IC - 18 - Siege - Everyone

[Mephistophilis]

6.50pm Saturday 13th March 2010, Royal Oxford Hotel, Oxford

Nearly forty nine hours since Regina Balfour was abducted.



PC Babcock leads Kris back to the top of the second floor landing while PC Wisniewski takes DS Bates, Simon, and Jocelyn up the stairs. The two authorised firearms officers (AFOs) stand apart from the others, taking up a defensive position facing down the corridor where there is still a haze of dust hanging in the air. Towards the end of the corridor a significant chunk of the ceiling is missing and the navy carpet is covered with white plaster. Another armed officer stands off to one side, his semi-automatic MP5 covering one of the hotel room doors.

'Get this on now' says Bates, handing Kris a bulky bulletproof vest. 'We can talk about your upcoming disciplinary later. Get us up to speed ASAP.'

Looking down the corridor to where Kris came from they can see that there are several insects crawling on the walls and the carpet, not as many as outside the hotel but still a significant number. The insects look up and fixate the group at the top of the stairs, freezing in position and meeting their gaze with little compound eyes.

Kris,The way these insects are behaving is unsettling, test Sanity 0/1 loss

[Philulhu]

”Disciplinary?” said Kris, pulling on the vest. ”What for? I didn’t come here looking for her, Lucy! I got sent to Oxford - it wasn’t my choice to come here...”

He tailed off, his eyes trained on the insects down the hall. “Umm, does anyone think that’s just a bit odd?”

SAN, 1/68 - extreme success! https://www.dholeshouse.org/Tools/DiceVerifier?RID=c12e88d6-7919-4375-bf7e-b8111f08875e

[Mr. Handy]

"There's even more of them outside," says Jocelyn. "How did that happen?" She points up at the hole in the ceiling.

[Philulhu]

”Shotgun,” replied Kris distractedly, still looking at the insects.

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm glad that's all she hit," says Jocelyn. "Must have been a warning shot. She's won a prize for her accuracy. If she'd meant to hit someone, she would have."

[Silver Priest]

"How is her mental state?" Simon asks. "Did she say anything of interest?"

[Philulhu]

”Fragile,” said Kris. “She’s convinced that Balfour is trying to bring about the end of the world - she mentioned the Passover Angel - and that Regina is key to stopping him. As long as Regina is out of his hands - and I’m pretty sure she’s in there - then his plans can’t proceed.”

He looked at the flies again and turned to Lucy. “For that reason, I think we need to keep Balfour as far away from her as possible. I know you don’t believe any of this, but I’m starting to think Lindsay might be onto something.”

[Silver Priest]

"Jocelyn and I saw the Passover Angel," Simon admits nonchalantly. "Of course it was some kind of projection or carefully constructed trick, but those less analytical than myself could very well believe it was the real thing and a harbinger of the end times. Even I felt sheer terror for a brief moment. "

He turns to Bates. "Obviously Reginia is in grave danger and we need to recover her from Lindsay. But given Balfour attacked and nearly killed me and threatened an officer of the law, is there any way you can delay his reunion with the daughter for a time, at least until we confirm whether or not he poses some sort of threat?"

[Philulhu]

”You saw the Passover Angel?” repeated Kris slowly. He glanced at Jocelyn, wondering if Simon was for real or if this was linked to him being in hospital...

[Mr. Handy]

"I saw it too," says Jocelyn. "It looked real at the time, but it had to be some sort of hologram. Still, we might make more headway in talking to Lindsay if we say we'll keep an open mind about what she believes."

[Philulhu]

”She sounded like she believed in it,” replied Kris. “Though if you’re going to talk to her, watch out for that shotgun!”

[Mr. Handy]

"We will," says Jocelyn. "We've brought a pair of radios, so we can give her one. We also have Regina's medicine on the way. That can keep her alive, and giving it to Lindsay Peale to give to her can help to earn her trust. If we're lucky, we can also use the opportunity to get someone inside the room for a look round."

[Philulhu]

”You’re proposing to send someone into the room with a disturbed woman who has a shotgun?” said Kris. “I think you’ll just be sending someone in to be a hostage.”

[Mr. Handy]

"It is very risky, and I wouldn't ask someone else to do it," says Jocelyn. "I was thinking of going in myself. Talking to her face to face might be advantageous. However, it's probably a moot point. I wouldn't expect her to trust anyone enough to let them in the room."

[Silver Priest]

"Though perhaps if that person has seen this Passover Angel..." Simon muses. "If we can describe it to her and earn her trust, she may be willing to humour us. I suspect she's seen it as well and lacked the ability to process the experience except through a superstitious lens which has needless to say left her rattled. As a psychologist I would be willing to go myself, though Jocelyn would likely be better with talking to her one on one." .

[Philulhu]

”I don’t know,” replied Kris. ”She didn’t sound like she was in the mood for talking about the Passover Angel.”

[Mephistophilis]

Bates is quiet for a while, then she answers, 'I don't think this is enough to keep Regina from Balfour, not yet. But before we can worry about that we need to get her back from Lindsay in one piece.'

She looks at Kris, 'How is she? How urgent is the medication?' Her phone rings and she takes the call, 'Ambulance is here.'

Then she turns back to Jocelyn, 'I'm told this is your department, hostage negotiation, how do we play this?'

Simon,Simon is feeling a bit less on edge, his thoughts are a little clearer. If he wants to conceal his insanity temporarily he can do so with a successful hard Power roll

[Silver Priest]

Simon fidgets and adjusts his glasses as the others converse. It's clear he's still not entirely quite right.

POW normal success, https://orokos.com/roll/885974

[Philulhu]

”She’s got insulin. That’s what lead me here,” said Kris, and he quickly explained how he’d stumbled across Lindsay when he’d been assigned to investigate the break-in at the vets practice down the road.

“She said needed to keep Regina away from her parents until Tuesday. They’re planning something - she talked about the Passover Angel - and it can’t happen without her.”

[Mr. Handy]

"The first thing we need to do is establish a line of communication," says Jocelyn. "We need to deliver one of the radios to her. We need to keep her talking. One of the best things you can do in a hostage situation is listen to the hostage taker. You can learn a lot of important information that way. We do have the advantage that she doesn't really want to hurt Regina. All her past actions indicate that she believes she is trying to protect her. She will keep that girl alive. One possible strategy we can use is to wait her out. She's alone with Regina, and she can't stay awake forever. If she already has insulin, Regina's health should not be in danger. And once her deadline of Tuesday passes, she may be more inclined to surrender and release Regina."