6.30pm Thursday 11th March 2010, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England.
A five-year old girl, Regina Balfour, is kidnapped in broad daylight from the Eden Shopping Centre, while her mother’s back is momentarily turned. Left behind is her ladybird shaped backpack, which contained supplies for her insulin pump. She needs her medication to live more than a few days, and her condition will rapidly deteriorate without it...
On hearing Jocelyn has been shot, PC Grey roughly looks her over, prodding the shredded material of the vest with his fingers. 'She'll live but we need medical attention.'
Bates gets onto the radio, 'Send the paramedics up now'
She turns to Kris, 'You've got until they get here to convince me not to kick you and your friends out and have you suspended on the grounds of mental instability.'
So you haven't convinced her there's a monster on the loose, not surprisingly, but can you convince her you're not all completely bonkers? I'll need a social roll and it'll probably need a hard success depending on your roleplaying.
If one of you wants to look for the DVD you can - given the time constraints and you don't know where it is is say that's a hard Spot Hidden unless you tell me you're looking somewhere particularly inspired.
Increasingly frustrated, Kris looked around the room, trying to think where he might hide a DVD. He looked at the TV, where a laughing Peppa Pig was jumping up and down in muddy puddles, albeit with a crack in the screen that was causing the picture to fracture.
He thought back to home, where a pile of DVDs by the TV grew steadily until Bina got fed up, shoved the discs in cases any old how, leaving him searching to match up discs and their boxes for weeks afterwards. Watching Peppa, he wondered if Lindsay had watched the DVD while she had been here. Perhaps she had, if only to hear a familiar voice while she conducted her lonely mission.
He looked around for any DVD cases, checking each one carefully, popping out the discs and looking for any sign of DVD they sought.
Spot Hidden (40%) - 1d100
Edit: Inspired idea (even if I say so myself) but a shit roll…
"The DVD must be among the ones she brought for Regina," says Jocelyn. "It could be in the wrong case. Or maybe in the DVD player itself. While I did not see what happened, I do see the forensic evidence, and I cannot discount it. Look at the window. The glass and pieces of the window frame are on the inside of the room, which means that it was broken by something outside. We also happen to be several stories up. It was dark in the room until I got the door open, so maybe we couldn't be sure what broke in, but we have to acknowledge that it was something. Can you think of an alternative explanation for how the window was broken inward from outside of the room? I certainly can't."
Persuade roll (60% / 2 = 30% skill) to convince the police we're not crazy: d%
I sure hope I get a bonus die too.
"There's also the possibility Lindsay left the DVD somewhere," Simon points out. "Just in case she was captured before Tuesday. I hope it's somewhere within this room though, because if it's not in her home we'll never find it in time.
"I'm aware this sounds absurd," He tells Bates, "but the facts are that Balfour is using some trickery we cannot fully explain at this point. Even if you ignore the fact that both I and Jocelyn saw this Passover Angel, there was the freak hail storm-- part of which was centered around his car-- the frankly baffling insect behavior here, and the door closing and locking securely by itself. I can't explain any of it. But I know Balfour and his friends in Red Trumpet are behind everything. We also know he's written by his own admission of his desire to see a slaughter of the firstborn. Can we really trust a child's safety with someone so unstable?" He asks, not appearing to notice the irony of the statement.
Kris empties out the DVDs onto the floor, they can hear a shout of dismay from under the bed. Rifling through the DVDs Kris finds three DVD-RW discs, they are labelled '#1', '#2', and '#3' in black permanent marker.
-----
Bates looks frankly disgusted at what is being said. 'Wisniewski, go and see if DI Malone has arrived yet. He can deal with these loons.
Okay, once the paramedics are done with you then you're out of here, all of you.'
She calls to PC Grey, 'Ollie, take Officer Leigh's weapon, she won't be needing it.'Grey holds out his hand with an awkward smile.
Bates crouches beside the bed, 'Come on Regina, you can come out now, it's safe.'
At being called a loon, Simon looks shocked. Then furious. She thought he was crazy, when he had acted rationally from day one? The days of pent up frustration are unleashed.
"How dare you. I was called out here to assist in an investigation that was frankly beneath my talents, and I have been treated with scorn from the opening moments of it. I am tired of being treated like some nut by individuals frankly unworthy of cleaning my shoes. And that refers to you, Bates. Oh yes, your 'wonderful' investigation. You proved inept every step of the way during it. If it wasn't for myself and the others you wouldn't even have found this place! Then you left us to deal with an armed and unstable woman and rescue the child-- which we did-- all while you and the rest of your inept clowns were unable to even open up a door. Truly you remain an example of the best and brightest this country has to offer. bravo, oh, bravo!" He begins to clap.
"Maybe if you weren't so bloody obsessed with making nice with Balfour to avoid a scandal you'd actually be able to get it through that minuscule peanut you call a brain that he is the real threat! Instead you're going to be responsible for whatever he does next. And ohho, I will enjoy testifying against you to Parliament. When the inquiries into this are written, people will know that I am right. I solved the Thorndike murder! You, my inept dear, are not even fit to be handing out parking tickets!"
OOC: I'd recommend Kris start popping in those dvd's. Bates might be distracted for the next few minutes.
As grim as the situation was Kris couldn’t help but grin at Simon’s withering assessment of DS Bates. He tried not to look at her because he knew he would burst out laughing.
Sitting on the floor in front of the TV, he hit the ‘Eject’ button on the DVD button and pulled out the Peppa Pig DVD, flipping it to one side. Pushing in DVD#1, he pressed ‘Play’ and sat back to see what appeared on the screen, cross-legged like a child…
Bates huff's then shrugs her shoulders, 'I had you down as the sane one Simon'. She starts helping Regina out from under the bed. Ollie takes Jocelyn's weapon with an awkward smile.
-----
Kris plays the DVD which comes up on the flat screen television hanging on the wall. The sound is turned right down and he scrabbles for the remote control.
After a fuzzy start a grainy black and white picture stabilises on the screen, slight movement indicating it has been filmed. It reveals what looks to be the interior of a church, the camera footage seems to be coming from chest height based on the people around and for some reason the arms of the cameraman come in and out of view, like they're not holding the camera. It is recording from a position in the wings of the church, looking onto the central pews and lectern where Reverend Balfour can be seen giving a sermon. His wife is evident in the front row.
Kris clicked his fingers to attract DS Bates’ attention. ”You might want to watch this, Lucy,” he said, turning up the volume on the television. ” I’m no expert, but I suspect this was filmed covertly at Balfour’s church. Obviously, Lindsay thought it was important enough to bring it with her.”
"Oh." Was what Simon says in response. "Yes, well, it's been a long day." He looks very much like he wants to disappear.
As the dvd comes on he turns his attention to it, awkwardness mostly forgotten as he attempts to discern what he can from the video. If Balfour was up to something nefarious, these videos were their best chance at learning more about it.
Balfour seems to be celebrating the Eucharist, he holds a cup, a rather ornate one that looks out of place in the more evangelical and charismatic trappings of his church. He dips a communion wafer into the cup and lifts it out and places it on his tongue.
There's something wrong with the way the wine in the cup flows, it seems more viscous than you'd expect, it clings to the surface of the wafer, with thick globs of it dripping onto the lectern below...Or, is it a lectern? It seems foreshortened in the image, perhaps it is longer than a lectern, a table perhaps. And the wine, it drips onto something on the table. It's very difficult to see from this angle, a mass of something, something filamentous, hair maybe...
As their attention is focused on the table something strange has been happening, something hard to explain, one second Balfour is there, the next he is not, replaced by a hazy figure. It is tall, and thin, with great ragged wings and a skeletal face with angry red eyes. It seems to be continuing Balfour's sermon until it stops and turns towards the camera. Everyone watching can feel it's gaze, like it is aware of them, looking at them, looking at them and not pleased by what it sees.
It's the same figure they saw in the storm
In a chilling, sepulchral voice it says 'There is nothing that you can do, little man. Nor you, little woman.' And whoever is holding the camera makes a bolt for the door while the congregation watch on impassively.
SAN check 0/1 loss
Well this video just proves what Simon has been saying all along, Balfour is clearly an expert in special effects, and here is evidence of his work. Frankly his use of Christian symbolism in such a manipulative way is quite offensive to believers, misguided fools though they may be.
Balfour has to be stopped and anyone who cannot see that, who stands in the way, is a liability. And that includes any idiots who ascribe to ridiculous notions of supernatural agency, and that fool Bates, she has no idea who she is dealing with!
OOC: Simon is already insane and every exposure to an insanity provoking situation just makes it worse (although he doesn't lose more Sanity, since he doesn't believe it). I've given him a lot of leeway but Simon is going to have to become more erratic and unpredictable now.
Sanity roll (current level 57) for seeing the transformation: d%
That's weird. I'm getting two rolls here. Roll 203 is one I rolled yesterday at 4:25 PM (Eastern Daylight Time). Roll 219 is the one I just rolled tonight. I'm not sure which is which.
"That's what I saw in the storm!" Simon points at the figure, eyes manic. "Don't you all see, Balfour is using Christian mythology but this is textbook cult behavior. But this is beyond what I've ever seen. Balfour and Red Trumpet are able to pull off effects that most Hollywood studios would have trouble replicating. This means we're dealing with an adversary with far deeper pockets and resources than we ever imagined. Red Trumpet could be a front for a foreign power or terrorist cell." He turns to Bates. "This is a national security risk and you need to get MI6 on the phone now! If they are able to produce these sort of illusions and convincingly replicate supernatural events they've already proven themselves a threat to the security of the nation, to say nothing of their stated desire to bring about the end times. If they can afford all of this technology, we have to assume they've stockpiled enough chemical weapons to bloody well bring about Armageddon!
"You need to arrest Balfour at once-- he attacked me, bring him in on that. Then it's imperative we bring him to some black site and interrogate him until he talks as to this group's motives, its backers, and when they're planning to carry out the attack. We are the only ones who can stop him, but it is imperative we not fall for this religious gobblygook he uses to incite fear and panic!"
If Bates appears dismissive or reluctant, Simon will try and catch one of the officer's offguard and steal a firearm from them, and then take Regina hostage. Hope that's erratic enough.
"Let's keep watching the DVDs," says Jocelyn. "I'm sure there will be more evidence on them. Six is responsible for activities on foreign soil. It's Five that does counterterrorism on UK soil. Right now my boss thinks I'm crazy for some reason, so I'm going to need more than some special effects to convince him that this doomsday cult means to make it happen. That's where the DVDs come in."
