Logfile from Brass&Steel. Roger is sitting in a corner booth, munching on some ribs and glancing over the sports section. You paged Roger with 'You better have Goldie's notebook on you, 'cause right here and now it's a Plot Device and Goldie is lurking OOC to run things:)'. Goldie pages: Do you want me to 'lurk' there? Or simply page responces to either of you when you look through the book? You paged Goldie with 'Lurk why dontcha? It'll be quicker and funner:)'. From afar, Roger does indeed have the notebook (tm) Zach enters the restaurant with longlegged strides. His perpetual smile seems a bit dimmed, but he's not quite frowning. From his altitude it's easy to spot familiar cops, so he steadily makes his was to Roger's table. "Hey pal! How's life?" Goldie enters from the lot. Goldie isn't here. Honest. Roger looks up and folds the paper, "Busy, how about you? Roger waves to Goldie :) Zach nods as he plops down on a chair at Roger's table. "Ditto. I have a lot on my mind and not enough time to think or act. First and foremost: Did you by any chance pick up Goldie's notebook? She dropped it when she ran and I forgot to grab it.." Roger pats his pocket "Yep, got it here. Haven't looked at it though. Zach breathes a sigh of relief. "Good." As a waiter comes over, he orders right away whithout even looking at the menue. "Baby ribs with a baked potato, please. And a beer." When the waiter has scooted off he leans forward and lowers his voice. "Can I have a look at it please?" Roger hestiates "Well...isn't that an invation of privacy? Zach nods. "Yes it is. But this would be a benevolent invasion..." He puts a slight pressure on the word benevolent and his eyes are uncustommary dark. Roger pauses and the pulls the notebook out "What do you need to look for?" Brooke enters from the lot. At your table, Zach sighs and shifts. He's about to say something, but shuts his gob as his beer arrive. A nod and thank-you to the water later, he starts to speak again: "I'm not sure. She's been keeping that book and clinging to it like som e kind of treasure. It might just be that she really, really cares about her maths, but..." He lowers his voice even more. " Roger leans forward and says something softly to Zach At your table, Roger says "What do you think is in there?"" At your table, Zach says "It may contain something that will allow me to help her. Or scare her off for good... I dunno, but I think we should have a look in that book." Roger frowns slightly at something Zach says At your table, Roger says "Scare her off? Why would you want to do that?" Roger and Zach are sitting at a table, in deep conversation. Zach glares back at Roger and says something to him. At your table, Zach says "That's the /last/ thing I want, buddy. But it might yet happen. So I need all the hooks I can find. Now, lets look at the book, please." At your table, Roger sighs and slides the notebook over "This better be important." At your table, Zach looks deadly serious. "It's a life and death matter, Roge. So yes - it's important. Thanks." He takes the book and opens it to starts looking through it. At your table, Goldie's notebook seems surprisingly fragile, the book having shown signs of overuse even before it's cover was broken the night before. A few pages no longer fit properly inside it, barely still attached to the bindings. As Zach opens it, this becomes evident as several leaves start to fall out of it entirely. Roger takes out something from his pocket and slides it over the table to Zach. He's frowning somewhat. Zach picks it up, looking very serious. IT could be a notebook of some sort. At your table, Roger leans back in his seat and folds his arms "Well?" Goldie pages: Are you looking for anything in particular or just anything which isn't mathematics? At your table, Zach lays the book on the table to avoid ruining it completely. He gently and carefully scans the pages and turns over the leaves. "Houl' on.." You paged Goldie with 'The latter.'. At your table, Goldie says "spoof As Zach turns from one page to the next, the series of neat and complex algebra gives way to a sketch. It is roughly done but vivid, evidently by someone with little skill but stron feeling about it's subject, and shows a dark tower loaming over the viewer with half suggested shapes flittig about its base." From afar, to (Zach, Roger): Goldie acks, "The spoof didn't work right. Sorry." At your table, Zach draws in a sharp breath. "Oh man.. This can't be good.." At your table, Zach studies the drawing carefully. At your table, Roger peers over at the drawing. "Why not? It's just a tower, maybe she's been reading Stephen King?" At your table, Zach taps the picture lightly with a finger. "I doubt this is one of his creations. This is far fouler that any fiction. I /hope/ I'm wrong, but..." He sighs and turn another leaf to see it there's more. Brooke steps outside. At your table, Roger frowns "What do you think it is?" Ada pops in from the street, staying by the door until her eyes adjust. At your table, Goldie's notebook reverts to tightly backed symbols over the next few pages, each painstakingly written in endless chains of logic and equations. It isn't until far further through the book that next anomaly turns up, a page blacked with pencil marks so that something drawn below can't be made out. So thick is the colour that it leaves mudges on Zahc's fingers as he turns the page. Roger ans Zach are sitting together at a table talking quietly and seriously. Zach looks worried about something. Zach frowns and bends over something lying on the table, studying it closely. Ada comes up behind Zach, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Hi, you two." Roger head jerks up as Ada speaks to them "Oh, Ada hi" Oddly enough he seems less welcoming then normal." Zach jumps and closes the notebook in front of him with a snap. "Ada!" Pause. "Hey, hon." He forcibly relaxes from his start. "Didn't see you there." You paged Goldie with 'In case you'll be gone before we can snoop any more, you could @mail us any more odd stuff? Also - will it be possible to trace any outlines of the hidden drawing on the following leaf?'. From afar, Goldie has about three quarters of an hour more yet, "I'll start prepping a @mail for when I do have to go." Goldie pages: You might be able to, but the underlaying image is rather confused. Too many different things which shouldn't be part of the same thing... Ada squeezes Zach's shoulder. "You seem tense. What's up?" You paged Goldie with 'Heh.:) One of the things Zach might expect to see is...something that cannot be described. So he might have an eaier time getting it. Well - he'll just take the jumbles as evidence and go with it anyway:)'. Zach hands the notebook back to Roger and pats her hand. "I'm sort of assisting him with a case, and it's kinda... Well /very/ unofficial, off the record and under the table.," he says in a low voice. From afar, Goldie nods... Ada oh. "Shall I go, so that you can work on your case?" she whispers. "I don't want to get in the way." You paged Goldie with 'It's not like he's a Jeanite or Dominican or anything remotedly careful like that..:)'. Ada says, "Feel free to say yes. I have other things I can go do if this is a private scene." The current time in Kansas City is 6:15 PM, Tue Sep 24, 2002. Roger sticks the notebook back in his pocket and looks slightly embrassed "Well...would you mind horribly if we could have a few more minutes alone." Ada says, "Of course not. Zach, you know where to find me... I'd like some face time, if you've got some free time." Ada smiles winningly. "Take it easy, Roger. Don't be too serious." Zach smiles gratefully to Ada. "Thanks hon, you're a doll. Will you be home later tonight? Like, late?" Ada leans down and whispers. Ada mutters to Zach, "... Let... love." Ada whispers "I'll be there, but probably in the bath. Let yourself in, love." Zach flashes a loving smile at her and gently sneaks a kiss as she whispers to him. "Count on it, love. But like I said - I'll be late." Roger smiles slightly and waves to Ada "See you around. Say hi to Hachilah for me. Ada's eyes darken. "If I see her." Ada says, "Take care, boys." Ada steps outside. Zach looks slightly guilty and uncomfortable. "Oh man.." Roger sighs and hands the notebook back to Zach "She'll live. Now tell me about this tower." Long distance to Ada: Zach huggles. "You too! Zach will be over late at night to spend som e quality time!" :) From afar, Ada grins. "Ada will be quite happy." Zach opens the notebook again, still ignoring the ribs that arrived at their table a while back. "I fear that this is something she has seen in her dreams. And that's bad." He checks the rest of the book for not-mathematical entries. It requires looking through most of the remaining pages to find the next entry which is not mathematically, a single page in the midst of an equation showing a distant smoking mountain. Between the viewer and the volcano drift what seem to be either soap bubbles of points of light, it being hard to determine which they are due to the poor quality. Roger peers "Huh, smoking mountian. Mordor maybe?" You paged Goldie with 'No ivory tower? :)'. From afar, Goldie shakes her head, "Sorry... There is a last image if you continue to look though, but I think you can guess what that third one was of." Zach lets out a soft breath. "No that isn't Mordor. That's Gabriel's Volcano, if I'm any judge." Roger says, "Who's volcano?"" You paged Goldie with 'I do continue, yes. :) Lessee... We have Dark Tower, Possible Shedite, Marches & Volcano. Any more?'. From afar, Goldie nods and will describe just now. Zach turns over the rest of the leaves. Very, very quietly he says: "The Archangel of Fire." After a few more pages the book is empty, only a dozen more left blank. Inside the back cover though is another illustration, this one of worse quality than the others and jagged. What is shows looks to be a collaberation of H G Gieger and Escher, a single jagged limb sketched in as though reaching from the page into the viewers eye. There are a few dried water marks on this page, smudging the pencil work slightly. Roger pauses for a moment and then sucks in a sharp breath "Wait! The Archangel Gabriel? The one who who...appeared to Mary in the field at Bethlaham?" You say, "Shh!! Keep your voice down for goodness sakes!" Roger looks around and lowers his voice "Well, the same one?" Goldie pages: If you ever go back and look through the maths in detail it basically needs somebody with knowledge-mathematics to make sense of it. On the other hand, anybody examining it carefully will see a few symbols resembling Hell-glyphs being used as varaibles when Goldie has run out of easily differentiated symbols for such. They aren't really, but are close... You paged Goldie with: I won't be able to understand the maths, but I might be able to percieve vaguely painful squigs. :)'. Zach nods. "The very same." Roger says softly "Wow..." Then he pauses "So what does it all mean? Zach grunts and closes the book, handing it over to Roger. "It means that I'm about to get a headache. And so are you, when I'm done talking." He grabs his plate and starts eating. Roger looks down at the notebook "Sure you don't want to keep this? I don't know where Goldie lives so I can't return it." Zach quietly, so that none other that Roger can hear, he says: "You know about Heaven and Hell, right. Those are in the celestial plane. This here is the corporeal plane. In between there's a third one - the ethereal plane. And therein lies the Marches where you go when you sleep." Roger leans close to Zach "When I sleep? I don't go anywhere when I sleep. I just dream." Zach nods. "Yes, and your dreams all reside in the Marches. All living creatures enter the Marches when they sleep." Roger frowns "Oh. Then what happens? Zach smiles slightly. "You dream. You have your own personal dreamscape, and within it you reside as long as you sleep. Those bubbles she's drawn on the picture with the volcano? Some dreamscapes look like that." He frowns a bit then. "But she's not supposed to've been able to see that. I think." Roger nods slightly "So, then how did she see if she's not supposed to? Zach sighs heavily and chews his food gloomily. "I have no frickin' idea. I've only been to the Marches twice. And that's a long time ago and it was weird. Very different from Heaven. It's only specialist angels who work out there. Angels of Dream mostly." Roger frowns "Angels of Dream? Is there an Archangel of Dreams or something?" Zach nods. "Yep there is. And a Demon Princess of Nightmares to do battle over the sleepers. That first drawing with the tower? That's probably Nightmare's tower. I just don't understand how she's been able to..." He grumbles and drinks his beer. "Look we should go somewhere else and have this conversation. Whar say we go to my place, eh?" Roger nods and stands, grabing his coat "Good idea." You say, "Hey sit down and lemme finish my meal, willya?" To (Roger, Zach), Goldie pages: Well, I have to head off now anyway. It was interesting eavesdropping on your two and I hope you found the notebook interesting as well... You paged (Goldie, Roger) with 'We certainly did. It'll cause us no end of headaches. :)'. Goldie vanishes to the ooc areas. Zach gobbles up the rest of his food and pay for his meal before he rises and heads out with Roger. From afar, to (Zach, Goldie): Roger waves. thanks for the rp :) Roger heads down the block, and up the steep stairwell that leads to the flat above the newsstand at 789 Minnesota. You head up into the flat. Upstairs Flat -- 789 Minnesota -- Downtown -- KCK(#321Rhng) You see a tiny flat laid out before you. It's a cosy little place painted in bright and lively colors; yellow and green being prominent. On one wall hangs a tie-dye poster of Che Guevarra looking his usual heroic self. Underneath the poster stands the combined bed and couch. It is far from new, but covered in a bright red blanket. A small coffee table stands in fromt of it. In the corner to the left of the couch rests a guitar case, covered with stickers from all over the world. In the other corner stands a big toolbox. Next to the window stands a small warderobe freshly painted like a rainbow, and a fridge. To the right of the entrance a door leads into a closet sized bathroom. Next to the bathroom there's a small nook with a 3' working bench with a sink and cupboards above and below and a cooking stove. The window has five pots of healthy-looking plantlife residing in it. Roger looks around "Wow, tiny." Zach grins. "It's perfect for my use. And it's a cool area to live in. The landlord and his missus are real sweeties too." Zach says, "And no, the greenery ain't cannabis plants!! :)" Roger grins "I'll take your word on it. Now, back to our previous discusion...Tell me more about this Marches. I take it's not normal for a human to see this tower and the volcano." Zach walks over to the fridge and gets beers for them both. "Sit down, feel free to put your feet on the table." He floomps down on the sofa and does just that. "From what little I know about the Marches and the dream-thing, the dreamers can't see anything outside their dreamscape. It's a closed off world that's all yours. Only Dream's and Nightmare's servants can actually enter these worlds. If Goldie's seen Nightmare's Tower, and the Volcano and been able to actually remember it after she awoke... That's really, really strange. And scary as Hell. Even from the safety of Dream's Tower is't creepy and scary to watch the Black Tower." Roger takes a long drink of his beer "I see...I think. What was the thing she saw reaching for her on the last page of the notebook? Zach's face darkens. "That, my friend, is a demon. A shedite in it's true form. And it's been tormenting the poor girl for quite some time, from what I've found out." Roger says slowly "Is that what you two were arguing about last night? Zach sighs. "Well.. Yes and no. Something Lucian said triggered a panic attack in her. I managed to get her to talk enough to me to get some things out in the open. She's aware of having been posessed by a 'ghost', and she's absolutely terrified of it and of what it can to to her and to those around her." Roger rubs his chin "I see...is this ghost really a Shedim? Zach nods and takes a swig of his beer. "Yes. I am 99% certain. They posess people and corrupt them by whispering at the back of their minds, pushing their victims to do more and more vile acts every day. She has been able to fight it quite well, so she has an exceptional strenghth of character. But she needs help." Roger looks slightly ill "Oh yeah. Umm, do you think this thing is still there? Zach frowns and runs his fingers through his hair. "Well see there's the catch. I resonated on her a while ago, and that's when I saw her problems. If it had been riding her I would have known. But it can very well come and go... She keeps running from it, that's fer sure. Roger makes a face "Sounds like running from it is a good idea." Zach considers while he shifts a bit. "Normally it's quite easy to handle a shedite as soon as you know where it is. They have certain vulnerabilities that can be easily exploited. But. If this one is one of Nightmare's... Then, Roger, we have a huge fucking problem. It can find her in the Marches and torment her there." Roger looks down at his beer and frowns "Well, can't you just go into the Marches and kill it there? Zach looks deeply unhappy. "It's not quite that easy. First - I'd have to find her dreamscape. Then I'd have to wait for the shedite to come out, because I can't get in. And then there's the small matter of it being a Marches Special Forces and me being just about useless out there. It's totally alien to me. Roger looks slightly shocked "But..well your an *angel* how can something be alien to you." Zach smiles crookedly. "Angels aren't omniscient, Roger. Hell would be alien to me and the Marches are too. It's very different from Heaven and Earth." Roger sighs "Well, I suppose I'll have to get to used to it. What did you want to talk to me about before you discovered all of this about Goldie." Zach stretches. "Surveillance. I've been thinking about how to get at Traci. It's damn tricky to get to her, because she stays among people all the time. But it's got to be possible to make her existance miserable while I figure out how to get rid of her without getting myself arrested and stuff." Roger nods "Ok, where do I come in? You say, "Do you have any contacts in vice?" Roger nods "A few." Roger says, "hmm let me make sure though :)" Roger says, "There on the KCK side of the line of course."" Zach nods. "Right. But they should be useful anyway. Now Traci has had photoes taken of her for a Japanese magazin called 'Beppin School'. From what little I've been able to find out about that, it's a mag catering to men who like schoolgirls in uniforms. Young, innocent, jucy. I would very much like to get a hold of the issue with her pics in it. I also wand to get evidence, like photos or film that show her activities. She's underage." Roger nods slowly "I don;t know if she did any movies or anything. Pictures, maybe. The mag should be easy." Roger says, "Do you know when she was in it?"" Zach shakes his head. "I don't know. The pictures were taken some time between July last year and June this year. For all I know they've not been printed yet. I'd also like to find the photographer." You say, "As for the other evidence - thet's the surveillance bit. I'm working on that." Roger nods and jots it down "I'll see what I can find. I don't think I'm one you want watching her there." Zach smiles faintly. "You've stayed away from her, right?" Roger nods "Quickly "Oh yes." Zach looks steadily at Roger. "Good." There is a definitivity to that one word that rings like lead. Roger smiles slightly "Don't worry, I haven't seen her for weeks." Zach he smiles again. "Now, another thing that might be worth pursuing about Traci is this aunt of hers. I'm quite sure that she excists only on paper. If it could be proven that Traci actually lives on her own in a flat owned by a non-excisting person, I doubt that the authorities would be happy. Right?" Roger chuckles "Oh yes, CPS would be very interested indeed." You say, "Especially if there is evidence that she's very sexually active..." Roger nods thoughtfuly "I don't think she's done any kids at school. She seems interested in older men" Zach smiles a nasty smile. "Yes, and that wouldn't please the authorities either. Now I don't care if she's seen as the poor victim or anything. The important thing is that her life will become considerably less fun than it is now." You say, "The other important bit is to keep /your/ name out of the same trouble." Roger nods thoughtfuly "Of course what happenes when she fingers me? Zach tilts his head. "It would be nasty. Without evidence, it's just word against word. She's pretty powerful in her way, but she's not a balseraph. But if she has photoes of film..." Roger shakes his head "Nope, no photos or film that I know about." You say, "HAve you been with her anywhere else than her appartment?" Roger shakes his head "Nope." Zach looks satisfied. "Good. At some point I'll be breaking into her flat and there I'll search for hidden cameras among other things. If there are none, we should be in the clear. Then it's just a matter of smearing her so much that no amount of cuteness will make anyone belive her when she points at you." Roger grins "Sounds like a good plan. How are you planing on not getting caught." You say, "Not getting caught for the B&E?" Roger nods "Yep." Roger needs to go. Zach chuckles. "By being bloody careful!" Zach says, "Ok. Thanks for the rp! :)" Roger grins and looks down at it watch "Well I need to head out." Roger waves Zach nods. "Ok. You have stuff to do now." Roger opens the door and exits. The End.