From tbutler@birch.net Wed Aug  1 00:49:30 2001
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 21:17:11 -0500
From: Travis Butler <tbutler@birch.net>
To: Philip J. Moyer <pmoyer@jurai.net>
Subject: [Amber/UnS] More fumbling around at Panopticon


Gabrielle still laughs about the time Rimururu asked her son if she was pretty.
"And an unvomfortable silence filled the room."

Moriya says, "Yo."

Moriya twitches.

Moriya says, "That was just so weird. x.x"

Beowulf asks, "OOC Gaming off ATM?"

Gabrielle says, "In this family? Not really."

Moriya says, "No game at the moment."

Beowulf nods. "Ahhh."

Damasq says, "'Am I pretty?'  God, that was weird."

Moriya says, "It is for that branch of the family, Merc."

John says, "I can run you if you wanna run, Prof."

Damasq says, "That was 'John Biles has been replaced by Lara Bartram'."

Beowulf nods. "Sure thing, John."

Kanna says, "I'm good for a bit of interim gaming time between the clearance of
customs and us getting to Aurora."

Moriya says, "Hey, Alan. You're back early."

Damasq says, "Well, tonight was the end of the year banquet."

Kanna says, "As Kanna wants to apologize to Gina for the behaviour of her family
so far. :)"

Moriya says, "Ah."

Damasq says, "Meaning, basically, we go, Dad gets his award, and we bugger off."

Beowulf sighs. "Gina deserves it. ;_;"

Gabrielle asks, "Is the food good?"

Moriya says, "Heh."

Damasq says, "No, it sucks."

Damasq says, "OTOH, as usual, I don't have to pay for my beer, so it's all
good."

Moriya says, "Heh."

John says, "Okay, Phil, go into Arden, Travis, I'll run you out here."

Aerianne has left.

Beowulf nods.

John asks, "OOC Okay, what's your next step, Beowulf?"

Beowulf says, "OOC Was about to hire a licensed investigator so our actions
would have some legal cover, check with Lian to get enough nanobot info to build
detectors, and then call Uncle Touga -- Bey remembers he spent all those years
on investigations for the King. :)"

Beowulf says, "OOC Actually, while I'm thinking about it, has Moonshade gone
back yet? Morganstern mentioned something about a fight, and Bey'd like to find
out what happened. o.o"

Okay, you, Naru, and Lily go hire an investigator, Nick Hatchet, without any
trouble.  Your attempt to call Lian gets a busy signal because Chris is idle. 
But Touga does take your call.

John says, "OOC Doh."

Beowulf asks, "OOC Wanna rewind a moment, or just play on?"

John asks, "OOC Moonshade is still here; you wanna talk to her?"

Beowulf says, "OOC Real quick, long enough to find out what happened back at the
ship."

Moonshade tags along after you, looking ever so slightly agitated.

Beowulf notices Moonshade's agitation. "What's wrong?"

She says, "Well, our mission's pretty much gone to hell before we even got out
of the wormhole.  Hopefully, Mutsumi will keep Jacqui from stabbing herself in
the hand again, but..."  She shakes her head.  "This is just totally fucked up."

Beowulf winces and gives Moonshade a comforting pat on the shoulder. "What
happened?"

Moonshade says, "Well, Jacqui invited Kuonji to come along on the mission
without consulting anyone, like, say, Keitaro, who got killed the last time we
had Kuonji around."

Beowulf nods. "And then? Something went wrong with Jacqui, or argue with
Jacqui?"

Moonshade continues, "Then Keitaro basically wouldn't take an apology and Jacqui
decided to stab herself with a Patternblade to try to prove her sincerity."

Beowulf covers his eyes. "Oh, no," he murmurs, because he danged well can't
think of any words to express just how he feels about *that*. "Non-fatally, I'm
guessing? And who wouldn't Keitaro take an apology from?"

Moonshade says, "Well, first Jacqui tried to convince Keitaro that Kuonji wasn't
here to cause trouble.  Which I guess he wasn't, since Jacqui could have told he
was lying with Justice.  But Keitaro was still pissed, since that didn't change
that Kuonji had gotten him killed.  So Jacqui took Kuonji off for a talk and he
left.  Then Jacqui tried to apologize, but Keitaro wouldn't accept it, so she
stabbed herself in the hand."

Beowulf just WINCES again for lack of anything better to say. A wince large
enough to crack small islands. "If anything, I'm the one who owes Keitaro an
apology, first for butting in on his expedition, then for bringing him into
Kuonji's quarrel with me." He sighs. "So what happened then?"

Moonshade says, "Gabrielle put out Jacqui's hand, and Jacqui stomped off to be
pissed in her room.  I followed her, then Uncle Morgy yanked me to here."

Beowulf shakes his head. "I see. No wonder things were a bit confused when you
popped in here."

Beowulf says, "Let me have Aeris send you back there, and hopefully you can help
them out. And please take my apologies, both to you and to Jacqui, for you
getting dragged off here."

Moonshade says, "Oh, I don't mind too much. I didn't know what the hell to do to
help Jacqui; at least this means the nanobot spewing bastards will get nailed."

Aeris appears in a Captain Video costume.  "Ready to warp out, Moonshade?" she
asks.

Beowulf nods. "Well, hopefully we'll be able to nail them." He smiles. "*Hard*."

Moonshade nods.  "See ya later, Beowulf.  Let's go, Aeris."  She and Aeris
vanish in a spray of rainbow colored light.

Beowulf says, "OOC Don't remember seeing anything from Lily... is she here as
well? o.o"

Beowulf turns to Naru. "Remind me to ask Aeris sometime about Secret Decoder
Rings." He blinks.

John says, "OOC I was kinda zonked last night enough that Naru and Lily, while
present, did not actually do anything but silently follow you around.  But
they're present :)"

Beowulf says, "OOC I see. ^_^ Next time, please *tell* me when you're feeling
that zonked out; I don't want to overwork you. ^_^"

Naru says, "Secret...oh, RIGHT."  She frowns intensely.  "I think Kuonji needs
to be nailed to a wall somewhere and slowly fileted myself."

She says, "But after seeing his capacities, I'm not feeling up to being the one
who does it."

Beowulf shrugs. "Well, I tend to reserve that kind of hatred for Outsider
cultists, myself. But yes, he's a most formidible person."

Naru says, "He put a deadly trap in our path, which resulted in Keitaro dying
and the rest of us nearly dying, for no good reason at all."

Beowulf says, "I *really* need to apologize to Keitaro." He sighs.

Lily says, "You can apologize to him later, honey, when he's in a better mood. 
It sounds like he's angrier than I've ever seen him right now."

Beowulf says, "But really, he was trying to make me angry -- maybe so I'll stop
thinking straight in regards to him, I don't know. So I'm trying *not* to get
angry."

Beowulf nods, and smiles ruefully at Lily. "Right as usual, Lily-chan." He
smiles and gives her a quick kiss.

Beowulf says, "So... since it's pretty obvious that we're somewhat out of our
depth, let me see if Uncle Touga's free. He spent all that time doing
investigations for the King..."

Beowulf tries trumping Touga.

Touga takes the call.  "Hello, Beowulf."  He's seated in a nice plush chair next
to a roaring fire, drinking from a cup of wine.  "How are you, nephew?"

Beowulf says, "In a bit over my head, I'm afraid, Uncle."

Beowulf says, "Jacqui's ship was infested by nanobots yesterday, apparently here
at Panopticon, and since I've got a lot of connections here she asked me to
help. Unfortunately, I've found out my academic connections are worth squat when
dealing with law enforcement here."

Touga says, "I would be happy to assist you, nephew."  He finishes his drink and
buttons his shirt shut, then puts the glass aside.  "Pull me through."

Beowulf bows in thanks, and pulls Touga through.

Beowulf explains what they've done so far, and what he's learned of the
Panopticon procedures at this point.

Rod has left.

camera has arrived.

Shizumaru drops Moriya.

Shizumaru has left.

Beowulf says, "I've hired a private investigator, who should be a help and
should also cover us with the local authorities. As soon as I can get through to
Lian, I'll get a sample of the nanobots and build detectors for everyone
involved. Unfortunately, that's where my inspiration ceases."

Touga stands and thinks for a few moments.  "This shadow is very low on magic,
correct?"

Beowulf nods. "Correct. I had planned on doing any conjuring necessary."

Beowulf says, "Er, any conjuring necessary in the bag."

He says, "But Time Trael does work, correct?"

Beowulf nods. "Yes. Based on construct manifestations powered by their broken
pattern."

He says, "Excellent.  We'll build a time telescope and observe who put the
nanobots in the ship as it happened, then."

He says, "Fortunately, I know a tech expert who happens to have her own broken
pattern construct."  He pulls out a trump of Lian.

Beowulf smiles. "Now, why didn't I think of that?"

Touga trumps Lian.

Beowulf asks, "Ask her for info on the nanobots, would you?"

He then announces, "She will be joining us soon."

Beowulf nods.

Beowulf says, "OOC As Chris unidles? :)"

Touga says, "The first question to be addressed is how the people knew Jacqui
was here to strike at her."

Touga pulls Lian out of the air.

Beowulf hmms,thinking of the potential spots for leaks. "As I understand it,
Jacqui was given this mission by Aunt Nanami; I'm not sure how she went about
her preparations, but I know she did call Kanna in on it. And she talked to
Uncle Tylor about it, and somehow Kuonji Ukyou found out about it as well."

Touga says, "Since the Taylors took ship from Panopticon, they probably left an
agent behind to watch the port, as it was the ideal way for an Amberite to
follow them."

Beowulf smiles at Lian. "And what have you been up to lately, m'dear, besides
picking up kitchen utensils? Get any arms ripped off?"

Beowulf smiles and shakes her gently on the shoulder. "We worry about you, you
know?"

Beowulf nods to Touga. "Yes. Obviously I didn't spend enough time on pre-mission
briefings with Jacqui."

Lian grins at Bey. "Nope ... still got the same set as last time, Bey." She hugs
him quickly. "No need to worry about me, I'm a big girl." She steps back and
looks at the small gathering. "So, what's the problem?"

Touga says, "Possibly, they may have infiltrated a virus into the Port
Authority's computers to watch out as well."

Beowulf asks, "For starters, do you have enough information on those nanobots
for me to build some detectors?"

Beowulf frowns at that. "I hope not, as I had to go through official channels
and file a report to get permission to investigate officially. I heard about
what happened with Kanna at CAFAM, and I'd prefer not to get into the same
situation here."

Lian asks, "Waitasec here ... can we start at the beginning? Which  nanobots are
we talking about?"

Beowulf says, "Oh, sorry. Jacqui's ship was infested by nanobots yesterday
morning; Gabrielle sent samples of them to Mechanus for you to investigate."

Touga says, "We will do what we must."

Lian hms and taps her manifestation. "Vec, do we have those nanobot samples?" 

Lian . o O ( OOC: And where are we right now anyway? )

Beowulf says, "OOC We're at Panopticon University; Jacqui apparently got
infected at the docks here."

John says, "OOC You're at Panopticon University."

Beowulf says, "OOC Lily and Naru are here as well."

Lian looks at Bey, "Well, I just got home from Kadath ... I didn't exactly have
time to check on anything sent."

Vector says, "Yes, we do.  They look like standardized models made by something
called the 'Quecha' company.

Beowulf says, "Ahh, I see. Have fun there?"

Vector continues, "They multiply, infest the brain, and render it vulnerable to
outside mental control via Akashan Telepathic Technologies."

Beowulf says, "Quecha I vaguely recognize as an Akashan company, but not beyond
that."

Lian nods to Vec's info. "Fun. Or rather, not fun. Send me the data, please ...
standard data crystal for my comp."

He dumps a download to you.

Touga asks, "Would Panopticon have information on Akashan companies?"

Beowulf hmms. "I didn't focus on business studies, but Panopticon has a
reasonable department; let me think if I've met anyone there..."

Lian pulls her comp out and slots the data crystal, then scrolls through the
information contained. "I take it Jacqui's not infested anymore?"

Moriya OOCly says, "Since I'm heading home soon, I think we should hold off on
the Loewen visit until after that."

You took a personal finance class with Professor Blimp.  But you know where the
Business department is to make inquiries at its offices if you desire.

Moriya OOCly says, "Argle, wrong room."

Beowulf says, "No, she and Gabrielle firewalked everyone who could to clear them
out, and Keitaro was cleaned out by sorcery."

Lian says, "Good, good ..."

Beowulf says, "We can head over to the department to talk with someone as soon
as we've hashed plans out."

Beowulf says, "Then Uncle Touga suggested we build a timescope to observe the
nanobots being placed on the ship. And we immediately thought of our favorite
artificer."

Lian makes notes on her comp, murmuring apparently in answer to Bey, "Timescope?
Basic application of temporal theory ... similar in effect to the temporal
scrying spell." Louder, "Panopticon allows time travel, doesn't it?"

Naru says, "Yes, it does."

Beowulf says, "It's rather used to it, yes," he mutters dryly.

Beowulf asks, "Do you want a look at a Tardis to see how they do it?"

She continues, "Although you can't physically travel through time on Gallifrey
proper using their time machines, as they don't want to Sphagetti their own
history.  Just on other planets."

Lian nods slightly.

Beowulf OOCly acks. "John, wouldn't I have had some dealings with Panopticon law
enforcement when I brought in the Master?"

John says, "OOC You hauled him down to the police station and turned him over,
yes."

Beowulf asks, "OOC Ah. No dealings with higher-ups for a fairly noted criminal,
then?"

John says, "OOC Now that I think about it, they'd probably want you to testify
at some point..."

John says, "OOC Not particularly, since you weren't bringing charges, just
dropping the man off."

Beowulf says, "OOC Except he's now in the Black House. Though the Courts would
probalby want him to testify if he goes on trial there."

John says, "OOC Yep.  As the Master commited most of his crimes elsewhere and
got extradited :)"

Lian finally finishes writing. "Okay ... regarding your nanobots, it'll take me
a few hours to build a decent detector/neutralizer." She looks around, then
opens a nearby door and steps through, leaving the door slightly open. "Be right
back." 

Beowulf says, "Well, I'd actually planned on doing it myself, but never turn
down expert help when you've got it." He smiles.

Touga continues thinking.

Lian comes out again, carrying a small bag, and closes the door behind her.
"Okay, here we go ... " She opens the bag and shows its contents, wrist units
with a small screen and several buttons.

Beowulf smiles. "Elegant as usual. How are they operated?"

Beowulf says, "As far as the timescope... now that I think of it for a moment,
I'd suspect they're a common tool for Panopticon law enforcement. We should
probably check with our private investigator to be sure."

Beowulf says, "Or, if not a common tool, at least an obvious tool."

Lian says, "Take one, put them on. Green button activates scanning mode, red
button forces protection mode." She nods to Bey, "If time travel tech is common
here ... "

Touga nods.  "Where is the Private Investigator?"

Beowulf asks, "His name is Nick Hatchett; he's off investigating at the moment."
He looks at Aeris. "Can you contact him via Trump for us?"

Aeris says, "Hold on."

A cellular phone drops into Beowulf's hands.  "I've loaded his phone number into
it on the autodial," she says.

Beowulf looks bemusedly at the cellphone. "I hope you didn't get the idea from
those ninjas targeting Sumire," he says, smiling slightly. "Thanks, honey." He
pats her manifestation. "Does it look like he's busy at the moment?"

She says, "He's sitting at a computer right now."

Beowulf nods and dials Mr. Hatchett. "Mr. Hatchett? I apologize for disturbing
you, but when you have a few moments, we have a few questions for you."

He says, "You're paying the bills, you can call the tune.  How can I help you?"

Moriya falls asleep.

Autolyca has connected.

Beowulf asks, "First off, what uses are allowed for time technology in
Panopticon law enforcement? I presume actual travel would be forbidden because
of paradox, but would a timescope for merely observing past events be
allowable?"

Lucien OOC Howdy

Beowulf OOCly waves.

He says, "Our time technology is rigged not to work here on Gallifrey itself,
and the use of such technology here raises privacy issues which have made it
generally forbidden, except in issues of national security."

Beowulf nods thoughtfully. "I thought that might be too easy a solution. So even
if we tried it, the evidence would be inadmissable in court, and I'm presuming
this kind of sabotage would not count as 'national security'."

He continues, "However, I believe the Port Authority has security cameras all
over the Port, so probably anything relevant which happened around the ship
should be caught on film."

Beowulf nods. "I'd thought of that, yes, assuming whoever did it doesn't have an
inside friend who could pull the records. What would be involved in getting
those records?"

He says, "The Port Authority only releases them generally as court evidence
during trials."

He continues, "However, if the victims ask for a progress report on
investigations, they're generally pretty good about giving out information."

He says, "Probably the first thing they'll do in the investigation is to check
the security tapes."

Beowulf hmms. "Right. Would that still be only the direct victims or a lawyer
with their power of attorney?"

Beowulf says, "OOC This might actually be a solution to the Keitaro dilemma
Jacqui's facing, if it needs to be a direct victim on hand and available. o.o"

Jacqueline says, "OOCly damn you, let me fling'em off to chaos first."

He says, "Yes.  It would need to be the ship's owner or a victim or someone with
power of Attorney."

Beowulf nods. "What other avenues of investigation could we help you with? We've
put together a detector/defence against the nanobots, and we could get you one
if you want it."

He says, "I've been treated to repel nanobots, but a detector for this form
would be quite useful.  If you can see about finding out more about the
manufacturer, that would help too, I think."

Beowulf says, "That was our next stop, in the business department."

Beowulf arranges with Mr. Hatchett to get him a detector. "Anything else? Oh,
and any pitfalls to watch out for in Panopticon law when we do our
investigating?"

He thinks a minute, "Oh, these people your cousin is tracking are genetic clone
constructs, right?"

Beowulf says, "OOC That's about as close as Panopticon can describe blood
creatures, right? ^_^"

John says, "OOC PRetty much."

Beowulf says, "That's correct."

He says, "I need a genetic breakdown of these things, as I may be able to track
them by any bodily remains left behind.  As for legal pitfalls, the key thing is
that we don't have police powers, which means that we have to confine ourselves
to public places, can't search people, etc."

Beowulf nods. "I'll see if I can get one for you. We'll definitely keep the
police powers issue in mind; if we have any ideas that would require police
powers, do you happen to know a friendly officer who you could drop a suggestion
or two for?"

Moriya wakes up.

He says, "Yep.  It's part of the job."

Beowulf nods. "We'll let you know if you come up with anything. Could you use
one of the people from the ship to check up on the progress at the moment?"

Beowulf says, "OOC if *we* come up with anything... gack. :p"

He says, "That's a good idea; I'm sure they've checked the security tapes by
now."

Beowulf nods. "I'll check with the ship and see if they can spare anyone; if
they're getting pretty busy, it might be best to get someone here with power of
attorney."

Beowulf asks, "Anyone you'd recommend?"

He recommends a half-dozen lawyers.

Beowulf notes down the names. Anyone jump out at him, one way or the other?

You've heard Harley Mason has done a lot of good work for Panopticon students.

Beowulf says, "OOC Perry's relative? ^_^"

John says, "OOC YEp :)"

Beowulf thinks for a moment, then decides to check with Jacqui first and see how
busy things are on their end.

Lian does some idle typing while Bey does his phone call.

Beowulf asks, "OOC Actually, since I don't directly know anyone in the business
department, can a couple of our folks check with them just as well while I
straighten things out with the attorney/authorities?"

John says, "OOC YEs.  Naru and Lily will go grill the business department while
you hire an Attorney"

Beowulf changes his mind and gives Harley Mason a call to see what we'll need to
get a power of attorney granted.

You call Harley Mason. Harley tells you that basically, you just need a notary
public to stamp a letter granting power of attorney to the agent of your choice,
then register the letter at the local courthouse.

Beowulf asks, "OOC And the granter doesn't actually need to be present, or do
they need to be there at the notary?"

John says, "OOC The granter needs to be present at the notary."

John says, "OOC but not necessarily at the courthouse."

Beowulf OOCly nods. But it might help a bit, if there's time. Right.

Beowulf trumps Jacqui with this information in hand.

Jacqueline says, "OOCly testing"

Jacqueline takes the trump.  She's in the backseat of a taxi and looking tired,
but otherwise alright.  That, and her left hand is bandaged.  "Hi Uncle! Mutsumi
and Auntie Kanna say hi!"

Beowulf smiles a bit, seeing she looks alright. "Hi, Jacqui! How are things
going on that end?"

Jacqueline says, "Oh, going rather well now.  We talked with the autnorities -
no CAFAM-esqu disaster - and we're going to work with them on tracking down
Mageddon."

Jacqueline asks, "So what's up?"

Beowulf grins. "No CAFAM-esque, eh? That's what we've been working on here as
well."

Beowulf says, "We're making some progress, now that we've got the official
report filed. However, we're still going to need someone on this end who was
either involved, or a Panopticon lawyer who has power of attorney, to keep tabs
on the official investigation."

Jacqueline asks, "Ah..... huh.   So... what do I need to do?"

Beowulf says, "For a power of attorney, we'd need you to sign a letter granting
it to the lawyer we're looking at, be here to get it notarized, and preferably
be with us to get it registered at a courthouse -- though you woulnd't have to
be here for the last part."

Jacqueline says, "Ah.  I see.  Just tell me where to sign."

Beowulf checks with Harley and gets a letter drafted quickly, then passes it
through the connection. "We'll still need you here to get it notarized; can
Morganstern drop you by here long enough for that, then get you back?"

Jacqueline says, "there's a slight complication.  Akashan is fasttimed... I'm
not sure what time scale Panopticon is at, but if it's not right, I could miss
days or even weeks here."

Jacqueline says, "if I won't lose any time, that' sfine"

Beowulf hmms. "Right."

Beowulf asks, "OOC Hm, given the complications of Panopticon's timeline, how
much of a problem is that likely to be, John?"

John says, "OOC Actually, it could be, as a day passes in Panopticon for every
Amber Hour."

John says, "OOC I mean in AKASHA"

Jacqueline asks, "OOcly so am I losing time by going to panopticon or is this no
big deal?"

John says, "OOC So Jacqui would lose hours there from a short trip here."

Beowulf OOCly check the 'official' Panopticon desc. to see if it still matches
what he wrote.

Beowulf says, "OOC True for Akasha; we never pinned down Panopticon's time
gradient in the text, though, given Panopticon's time travel abilities."

Jacqueline thinks.... "Trump me when I absolutely have to be there.... I'm going
to lose hours just by being there a short time, so I'd like to keep this brief. 
Or perhaps you can act as trump intermediary for me?"

Beowulf says, "I'll check with the notary once we get there, and give you a
call."

Jacqueline asks, "or do they dislike filing paperwork via  trump?"

Jacqueline says, "zzzzzz"

Jacqueline says, "OOCly mispuppet :)"

Beowulf says, "OOCly Well, it is kinda boring. :)"

Beowulf asks, "I'll have to find out when we get there. I'll give you a call,
all right?"

Jacqueline nods.

Jacqueline says, "be seeing you."

Beowulf says, "Talk to you later."

Beowulf closes the connection, then checks with Harley to find out what the
notary would find acceptable, and arranges to meet Harley at the notary.

you make the arrangements without any trouble.  You head over to the notary and
meet with Harley there.

They explain the proper way the letter should be set up to meet the legal forms.

Lian looks up briefly from writing, "Say ... you mentioned Gaby and Jacqui
firewalked everyone to get the nanobots off? Does that mean Kanna's with
Jacqui?"

Beowulf nods to Lian. "Yes, they're working together on this trip."

Beowulf says, "OOC Sorry if we aren't talking with your stuff much at the
moment, Chris. o.o"

Lian nods, and goes back to whatever she's doing on her computer.

Beowulf redrafts the letter to match their explanations, and asks how much of
the procedure Jacqui'll need to be there for -- just signing and stamping?

Lian pockets her computer and vanishes through the door again.

Just the signing and stamping, really.

Beowulf nods and gets everything ready to that point, then trumps Jacqui.

Jacqueline takes the trump, much more.... calm than before.  Not an angry sort
of calm, or a happy one, just a  terribly neutral emotionless calm.  "Hello,
Uncle.  Papers?"

Beowulf says, "All ready for you to sign and stamp, then you can head back."

Jacqueline says, "Good."  She signs the papers and stamps wot needs to be
stamped post-haste, then taps her ring.  "Uncle Morgenstern, back to the Brown."

Beowulf gives Jacqui a quick hug as she signs. "Take care, Jacqui."

Jacqueline raises an eyebrow.  "I am always careful," she replies with a
measured tone.

Beowulf looks slightly hurt. "I never suggested otherwise; just hoping things go
well for you."

Jacqueline raises an eyebrow.  "No offense meant. I've shifted emotions out of
my head for the moment.  Will explain later."    And with a funkified POOF, she
is gone.

You see Jacqui get zapped by her sword a bit as she vanishes.

Beowulf shakes his head and sighs. "Good luck to her, anyway."

Beowulf checks on the status of the official investigation with Harley, before
meeting back up with the others.

You now take the papers and register them.

And now you're ready for your next step, which is?

Beowulf OOCly skipped a step, whoops. Actually, see if Touga or the others want
to come with to check the official status with Harley, or just Bey.

John says, "OOC They'll come with you."

Beowulf goes down with Harley to get the current status of the investigation.

John says, "OOC They'll come with you, Beo."

Beowulf says, "OOC is Lian still with us? Want to check with her and see who has
any Taylor genetic samples."

Beowulf goes with Harley *and the others*. ^_^

Lian OOCly is currently on the other side of a door. :)

Beowulf says, "OOC But can we knock? :)"

At the Port Authority, they tell you, "Well, we checked the security cameras."

The clerk continues, "The nanobots seem to have been put in the ship by this
woman:"

He shows you a picture of Jacqui.

He says, "We're assuming this is likely a clone or something similiar, given
this looks rather like the captain of the vessel."

Beowulf nods. "I see. How did you pinpoint it as this person/figure?"

He brings up the security footage, then zooms in on a cannister that 'Jacqui' is
carrying.  It is labelled 'Mind-Control Nanobots, This Side Up'

Beowulf checks the timestamps on the record, and compares them with the timing
Jacqui gave for her meetings and entering/leaving the ship.

Beowulf blinks. "Are they usually this obvious?"

It would have happened while the ship was docked, but she was off in Panopticon.

Lucien OOC Night all!

Autolyca has disconnected.

John says, "OOOC Pause for bladder"

Lian . o O ( OOC: Whee. Evil Jacqui. Does she have a beard? :P )

Beowulf asks, "OOC Assuming the records haven't been tampered with. A package
labeled 'Mind-Control Nanobots' is rather *too* obvious, wouldn't you think?"

Lian . o O ( OOC: Kinda, yes. )

The clerk says, "No one else approached the ship except its captain and crew
during the time it was docked there, so far as we can tell.  The 'Jacqueline'
never came back out of the ship, as far as we can tell."

He says, "We picked up no evidence of TARDIS use, so we're not sure how she got
off."

Beowulf taps his chin thoughtfully. "I'll need to check with them to be sure
they didn't find anything when they were cleaning the ship out, then."

Beowulf asks, "I suppose it's always possible it was an android that
self-destructed in the ship once it planted its cargo?"

He says, "That's another theory.  Or she may have been a genetic construct
designed to turn to organic dust once her mission was over."

Beowulf nods. "Same basic concept."

Beowulf looks at the others. "Any other questions? Sounds like the next step is
to check with them and see if they found anything on the ship when they were
cleaning it out."

He says, "We backtraced her movements, and she entered the port by Taxi from the
university, so far as we can tell."

Beowulf nods. "Who would be the appropriate people to talk to at the university,
to see if we can trace her there?"

He says, "I honestly can't imagine a good way to trace her, since most of the
University doesn't have security cameras.  However, you could try talking to
Total Taxi, and see if they can track down the driver who brought her here."

Beowulf nods, and thanks the clerk.

Beowulf asks, "OOC And I'm starting to run down; I was thinking a quick
discussion with our group about what we've found so far, then calling it a
night, as it seems like a decent stopping point. Anless the clerk has anythign
else to say?"

John says, "OOC I can't think of anything off the top of my head."

Beowulf takes his leave of the clerk, and finds a quiet spot to meet Lily and
Naru.

Beowulf says, "OOC Or should that be 'find a quiet spot to talk after meeting
Lily and Naru?'"

You find a quiet place and hook up with Lily and Naru.

Lily reports that Quecha is an Akashan company specializing in nanotechnology.
They make many kinds of Nanomachines which use telepathic communications
systems.

Beowulf nods. "About what we could guess, then. Do we know anything about the
company's ethics or normal customer base?"

She says, "They don't normally make nanobots which are used to control people,
and they sell their products only inside Akashan territory."

She says, "Normally, the bots are designed to be controlled telepathically, not
to control the people they're in."

Beowulf asks, "So, it sounds like they would have to have been modified for this
application?"

Lily nods.  "Exactly."

Lily says, "As the Akashans find the idea of using nanomachines to control
people to be ethically repulsive."

Beowulf says, "And if they only sell inside Akashan territory, they would have
to have been smuggled in here. Sounds like our list of potential suspects have
been narrowed down a bit."

Lily nods.  "Exactly."

Beowulf says, "Some group or combination of groups that could smuggle them in,
and modify them either here or there."

Beowulf asks, "Anything else you heard of interest?"

Lily says, "Horrible batwinged creatures killed the Akashan Prime Minister
recently.  Which sounds suspicious to me."

Beowulf winces, and sighs. "We'll have to pass that along to Jacqui and the
rest." He asks her for a description, and tries to match it against known
Outsiders/minions.

Sounds like Byakhee to you.

Beowulf says, "Byakhee. Wonderful. *Definitely* pass that along to Jacqui and
Kanna."

Aerianne has arrived.

Lily says, "I wouldn't be surprised if the new Prime Minister, Sarilla, is their
brain eaten puppet."

Beowulf covers his eyes. "Joy. Just what I want my family going into."

She continues, "As that would allow them to then put the entire resources of the
Akashan League into assisting their cause."

Beowulf goes over what they learned from the clerk. "That container *labeled*
'mind-control nanobots' practically screams 'setup' to me; it's too bloody
obvious. What I'm wondering is whether it was faked in the video records for us
to find, or staged by someone with a clone/shapeshifter/etc. of Jacqui for the
video cameras to record." He looks around the group. "Or does anyone have
another idea?"

"While the magic to summon them wouldn't work inside the league, you could
summon them on the other side of a wormhole, then ship them through."

Naru says, "Or perhaps they assumed their plan would work and no one would ever
check."

Beowulf asks, "A possibility, I suppose, but why even bother labeling the box?"

Beowulf asks, "Uncle Touga, what do you think?"

Touga says, "I think they expected their ploy would fail, and they sent the
Jacqui to simply create a diversion to distract Amberite attention while they
carried out their main scheme."

He says, "Using a Jacqui duplicate and a clearly marked can in order to make
sure it was noticed."

He says, "While, if it did work, it would help them, if it failed, they lose
little but a blood creature and some nanobots."

Kanna OOCly says, "And bed.  G'night, all."

Kanna OOCly waves.

Aerianne has disconnected.

Beowulf nods slowly. "That's certainly a good possibility; I'd wondered about
that. Since Jacqui called us in to investigate, though, it seems to have failed
in diversionary purpose."

Beowulf asks, "However, even if that were the case, d'you think we'd be able to
backtrack the responsible party if we play our cards right?"

Touga says, "And how many Lords of Amber are pinned down here investigating
this, hmm?"

Touga says, "I believe that we still have a reasonable chance of doing so, yes."

Beowulf shakes his head. "A very good point." He sighs. 

Beowulf says, "The question is how much effort to put into doing so if it's
mainly diversionary. Certainly let our hired investigator keep working, and keep
track of the official investigation."

Touga nods.  "I suspect that we could probably use our time more fruitfully
elsewhere.  IT might be worth talking to the taxi people before we depart to
leave our investigator to work on his own, however."

Beowulf nods.

Beowulf says, "OOC How long d'you think that'll take, John? Would make a good
stopping point, but I'm starting to run on fumes."

John says, "OOC If you're wiped out, let's stop here."

John says, "OOC That way you won't miss anything due to exhaustion."

Beowulf OOCly nods. Righto.

Beowulf says, "OOC Once we'fe got the taxi info, pass it all along to our
investigator, summarize what we've got so far, then report it ot the folks in
Akasha. "

Beowulf says, "Then probably check out that castle trump."

John exclaims, "OOC Righto!"

John says, "OOC Sounds good."

Beowulf OOCly waves tiredly.

Beowulf says, "Later on."

Travis Butler
tbutler@birch.net

...Cats are the proof of a higher purpose to the universe.