hail storm earlier today, and we both saw the Passover Angel. Some sort of projection designed to unnerve us, but it confirms that Balfour is not just some harmless cult leader but a man with access to rather significant resources.

"Immediately after we saw the image Balfour offered us both a ride. When I mentioned the holographic Angel and Red Trumpet he went ballistic and tried to strangle me! Then he started to speak in tongues and hail began to fall once again. I think he was communicating with his coconspirators somehow, because the hail was directed around his vehicle. He came to his senses at the last moment and appeared genuinely remorseful, but it's clear he's not well. I firmly believe him to be a danger to the country.

"This is why I need your help, Lindsay. You probably understand more than me. Balfour has attacked me and threatened two officers of the law; he's already on thin ice and is being looked into. If you can give us some sort of evidence or lead to go on, I believe we can keep Reginia away from him long enough to launch a full investigation and get to the bottom of whatever he and his cohorts are planning. But we need you, I need you, to cooperate. If this turns into a standoff where the police have to use force to get Reginia back, that will be the story, and Balfour's misdeeds will be papered over long enough I fear for him to carry out whatever he intends. But if you come with us and tell us exactly what you and your uncle were trying to do and why you did it, we have a chance of stopping all of this and protecting Reginia."

OOC:   Sorry for the long post, this one was tough for me, bearing in mind Simon's still insane.

[Mephistophilis]

Looking dubious, Bates says 'Okay, let's give them a bit of space. But the AFOs stay in position. We need to move quickly if she gets too jumpy.'

-----

Simon smoothly fills the reservoir with insulin and hands it back to Lindsay who reconnects it to Regina's pump.

Listening to Simon's speech her eyes widen, then narrow. 'You're so close, but you've missed the point entirely. Just like calling Regina 'Reginia'. He means to harm the first born, but he's not a terrorist, he's a fucking demon worshiper...I can still see it. In my dreams. Out of the corner of my eye. In the darkness...'

She lets out a low wail and bangs the barrel of the shotgun against her temple. In her half-asleep sedated state Regina rolls over and joins in the disconcerting sound.

OOC,Simon is going to need to calm Lindsay down. Probably a Psychoanalysis roll. And then he'll need to Pursuade her to tell him what she knows - I'll give you a bonus die for that Persuade because Simon has made it clear he knows a lot about Balfour and thinks there is some kind of conspiracy

-----

From inside the hotel room Kris and Jocelyn hear a low wailing sound. Bates raises her eyebrows.

[Mr. Handy]

"Maybe we should sneak closer now," whispers Jocelyn.

[Silver Priest]

"Lindsay, please!" Simon begins, recognizing the situation is tense. "I'm on your side! I've had the same sort of dreams," He offers, careful not to scoff at her view of what she had seen. It was sadly apparent to him that she was delusional, but he could hardly blame her-- the things he had seen had nearly defied explanation, and it was only his analytical mindset that prevented him from giving in to such superstition. Most people sadly did not possess such a mentality. "We can still stop Balfour. One of the detectives working the case, the one who found you I believe, overhead Mrs. Balfour saying that they would need to make other plans. We don't know exactly what that means, but it suggests they're going to be active soon, so we need to figure things out quickly. With your uncle's unfortunate demise you are the only one who can help us, Lindsay. We need you to cooperate; it may be the only way we can stop whatever they are planning."

Psychoanalysis 52%,

For some reason I can't roll in this forum, so I'll use Orokos until I can figure out how to add it to a post.

First roll was an 84. https://orokos.com/roll/890553
I'd like to push. If I can,second was a 26. https://orokos.com/roll/890554

Persuade 30,

Got a 17, phew. https://orokos.com/roll/890555

[Mr. Handy]

The dice roller has to be activated on each board where it's used. That was the case before the upgrade, though every time I created a forum for a game, I activated it as part of that process. All of those settings were lost during that process, so it looks like it needs to be done again.

[Philulhu]

”I’m willing if you are,” replied Kris quietly. “We might be able to hear what’s being said.”

OOC, Apologies for the delay. Have issues logging into the site.

[Mephistophilis]

Bates, Kris, and Jocelyn creep up to the hotel room door, covered by the three armed officers. They can hear conversation going on inside the room.

What's that?' whispers DS Bates, gesturing to something on the doorframe. A few insects crawl across the door but looking closely where Bates is pointing they can see strange, tiny symbols faintly carved into the woodwork.

Roll Listen and Spot Hidden, and Occult if you've got it.

-----

Lindsay seems to calm down a little, her breathing slows and she sits down on the bed resting her hand on Regina's back. The little girl has fallen asleep.

She looks intently at Simon making eye contact for a little too long, her eyes wide. 'Look, I know this doesn't make sense. But John Balfour is not what he seems, his church is not what it seems...'

She lets out a long sigh. 'They look like some millennial cult, but they're much more than that. Not terrorists. They've found something, tapped into something...' She shudders.

'My uncle, George Lewiston, he found out about the Church of the Passover Angel. He realised they believed in some fucked up shit. The Balfours we're going to sacrifice their firstborn child, Regina, to this Passover Angel, believed it would bring about the Apocalypse, the Second Coming of Christ and all their followers would be rewarded for their faith. They didn't even really think Regina would be hurt, some crap about the 'Binding of Isaac' I don't really understand. But Uncle George doubted the Angel's ability to resurrect people. I dunno, maybe he shouldn't have.'

Simon knows that the Jewish interpretation of the story of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac is that neither God nor Abraham believed he would ever really need to sacrifice Isaac as he had faith, while Hebrews 11:17 indicates the early Christians' view that God would have resurrected Isaac. This implies the Balfours might have thought that this is what would happen to Regina

'That was the first time, I used my job, I'm a social worker with the council in Buckinghamshire, I used my job to get Regina taken into care on George's say so. Nearly lost my job too. But I trusted Uncle George. And he was right. He played me some of the recordings he'd made of the church and their services. They really believed that shit. Anyway, I kept her in care right through their special day and nothing happened. I thought it had all blown over, that I could go back to my life. Then a few weeks ago Uncle George contacted me again. We'd got a bit distant over the last few years, I dunno, maybe the stress of it all. It was the same scenario all over again. I told him, I told him there was no way I could pull the same stunt again, I'd lose my job for sure and I'd never get it past the judge this time.'

Her voice drops to a lower pitch, 'He looked like shit, like he hadn't slept in weeks. Said he'd gone undercover, got right inside the church, and he'd seen something, recorded something...something horrible...'

Lindsay is trembling, her hands shake and the end of the shotgun barrel waves ominously in Simon's direction.

'I have to keep Regina out of Balfour's hands until Wednesday. Then I'll let her go. But if I have to, if I have to I'll put an end to her and anyone else who gets in my way. It's bigger than just Regina now, understand?'

I think it'll need at least another Pursuade. You can push it but remember this is a high stakes situation

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn keeps her eyes and ears open, but she doesn't notice anything.

Listen roll (55% skill) outside the door:
d%
Spot Hidden roll (60% skill) outside the door:
d%
Occult roll (20% skill) about the symbols:
d%

[Philulhu]

OOC, Dice rolls as follows:

Listen (35%) - 1d100
Occult (10%) - 1d100
Spot Hidden (40%) - 1d100

Edit: So failures in Listen & Occult but a success in Spot Hidden.

[Mephistophilis]

Looking closely at the marks etched into the wood, Kris can make out brush marks and a reddish colour, he thinks it might be blood. The glyphs run in a continuous pattern all around the doorframe except for where the wood has been obliterated by the shotgun blast. He has no idea what they represent.

[Philulhu]

”Have you seen this?” he whispered, pointing out the faint carvings in the frame.”What do you think this is? Some sort of...” He shrugged. “Some sort of ward to keep Balfour at bay?”

[Mr. Handy]

"It's possible," whispers Jocelyn with a shrug, "but I've never seen the like."

[Silver Priest]

"You did what you had to do, Lindsay." Simon responds in a hopefully soothing manner. "I don't blame you or your uncle-- though I wish he hadn't shot the greeter or himself. But you alerted us to Balfour, and your actions since have been out of concern for Regina. I promise you I will do everything in my power to ensure these circumstances are taken into account."

He listens to her carefully.

occult 75,

1d100

"It makes sense from a religious perspective." He explains, going into a lecturing role despite himself. "Jewish interpretation is that Abraham knew that he'd not have to sacrifice Isaac. Early Christian belief thought that God would raise Issac from the dead-- this may be the assumption the Balfours are operating under; they do not believe their actions will really harm their child. And from what I have seen, they genuinely do seem upset and concerned for her welfare. Most concerning, faith can make people do irrational things.

"This happened before, you say?" He frowns. "Then I'm afraid the only way to truly stop this will be exposing the Balfours. If there's a second time they feel they can sacrifice her, there will be a third time. Anything we do here is just delaying that."

He notices the gun then, and raises his hands in a placating matter.

"But you're a good person, Lindsay; your entire life has been in protecting children. I know you don't want to hurt her. And I don't believe it would stop them either. They're already operating off a highly unorthodox view of Exodus, and they seem very committed in bringing about God's judgement. I fear they'd just sacrifice another child, perhaps one of their supplicants. The only way for you to stop this madness is to turn yourself in and tell us everything you know. As I've said we've seen Balfour's angel, and I'm sure we're not the only two, it was on a crowded highway. That will give us credibility. And you say your uncle has recordings? If you have anything that we can use against the Balfour's that show what they're planning now is the time to give it to us."

Persuade 30,

1d100

When I rolled and copied it to the post I had gotten a 22 on the dice. If I can't use that, please let me know and I'll spend the luck needed to make this a success. I have a feeling this is an important one.

[Mephistophilis]

It looks to Simon like Lindsay's whole posture is starting to relax more. The shotgun is by her side on the bed.

Quietly she says 'Uncle George, he managed to record a ritual, in the church, he called it a "blood ritual". One where they, they, well, they summoned something, the "Passover Angel". He showed it to me, it was...horrific. The Angel spoke, it's voice...it looked right at the camera, at Uncle George, like it knew exactly what he was doing there. It said “There is nothing that you can do, little man. Nor you, little woman,” it felt like it was talking to me, like it could see me, through the video. Well my uncle ran and they just let him go, like they knew there was nothing he could do.

'I, well I still didn't want to have anything to do with all this fucked up shit, bit since then, since watching the video...oh God, I keep seeing...seeing something. Dark, hooded, with black wings, it's always there, at the edge of my vision, watching me. And, and I keep finding things, Bibles, open to the same page, Exodus 11-12, I keep finding them in weird places, there was one on my pillow, the Gideon Bible, just sitting there. When I sleep I don't sleep, I see things, dreams, nightmares, like ancient Egypt, and Biblical plagues. I don't sleep anymore, I just take stuff to stay awake. Uncle George said never let it go dark, I didn't know what he meant until I turned out all the lights to help Regina get some rest, just for a second, and I saw something, something huge, outside the window, huge and winged, and long, like a snake, and heading straight for me. There's something out there and it wants us. It wants to find us and it wants to eat us.'

OOC:   I believe you, no need to spend the Luck

Outside the door none of them are able to make out what is being said inside the room. 'Seems to have gone quiet' says DS Bates.

As if on cue PC Grey advances towards the door, 'Permission to breach?' he hisses, 'While she is distracted by the professor we can take her down.'

[Philulhu]

”You cannot be serious!” whispered Kris forcefully. “Who do you think you are, the bloody SAS?!”

He shook his head. “You don’t know who’s where in the room. These rooms have narrow entrances and Simon could well be between you and her. It’s madness to even try!”

[Mr. Handy]

"Agreed," whispers Jocelyn. "The quiet is a good sign."

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Much thanks, I appreciate it!

Seeing Lindsay is starting to trust him comes as a great relief to Simon. But this doesn't last long as she describes what she's seen.

"Jocelyn described the same thing with the bible and passage happening to her," He mutters, mostly to himself. It doesn't make any sense. How did the church get in both their rooms? Or was it some sort of hypnotic induction, compelling those subjected to it to perform the behavior and not realize it? It was the only thing that made any sort of sense. The only other option was there was some sort of supernatural element at play, but That.Was.Absurd.

It couldn't be real.He just had to remember that. Otherwise he risked giving into panic, and that would help no one.

Taking a deep breath, he nods. "Thank you for that information, Lindsay. Do you still have this tape? I believe showing it to the authorities would help us expose Balfour-- the others may think it's computer generated trickery, but Jocelyn and I have seen it ourselves, and that will make it much harder to dismiss. Even if others do not believe fully in your story, it should serve to showcase that Balfour and his church are planning something nefarious.I don't think even Balfour fully understands the Angel. When he learned we saw it he grew furious and refused to believe it.

"In any event, I can see the toll this has taken on you. I need you to trust me, Lindsay. Let Regina go as a sign of good faith and turn yourself in. Show the tape to the authorities-- it's the best evidence we have-- and tell them everything you and your uncle know about Balfour. We've already learned a lot, but your support can go a long way. From what we've gathered both you and your uncle had stellar records before this business, as did Jocelyn, Kris, and myself. I worked on the Thorndike case of last year, so the police trust my expertise, and I don't think you're the true villain in this. And it's not as easy to dismiss us all as seeing smoke where there is no fire."

"Please let me help you, Lindsay. I'll make sure you're not in the dark or alone until we resolve all of this. I promise." He motions to the shotgun, asking her to give it to him.

[Mephistophilis]

'Stand down Ollie!' hisses Bates. He backs away from the door muttering under his breath.

DS Bates's phone rings and she runs up the corridor to answer it. After about thirty seconds she rejoins the others outside the door, a serious look on her face. She whispers 'DI Malone will be here soon to take personal command of negotiations.'

Lindsay snatches up the shotgun, 'No. I need a guarantee. I need a guarantee that you can keep Regina away from her parents. Look Professor, I know you're not the one in charge here. I need guarantees, serious commitments from someone who has the power to make them happen. I think you understand the stakes here. Maybe you can persuade them.' She lifts the shotgun and points it back at Simon. 'Until then...' Her voice trails off and she gestures back to the door behind him.

[Silver Priest]

"I'll see what I can do. I will state my psychiatric opinion that Reginia is at imminent risk of harm from her family and she must be kept away long enough for an investigation to take place. If you can produce this video along with any other evidence you possess of the Balfour's activities, I think it will be enough to derail their plan. I appreciate your trust, Lindsay." He gets to his feet, slowly, and walks out the door.

Simon slowly emerges from the door, his arms up. He tries to close it after him, not wanting one of the officers to take a shot and risk jeopardizing anyone's safety-- including his own.

"We've made some progress. I gave Reginia her medicine. She seems in good health, and is sedate at present. Ms. Peale is quite agitated but retained her basic faculties and I do not believe she will make any sudden moves to jeopardize the child unilaterally. She maintains that the Balfour's intend to sacrifice their child to bring about what they think will be the end of the world in a few days, and that she and Lewiston acted to stop this. She claims to have recordings and video from inside the church services showcasing their extremism and the risk they pose.

"She's willing to let Reginia go and turn herself in. But she asked for a guarantee that Reginia not be returned to her family in the near future. It is my firm belief that we should agree to this demand, at least until whatever evidence she possesses has time to be examined and investigated. I'll grant that I could be seen as biased due to Mr. Balfour attacking me, but everything I've observed as to his behavior, temperament, and affiliations leads me to believe that there is a significant chance that he poses an imminent threat. I believe my colleagues would support me on this. " He gestures to Kris and Jocelyn hopeful that they would. This could pose a risk to all of their careers after all. Simon dearly hopes Lindsay can produce something to justify this stand he's taking, or he may very soon find himself out of a job.