[IC] 🦄 Darker Than Black - Merged With T.S.

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Sunday May 21th, 2017

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@Sigil @Morose @Dragoknighte @Scallop @Nallore @Pundii

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@Dragoknighte - Raising a brow Relic listened to what all that Mali had to say before he said anything. "Well color me surprised. I was not expecting all of that, especially from you but hey, today is full of surprises isn't it? Seems like you have been doing a lot of networking even while keeping yourself alive. Glad to see it," he says as he sits down in front of his computer and starts entering the name she had given him into his computer and sending out some feelers as it were to a few that he still trusted - which was saying a lot since Relic really didn't trust anyone or anything these days. "We'll see what we can get from that but in the meantime I think we have everything we can from these plans. I am just going to grab some images of everything to make sure we can access it again if we can't get back here and need to look at them," he said before he started taking pictures with a high end camera instead of his phone and then pocketing the sim card for it. "So, where do you feel best about hitting first? We can go back to your apartments and see what we can find there, try Queensguard, or go somewhere else if you have any ideas."

@Nallore @Scallop @Morose - Roy glanced over towards Tuesday and smirked a bit. "Nope," he said flatly before looking back down at his phone and sending through a quick okay to Cecily. He hoped she was watching her back through everything but knowing Caesar was there with her put him a little more at ease. He didn't exactly know the man but the guy had a rep and one that wasn't easily ignored. At least Cecily seemed to be on the man's good side. Ronnie glanced over as he heard that Riley was wanting to go car shopping. "You might want to make sure your car is bullet proof and has a roll cage," he chuckled but it was obvious that he was a little more than halfway serious. Looking over at Chloe Ronnie tilted his head to the side. "So long term friend or foe? Not really sure how to read this," he asked quietly but Marc chimmed in anyways. "More like Frenemies," he said as he pulled his phone out and took a look at it as a message came in. "Speak of the devil," he said before turning the phone around and letting Riley and Chloe see it, it was a picture of Cynthia. She looked about half as crazy as she had months ago. She had painted a pretty butterfly and was standing in front of it proudly, though it was painted on canvas and with paints this time instead of a wall or the floor in someone elses blood. It was a step in the right direction.

@Morose @Sigil - Natasha nods a bit as the two leave and gets back to work. She wasn't sure of what was going on with everything but she was there to help as a favor of a friend of hers. She might as well do what she could. It seemed they both had been through a lot lately. Traffic in Justice is just what one would expect, its a mess but it isn't completely wall to wall so some movement is able to be made. The airport they are headed for is on the other side of the city from the main airport which is good for them since it is closer. It is north east of Noelle's neighborhood. The place is surrounded by fifteen foot high fencing and not chainlink but brick. This place is not just some basic air strip.

@Pundii - "That sounds good. Getting tired of sitting here and waiting," Risa said before she started to gear up as best as she could considering the circumstances. Hearing Lucas's words she nodded a few times. She knew she probably needed a few more days of bed rest and then a long road of recovery ahead of her but they really didn't have time anymore. Each day they sat there doing nothing was another day that Argus could be getting closer to them to finish the job. She wasn't about to let that happen and she wasn't about to loose Lucas. Stopping she looked over to him and pushed her hair out of her face before stepping over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. "I will be fine. You aren't going to loose me and I am not going to loose you. We make a good team, as good outside the bedroom as we do inside it," she said before giggling a little bit. "So gear up, we have a job to do." (Club Afterdark update coming later)

[Dragoknighte]

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Location: Public Records building

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"I wouldn't use the word 'networking.' It felt more like stalking than anything else, but I suppose that's part of the package when you accidentally end up getting involved in conspiracies." Mali considered her options when it came to where to investigate next. Queensguard was clearly a large bundle of secrets and information that would be very nice to have, but also a huge liability that she wouldn't be prepared to deal with. Besides, it would still be around after they got done looking into other places. Investigating Boston Heights was unlikely to really lead to anything, and if it turned out that they did find something, it would be right under where she lived. It would be better to live in ignorance of anything sinister for a few more days. But those weren't the only two leads they both knew about. There was another route that Relic might not have thought about.

"Actually, why try discovering this information by ourselves when the work might have already been done for us? I'd bet that the reason at least more than one of the people killed in the past 10 days was because they knew more than they should. Peyton was almost killed for the same reason, but that's been long covered up. Might be a pain in the ass to try getting any more info than what's in this file," Mali waved the folder a bit for emphasis. "However, there's an open case related to Peyton's that might lead to more clues about what she knew. What I'm saying is that we should look into the Murder of Danica Graves."

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Classic Building 3C - Top Floor

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"I remember the two of you always rivaled for the highest test scores back then." Riley smiled softly as she chimed in, she remembered back in school she barely gotten through high school and she always got horrible grades but she did manage to pass. She looked over towards Ronnie and smirked slightly, of course he would suggest something like that after the accident that she had last week. "I could get my Nascar buddy to hook me up with one of their fancy roll cages." She jokingly said, though it wasn't a bad idea and being in a city like this where people could gun you down for just simply blinking weirdly. "I'll be sure to add that to my long list of things to protect myself." She decided to text Cecily wondering how she was actually doing, she hadn't seen her that much lately and just simply wanted to know if she was still breathing.

"CeCe, just wondering how are you doing? Miss ya also did you want some dinner for tonight Also when are you off work?"

Riley hit send just as Marc had pulled out his phone showing a picture of Cynthia standing behind her recent painting, that surprisingly wasn't made up of blood, or ketchup and mustard packets. "Her artwork is certainly getting a lot better, and nice to see her using paints rather than blood or condiments." Riley said with a light laugh remembering the time back in Grimm during the reunion she had slapped an old classmate who was a police officer with her mustard covered hand. "I remembered a few months back in Grimm Cynthia smacked Tim from trying to stop her from painting all over the walls with mustard."

[Scallop]

Felix Hausten

Location: Boston Heights

Felix was drinking in the interactions with a small smile. As he listened to them talking and then brought up this whole other meeting and their pasts, he couldn't help himself but to take out his notepad and take a few notes in his fountain pen. Names of the people there, the time, it all went down before he looked back up and found his interest piqued by the picture Marc was showing them. Perhaps she was...his sister? He couldn't exactly piece it together right now but he didn't think it was a mystery that needed urgent solving.

"Huh Grimm, what a name for a school ja? My school was simply called "Hendricksons" Simple and sweet in my opinion anyways, and not so...grim" He let out a sincere happy laugh as he essentially talked to himself, his notes already including the school Grimm. if all else failed he could always use that as another name for some of the places he had been while gathering his newest bestseller.

He looked to Roy and Ronnie, hoping to see any reactions off the two of them, as he hoped either of them knew what they were talking about as well.

[Pundii]

Lucas Walsh

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Location: Safe House

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Lucas couldn't help but chuckle at Risa's eagerness, despite his immense concern over her condition, he was still pleased to see her eager to get out there again. It filled him with a kind of confidence which, at least for a moment, overrode his concern, made him think she was really going to be okay, that things were back to normal. Of course, this way just to distract him, things weren't the same, things wouldn't be the same for a very long time, if ever, they were being hunted by the organisation they had worked for not long ago, and he had been asked by that same organisation to take the life of the woman he loved, and neither of them knew why. He sighed at the thought, reaching out to wrap his arms around her as she approached.

Yet again however, she knew just what to say that made his lips split into a wide smile, a laugh coming from Lucas as he turned his head to kiss her cheek. "Sure we can't focus a bit on the 'inside' part first?" He chuckled himself as he slowly let her slip from his grip, going back to his weapons, ensuring they were prepped and loaded as he moved to secure the other, far more concealable and low-key parts of his gear. Not knowing what to expect, he ensured he was equipped with everything, everything inconspicuous at least, he wasn't about to walk out onto the street in a full suit of body armour with an M60, that was a little overkill.

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

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Location: Just outside of Queensguard Private Airfield

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Brick walls, 15 feet high. Probably intrusion countermeasures, both active and passive. The bright side - if they had a crack security team in place, they likely would not have hired his company to handle their R&D complex. Still, a captured image would be less than ideal, no matter how incompetent the guy sitting behind the screens was. Security footage of that type is rarely even mentioned, unless something off is reported or items turn up missing. Caesar wasn't there to cause a scene. He was there to investigate.

Of course, his privileges did not extend past the R&D complex. Caught here, he would have some massive explaining to do. Probably wouldn't do any good, either. Caesar wanted his revenge, and he was going to get it, but he had to be smart. This was not an instance where he could cause a distraction with the liberal use of explosives duct taped to stray cats, set to go off at random intervals while he slipped in undetected during the unwholesome, meowing kaboom-fest, silencing the occasional stationed guard via knifepoint introduction, swoop up what he came after and make a daring escape after a number of victorious machete vs. machine gun duels, dropping a few hand grenades into the motor pool to discourage pursuit.

Ah, Atlanta. Just sometimes, Caesar missed the South. But anyway...

Caesar had to play it smart. Despite being a tough old bastard, he was supposed to be in his declining years. Plus, he had someone in tow without the skill set to keep up with him, in case things went south and improvisation was necessary. He looked back to Cecily and growled out a chunk of sage advice. "Keep that helmet on unless I say otherwise. Remove all identifying jewelry. Shed your coat, or at least turn it inside out. Stay close. We're going to case the location, before we move in. Something's not right."

Keeping the trike on low rpms (giving a much quieter ride), Caesar rode a wide circuit of the location, seeing what he could see. He paid particular interest in anything resembling a camera system, satellite relay station, microwave burst sources, wires; basically anything in the way of old-school or modern security tech and personnel. Likewise, possible points of shady and quiet entry were high on the list. Caesar would find a way to get Cecily in. Even if it meant dressing up in a dog costume and marking lots and lots of territory on the other side of the complex as a last resort "WTF?" distraction. Wouldn't be the first time.

[Morose]

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Chloe "Tuesday" Ridgeway

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Location: Riley's Apartment

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Tuesday raised an eyebrow. "Suit yourself then, suit." She couldn't even answer Ronnie's question before Marc interjected, and while he wasn't wrong, Tuesday imagined that she'd have more explaining to do to Ronnie later that night. She didn't tend to talk about Grimm and the events that happened there all too much. Any street cred she possessed was just an extension of her employer's, the one who supplied her with the drugs, and indicated which clients to serve. Surviving the Grimm Massacre, as she thought of it, wasn't going to convince people of her ability to move product.

"Not too shabby," Tuesday shrugged. "I almost liked the shit on the walls better. It had more character to it, y'know? Very rah, rah, rah!"

And indeed, it was as if they were relieving the Reunion all over again. At Riley's comment, Tuesday was confused at first, before realizing it must have been when she left the station angrily, and hid herself away in the park. That had been the very day she decided to embrace a life of crime. "Grimm's the name of our town. We went to fucking Murder High--it's famous, google it if you want to."

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Cecily Ashworth

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Location: the Morgue ---> Near Queensguard Private Airfield

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For once, the traffic didn't seem to be conspiring against them. Cecily wasn't certain whether or not that was a good thing, as she did have a fear of what might happen at the airstrip, and a fear of what might happen if Caesar and she arrived too late. Life, truth, and justice were hanging in the balance, and with such high stakes, conquering her fear of Caesar had become an easy task. She had actual foes to fear now, she was certain.

"They aren't messing around," Cecily murmured, taking in the gigantic brick wall. It reminded her of secret government facilities in books and films, and as she glanced up, she expected to see a guard taking aim. Caesar's instructions only confirmed her apprehension about the facilities, but the evidence as to Alicia and Lorna's deaths were inside those walls. "No one protects an airfield this much..."

She was, of course, thankful that she never wore necklaces anyways. She only wore jewelry for formal occasions and at conventions, as they tended to get in the way and pose a slight hazard for lab work. As tugged off her black denim jacket, she was forcefully reminded of her tattoo on her wrist. It depicted a dopamine molecule, one of its various resonance forms, with small colorful portions surrounding it. Tugging on her shirt sleeve, she attempted to cover it up to the best of her ability.

"I'm not exactly sure how to obscure the tattoo but...Hopefully this works," Cecily said a bit weakly, forcing a smile, the helmet still on her head. It was a rare moment where she was glad that her hair was an almost forgettable color, rather than some vibrant shade of red or purple. Still, she doubted that it would take someone capable of carrying out such a complicated conspiracy all too long to discover Caesar and her identities, whether or not they tried to conceal them. It bought them time, in her opinion--and not much else.

As Caesar took them around the outskirts of the complex, Cecily felt her phone buzz with the texts from Roy and Riley, but she left them unanswered. With her luck, they would zoom in on her Hufflepuff phone case, and somehow trace it back to the nerdy acting coroner of Justice.

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Sunday May 21th, 2017

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@Sigil @Morose @Dragoknighte @Scallop @Nallore @Pundii

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@Dragoknighte - Relic looks over at Mali and nods. "Sounds as good a place to start than any. Danica's is the most recent of the two sisters, so hopefully anything we would find with her death we could connect to Peytons. Thing is, getting our hands on her file. I tried to hack the police data base, which is where I got a copy of Peyton's file from. Problem came up, there is no computer copy of Danica's file as of yet. Now I don't know if that is just bad data entry on the side of the police or if that is intentional. All I do know is that Gregory guy is supposed to be working on Danica's case was the same cop that worked on Peytons," he said as he kept packing up his stuff and sliding the floor plans back into place; after which he actually went through and "dusted" the papers. Not cleaning up mind you but spreading the dust around in the place so it looked like they hadn't touched any plan set in particular. "Maybe it's time to get to know your neighbors..."

@Nallore @Scallop @Morose - Marc perked a brow. "Slapped Tim? I must have missed that," he said before snapping his fingers and looking directly over at Chloe. "Oh right, that must have happened when I was out hunting down a runaway when a serial killer was on the loose," he said before grinning a bit. Roy looked up from his phone and his brows rose a bit. "Does death just follow you all?" he asked sarcastically before Ronnie chimed in. "Well if that is the case, I think Chloe and I would be better off in the Deadlight District," Roy muttered before leaning in close to Chloe. "I have a drop off at Club AfterDark due soon, want to come?" he asked her as Roy started to look Marc over once again before shaking his head and heading towards the door. "Well I got shit to do, stay alive," he said before heading out the door. Marc looked over at Roy before turning his attention over at Felix. "I wish they were exaggerating but sadly they aren't. We lost over a dozen class mates within the course of a weekend. Was a rather brutal time for all of us."

@Morose @Sigil - As Caesar and Cecily are scouting out the airfield a private jet starts to make its approach in from the east. Gradually coming to a landing on the main airstrip as numerous standard issue unmarked federal cars pull out of the main hanger to meet the jet as it taxi's up. To the north end of the perimeter is a small water holding reservoir that runs under the wall through a series of gutters and then streams in a small babbling broke towards the main water systems. Using a camera's zoom or binoculars if you have them, one can see who is exiting the plane as a long line of people begin to make their exit and start climbing into said vehicles. (Pm if you have or use either for results)

@Pundii - Risa looked over at Lucas and a warm sultry smile came to her lips as she slauntered over to him and draped an arm over his shoulder. "I might be able to handle scouting out a location right now but taking a tumble with you is going to have to wait until I am bit more healed," she teased before grabbing the last of the items she was taking and heading for the door. Opening it slowly she peeked outside and then shut the door again, still not having stepped out of the place. "We have no vehicle... We gotta find some cash around here because it looks like we are taking the bus. That is unless you want me to pull a scam?" she asked with a coy look on her face. This wasn't the time time they had been caught without a means of transportation. She had conned rides and cash out of her fair share of people gassing up their cars. If they couldn't find money in the safe house she figured it was their best bet.

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Classic Building 3C - Top Floor

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"Grimm Indiana the ass end of nowhere pretty much, but yeah what Tuesday said it's probably famous now because of what happened. Hell wouldn't be surprised if they did actually make a movie out of it in the like next year or something." Riley said as she looked over towards Roy as he was getting ready to leave. Just something off about the detective didn't sit right with her, why did he even want to see Cecily for anyway, she knew that the two of them were working on Danica's case together. "See you around Roy, hunt down some perps for me." Riley said as Roy had left her apartment. Riley looked over towards Ronnie and Tuesday she got a small bit of what Roy had whispered to her sister, she looked at Tuesday she couldn't help but give a disappointed look she didn't like the line of work her sister chose to work. Mainly because Riley was afraid of getting a phone call that her sister was either in the hospital or worse her body in the morgue somewhere after a deal had gone wrong.

Riley then turned her attention towards Marc and Felix looking at the two remaining guests in her apartment, she wasn't sure why Marc had came to her apartment specifically and it wasn't really to catch up after what had happened months ago in their hometown. "So, Marc I know you probably didn't come here to reminisce over what happened at Grimm. Is there anything I can help you with?"

[Dragoknighte]

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Location: Public Records building

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"Well," Mali said, wiping off any errant dust that ended up getting on her clothes, "since we're changing the current mission from 'Investigate Queensguard' to 'Investigate Danica's Murder,' I think our best way in would be somehow gaining Cecily Ashworth as an ally. As coroner, she works pretty closely with the police, which would net us both an ear on the wall on what Detective Roy is up to and potentially a first dibs on any new relevant case info. The big problem is actually getting her to help in the first place. But if we're going to look for her, the best place to start our search would be the Coroner's Office. Unless we're just going to sit outside of Boston Heights and wait for her to come home."

Mali gathered together all of Peyton's case papers into the file, making sure everything was back into place before she tucked it under her arm pit. One quick check to make sure her hair didn't catch any dust like a human feather duster and she was ready to get out of this building. Good thing too, much longer and she'd have a hard time keeping her eyes open.

"I wouldn't suppose you would have a bunch of trench coats and shades, would you?" she jested. "It would give the explanation more credence. I could go full Matrix and get a blue and red pill as well. Well maybe not a pill. Maybe a couple of M&Ms. It would be a lot cheaper."

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

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Location: Just outside of Queensguard Private Airfield

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Motorcade. Security would be high and tight. Though Caesar apparently saw nothing in the way of security cameras, receivers, transmitters, etc., or anything in the way of countermeasures and/or infrastructure relating to intrusion repellent and/or client notification, he was confident that they were present. Don't stray too close to the high, brick wall, find a good vantage, see what you could see before attempting to venture in.

The line of vehicles exiting the hangar seemed pretty standard escort for a connected and/or moneyed VIP; it only made sense that they would be moving to intercept a recently landed private plane. Of course, it was just a little odd that the people arriving on the private plane did not disembark until the land vehicles got into formation. That was professional security protocol, possibly Agency.

It didn't directly tie into his reason for being there, but lately, the details seemed to be as important as anything else. Caesar tapped a widget on his satellite phone, prompting simultaneous video recording and company intranet upload. Continuing the recording on the wider view, he used pressed his thumb and forefinger to the screen, spreading them apart to utilize the zoom feature. If your own eyes aren't sharp enough, technology will find a way.

While viewing what he hoped would be in interesting piece of live footage, Caesar voiced a suggestion to Cecily. "This water. Might be a way in." He kept his face neutral, but a tinge of emotion showed just underneath the surface as he continued, "Reservoir. Not a lot of water features in an airport. If I wanted to drown someone, that would be the place." Caesar risked a glance over to where the water was draining out, into public domain. His eyes went to Cecily, and back to the water. The investigator in him realized that they could collect samples without having to set foot onto the private property. The father in him was adamant about wanting to find the person responsible and doing gruesome things to their still-living flesh. The latter might involve going inside anyway. If they could fit through the drainage system.

A flash of heightened awareness spiked into him. This looked just a bit like a setup. If not a setup, a place where loose ends might be found and dealt with. Instinctively, he palmed one of his personal knives, hiding the length of it up his sleeve and holding onto the pommel with his pinky and ring finger. From any distance, it was a nonchalant hanging on one's arm beside himself, unless they chose to press the issue.

For now, keep recording. Even if they both got shot and/or kidnapped, the footage was already in company hands.

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J. Keystone

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Location: Queensguard R&D Industrial Complex: Gym -> Security Hub

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The workout was brutal. Keystone had insisted upon it. Not that he thought that it would actually make these people stronger overnight. Quite the opposite, most likely. If they came in at all tomorrow, they would come in tired and sore. Nope, this was all about introducing himself to the staff in the most aggressive manner possible. They had problem employees. Possibly lazy and disloyal employees, even. Putting the brunt of them not on other duties through the gauntlet may very well weed out the undesirables. Tomorrow, he would put the less able with decent attitudes on lighter duty. Others, well...

Keystone could tell who the ones were who came in here to do a job. He met a few of them back in Central. They would be key personnel in acclimating his people from London and Caesar's (actually Alicia's) people from Seattle to how things were done here. The broad man was still a newcomer. He knew a lot about the company, but not specifics on the Justice, California branch. West coast United States was strange, sometimes. Fewer leggy blonde women than the movies suggested.

He unlocked the doors to the company gym and opened the doors wide, allowing any assembled to bear witness to the carnage of human fatigue and sweat, mixed with the occasional minor blunt trauma. Luckily, the man whom he threatened sandpapering his rectum with the treadmill was able to limp out, tenderer bits undamaged but pride bruised nonetheless. Keystone gave small words of encouragement, in his own way. The occasional "Yeah, ice that, oi?" and "Atta boy, Butch.", colored with growls of distaste for the ones he was fairly certain wouldn't make it.

After the staff was capable of exiting the premises, and did, Keystone returned to the Hub. He hit the locker room, getting a quick rinse-off in, and changed into fresh clothes. He rearmed himself fully, as if for work; Desert Eagle and knuckle dusters, extra clips and utility knife. Regarding his pistol carefully, he was pleased that his employer chose to outfit him with something as massive as the iconic American fifty-caliber. He had worked with other weapons in the past that just seemed smaller in his hands. This powerhouse firearm was really more for show and intimidation than a prolonged gunfight. He didn't intend to really use it, if at all necessary. But it was useful to have around.

But man, the holes it would make in things.

Keystone stepped back into the Hub and began to look through the paperwork that Elisabeth Queensguard had given them. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ward off what promised to be a growing headache, and stopped one of the staffers walking past. "Ey you... Digital copies, two minutes. Bloody run."

In the (hopefully) two minutes it would take to get that accomplished and get the hardcopy returned, Keystone struck up a conversation with the man that addressed him earlier; the guy who alerted him to the less than exuberant status of many of the employees present.

"Good job there, yeah? Hey, there a pub or a boozer nearabouts? Someplace quiet without cameras, a bounder can grab a pint without drawin' too many eyes?"

[Scallop]

Felix Hausten

Location: Boston Heights

Felix listened to the last snippets of this terrifying story with a subdued smile, trying to make it look sympathetic but he was all too excited for more source material. He'd have to go visit this place, it seemed like if he had hands on experience there, perhaps no one would object if he wrote a novel about it? Of course, he had this to get tied up first, and the clues were running dry, he had what he had but he wasn't getting any further here.

All he could see between the two people left was some kind of broken history? Defintely the tragedy, but it seemed like they were friends before then or perhaps not, who knew?

"That sounds like a greusome time...apologies, I never had to experience such a thing in my past, so I'm not exactly sure how to react" He finished with a warm smile. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to drink would you? I'm parched"

[Pundii]

Lucas Walsh

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Location: Safe House

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Laughing as she came over toward him and gave him that usual sultry smile, he slipped a free arm around her waist as he felt hers go over his shoulder. "Damn, we hardly even got the chance to give the bed a proper test in the heights." He chuckled at that, shrugging as he followed her to the door, giving his sidearm a quick grip under his jacket to just remind himself it was there. He shrugged his shoulders at that. "Conning someone might manage to get some unwanted attention, probably best if we avoid our usual M.O. as much as possible." Lucas was more used to slipping into a more luxurious role, fast cars and comfort were generally the usual routine, apart from the odd mission which had them slogging in mud and grime.

"Roy's probably got some cash lying around somewhere, he won't mind." Really, Lucas didn't care if Roy would, he imagined the man could get ahold of more in an easier way than either of them could. Moving back inside, he started to head toward Roy's room, idly beginning to search around for any stashes of cash, safes or duffel bags, after all, what was a proper safe house without some decent, untraceable cash.

[Morose]

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Chloe "Tuesday" Ridgeway

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Location: Riley's Apartment

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Tuesday rolled her eyes. Even ages later, they still all thought of her as having runaway. It was so ridiculous, and every time anyone mentioned it, she wanted to barf. It wasn't like Riley was her mother. She wasn't anyone's child, her parents had seen to that. And on top of that, she was a legal fucking adult. Part of her was tempted to stick her tongue out at Marc, but she quickly realized that would have been slightly self defeating.

"Death just likes to fuck us in the ass without asking permission," Tuesday grumbled. She perked up slightly at Ronnie's offer, nodding almost a bit too eagerly. Anything to get out of the house, and if she was lucky, she might even be able to score something herself at Club AfterDark. It was her favorite club in Justice, mostly because the ladies were always smoking hot, and the law was a complete afterthought. As much as her old friends and family tried to insist her place was among the respectable citizens in society, Tuesday rebelled against it.

She belonged with the dregs, with the shit. At least they were real. No one faked anything in the gutter, except for perhaps a credit score or sobriety. "Nice seeing you Rye, stay safe. And Marc, don't bust anyone I know." She winked slightly, before following Ronnie out the door.

Once out of the suffocating environment of Riley's apartment, Tuesday let out a deep breath. It was awful enough having to face her sister, but with Marc and his German boy scout, it had been insufferable. There were enough judgmental glares to fill a church, Tuesday thought to herself with a snort. "So, what're we dropping? I can sample it, y'know, to do quality control. Very important, quality control. Shows you care and shit about the product."

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Cecily Ashworth

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Location: Near Queensguard Private Airfield

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Caesar didn't answer her query, but that was just fine by Cecily. If there was an issue, she trusted the elder man to point it out to her. Instead, he raised his hand, recording the approaching plane and the motorcade. It seemed a bit excessive to her, but her main experience with motorcades were for witnesses and clients involved in one of her parents' court cases. Whoever was on that plane, they had to be extremely important--and someone had to want them dead.

As Caesar zoomed in on the image, Cecily had already spotted the water at the north end of the perimeter. Everything seemed to be coming together. This was where Alicia had been murdered. There would be a personnel listing somewhere, a photo of Prosperpine. She reached into the kit she had brought with her, grabbing a few bindles, as well as some tubes and swabs. "I'll go get the evidence we need," Cecily said quietly, letting Caesar continue filming. Holding her supplies, she walked to the small reservoir, keeping her head down.

Once she reached the water, Cecily crouched down, collecting fluid samples in the tubes, latex gloves on her hands. Anything that looked to be pertinent in the slightest bit, she bagged and tagged. If she saw any bugs, she bagged those as well. Forensic entomology wasn't her speciality, but she wasn't prepared to rule it out just yet as a potential source. If Alicia had been drowned here, there would be trace evidence left behind.

As soon as she finished with her sample collection, Cecily glanced behind her, hoping to see Roy's familiar face. She trusted Caesar, but not as much as she trusted Roy. Perhaps her loyalty was based on a series of coincidences, but it didn't change anything to her. She walked back to Caesar, sliding the evidence samples into her larger bag, putting away her equipment. "The evidence will be less dilute closer to the source," Cecily explained, eyeing the compound. "It's likely a suicide mission... but the results will be more definitive if we get inside."

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Sunday May 21th, 2017

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@Sigil @Morose @Dragoknighte @Scallop @Nallore @Pundii

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@Dragoknighte - "Only got the peanut ones, think those would work?" Relic chuckled as he finished up and gathered his things before heading out. Walking out of the building he stepped over to his car and unlocked it. Getting in he waited for Mali before starting it up and putting his seat belt on. "Haven't had much contact with Det. Gregory, but I did run into him when they pulled those two women from your apartment out of the sea. Well not run into but saw him there. I got a friend over in the Deadlight District that might be able to help since we are switching over to Danica's murder. A bit of a conspiracy nut, but if anyone knows anything about this city..." he said before pulling out and starting to head towards the Deadlight District.

@Nallore @Scallop @Morose - "Actually yes, I was wondering if you had spoken to Lawson before he died or if you could remember anything leading up to it," Marc asked Riley, sighing slightly to himself. "This was supposed to be a new start for him, not a death trap." Ronnie glanced around before heading out with Chloe, closing the door behind them as they walked out into the hallway and away from the group. Roy cocked a looked at them as they left. He didn't trust that they weren't up to anything but he had other things on his hands, like getting back to Risa and Lucas, and seeing what Cecily was up to. He waited a few minutes before slipping out, giving his toodles and then leaving himself. Marc on the other hand stuck around. "You always did keep weird company Riley, so, catch me up on what you know."

@Morose - "Have to talk to my supplier, not sure what she wants me to run this time but I figured you would want to come along instead of staying there and getting the third degree," Ronnie said as he stopped in the stair well. Shrugging he gave her half a smile before heading down the stair and out onto the streets. Walking down to the bus stop he looked around and caught a glimpse of Roy as he came out, seeing the man get into his car and drive off down the road headed north. "Odd, station is in the other direction," he muttered as he waited for the bus to come. "So, been to Club Afterdark yet since you moved here? Or is this going to be your first visit?"

@Morose @Sigil - Caesar has to zoom in a bit, and rewatch the video a few times to get the correct frame. Only one slips through the formation to show the face of what seems to be the main person that is being protected by the entourage. It's McCormick. They get her into one of the vehicles and the one she is in, along with the rest, head out from the lading strip and out of the walls onto the highway. As Cecily collects the samples she is able to see that within the large drainage pipe that filters from within the walls to where she is, there is a large grate blocking access; well it would be if it didn't look like someone had beaten them to that spot and already cut out a rather large chunk of it so there was now clear access to within. That is if they want to risk it. About that time Cecily gets a text from Roy "Update?"

@Sigil - Radio dispatch comes in telling Keystone that there will be a visitor coming to the facility; ETA 20 minutes. Last minute arrival, secure the building, top priority.

@Pundii - "I think it is just that you don't like me flirting with anyone else, even if it is just job related," Risa said with a coy smirk coming across her lips before she brushed passed him and started to search around the safe house. There was the usual stash; weapons and ammo being on the top of the list. Between the two of them they would find various changes of clothing, somethings they could use to disguise who they were as long as someone wasn't looking close (hats, sunglasses, and the like.) Lucas would eventually come across a stash of cash in the floor boards. It wasn't a huge amount but it should be enough to get them around town and perhaps even a few bribes if they needed. Risa sat down slowly on the chair by the table as she found an envelope tacked to the underside of the cabinet. Pulling it out she dumped its contents out and smirked. "Now this could come in handy," as she picked up several ID's that were missing the images but otherwise filled in properly. State ID, Federal, Police, and Passports. "Think it is time to get our picture taken love."

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Classic Building 3C - Top Floor

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Riley watched as her sister and Ronnie both headed out of her apartment sighing slightly she probably had an idea what they were actually going to be doing. Once they had left she turned her attention towards Felix and gestured towards the fridge, inside was beer, coke and bottled water. "Help yourself with what you want." Riley said with a soft smile as she looked over at Marc and slowly shook her head slightly.

"Last I talked to him was the night of the Block Party, after Danica's fall from grace if you will, he and another resident here in Boston Heights named Lorna escorted me to a nearby ambulance. The two of them sort of watched over me while the medic was patching up my head anyway that's the last time I had contact with Lawson sadly I was in the hospital when that stuff happened and been in here the last three days. Sorry if it doesn't help."

Riley moved towards the door and opened it for a second to make sure that Ronnie and Tuesday weren't by the door, she didn't feel the need to hide what she knew so far. "I know I keep the weirdest group of friends." Riley said jokingly as she leaned up against the counter looking down for a moment before turning her attention towards Marc. "Anyway, the guy not Roy. Ronnie, he is a friend he knew Danica personally I bumped into the guy after my recording session. We think that Danica was murdered, I didn't know Danica personally but she didn't seem like the girl to commit suicide like that. Anyway we talked for a bit, then we headed over towards the Roller Derby over at the Docks. Danica found something there, Ronnie showed me a picture Danica took of a multisided object with the Juno Roller Derby game flyer. Then we got there everything seemed fine, then the lights went out and some shooting just started. That's about all that I can remember, the next day was when I had my accident."

[Dragoknighte]

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Location: Public Records building

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"Nah, peanut M&Ms are too irregular. Would too obviously detract from the pill analogy. I guess I'll need an alternate schtick for drawing in more people anyway." Mali stepped into Relic's car, placing Peyton's police file on top of the dashboard after buckling up. Her first thought was to stick it into the glove compartment, but she still didn't know him Relic, and who knows what sort of crazy technical bullshit might be inside there. Best to avoid looking through his stuff, even unintentionally.

"I got to... observe Detective Roy on the night of Danica's murder. I got to see how he treated his subordinates. He seemed like a pretty stern guy who actually made sure work got done. There's always the possibility of the cover up coming from higher up on the chain of command, but you're right as far as not being able to trust his integrity as far as how this case will be handled." Mali leaned back in the car seat. She hadn't actually been to the Deadlight District before. She'd been through it on several occasions, but this would be her first time really being there. Sure she'd her fair share of hanging around on the lawless side of things, and she knew what to expect and how to act, but still, the idea of being in the seediest part of the seediest city in the country didn't sit well with the inner Suburbanite good girl she had been raised up to be. That uncomfortable feeling was just something she'd need to get over.

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

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Location: Just outside of Queensguard Private Airfield

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"She's early..." growled Caesar. His contract holder, Elizabeth Queensguard, had specifically stated when Ms. McCormick would be back in town. It would not be for a while, yet. Something must have changed. The life of a highly placed government official was certain to have many unexpected events pop up, but this seemed a touch suspicious.

Caesar was learning a little bit about living in Justice. Apparently, a big one indicated that there were no coincidences; everything was related. Suspicious activity, thing that were out of place should be treated as exactly that, until such time as it can be proven otherwise. At this time, however, he couldn't let his attention be split between two objectives. He promised Cecily something. That something would likely assist in discovering the identity of his girls' murderer. He couldn't abandon her just now.

Switching function of his satellite phone, he punched up Keystone's secure line. Before he hit the call icon, he popped his head over to where his partner in subterfuge was inspecting. Caesar glared inside of the drainage pipe, taking note of the hole cut out of it. "M'hija was here..." Maybe she was and maybe she wasn't. Very circumstantial. But the it was an interesting coincidence - one of those things that didn't really happen in Justice. He confirmed the call.

Speaking in low tones, he kicked things off. "Secretary McCormick just landed, far ahead of schedule. Might be something. Agency escort. Put a tail on her." He looked into the pipe again, still on the line with Keystone. Yeah, they were going in there. Had to. It was imperative, now. While the large man responded, Caesar removed his bandana and handed it over to Cecily, motioning at her tattoo.

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J. Keystone

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Location: Queensguard R&D Industrial Complex: Security Hub

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Meanwhile, back at HQ, the day had gotten very interesting. Word had come in through standard company communications that they were to put the building under immediate lockdown. Last minute VIP coming in; for all Keystone knew it was some Queensguard inspector or another, checking to see if there were any problems with the company's new outside security firm. He wouldn't put it past them, not one bit. One thing that he did do, and well, was manage security protocol. Naturally, it involved a lot of yelling.

"Bloody fuckin'ell, you! Get on the horn, call back every bronzecock what's on break. Tell 'em five minutes or it's their arse, yeah?"

"You! Back in full uniform! Find your watch sergeant! You got massive shite needs doin'!"

"FULL LOCKDOWN, PEOPLE! We gots a guest arrivin', and bloody soon!"

Then there was the call from Caesar. Foreboding, ominous even. His response was understandable, give the circumstances. "No can, boss." he barked out in his businesslike, Cockney accent. "Word in from our contractor, we've got a VIP movin' this way double quick. They want full security in 20, an' I'm a little short 'anded. We got it, but can't spare a body for ya, not even me."

"Did they say who? Could be the Secretary." That would be another of those Justice, CA "coincidences" that Caesar had noticed.

"Nah, didn't say who. Sounds right likely, though. I'll keep you sped, yeah?"

"Text. Doing something quiet, here."

"Yeah, Boss. On it."

Before the phone dropped connection, Keystone could clearly be heard telling some unfortunate bastard to "Stop sodding about!", referring to him as a "Bloody Wankstain" with true vigor in his voice. Yeah, they should be ok, so long as Keystone gave the illusion of manners when their guest arrived. The good news was, Keystone got his digital copies. The bad news, no quiet place that served hard liquor to review them. At least, not for a while yet.

[Morose]

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Chloe "Tuesday" Ridgeway

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Location: Riley's Apartment ---> Bus Stop

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Tuesday nodded, pausing in the stairwell with Ronnie. She pulled her hair back, for a moment fantasizing about cutting it all off. She figured she could rock a pixie cut if she wanted to, but she had formed a habit of pulling on her hair when stressed. A shorter length didn't lend itself to that easily. And besides, as indecisive as she was about her hair, she'd probably want to put it up in braids the very next day. It made more sense for her to just leave it be.

"Yeah, thanks for that," Tuesday said, forcing a smile of her own. She couldn't help but wonder why her Grimm friends continued to bother her, to scold her for her behavior, and all her childish. It wasn't that she expected them to change their opinions--it was more that it didn't make sense to her any more why they cared. Riley she could understand, they were twins. But Marc? He had no reason to give a fuck about her, he had every reason to haul her ass to jail or leave her to die.

Following him to the bus stop, she frowned slightly as Ronnie pointed out that Roy wasn't heading in the correct direction. At first, she considered it was an emergency call he was responding to--but detectives don't exactly do that, do they? But given that it was Justice, Tuesday shrugged it off, figuring that Roy was dirty. It was rarer to find a clean cop these days, reminding her a bit of the show Gotham on Fox. One of the inmates during her last stay in prison had been obsessed with it, insisting on putting it on during TV time. But hey, it beat the home improvement shows they usually watched.

"Been a few times," Tuesday replied, a coy smile on her lips. "That's where I hooked up with that girl with the shaved head? Can't remember her fucking name anymore, but AfterDark seemed like a good time, from what I can remember."

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Cecily Ashworth

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Location: Near Queensguard Private Airfield

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Cecily nodded, returning her attention to what was, for now, the closest thing she had to a crime scene. Caesar very well could have been right. Someone had cut through that grate to create an opening, and for a complex with such high security, she doubted just anyone could have done it. Part of her mused if that was the offense Alicia was murdered over. Biting her lip, she wished that there was some more trace evidence in the surrounding area, something to show if Alicia and Lorna had indeed crawled through here, in order to infiltrate the compound.

Except that hardly made much sense to her. Alicia and Lorna operated security for Queensguard--why sneak in? Biting her lip, she imagined that this was a Jessica Jones comic, telling the story to herself in imagined comic book panels. The solution almost appeared more obvious that way, though she wasn't entirely sold on it. Alicia and Lorna had made a conscious decision to betray Queensguard, the mysterious operation connected with almost everything, it seemed. Her would-be murderer was on their payroll, that much Cecily was certain of.

At Caesar's hushed words on the phone, Cecily's ears perked up slightly. Now that would explain the large escort. She wasn't a huge fan of the current presidential administration, but McCormick had been one of her favorite cabinet picks. Not that she spent all of her time thinking about politics, of course--it was more that her grandmother, Annie, had called her and talked with her about the importance of female representation in the cabinet for hours, as she mentioned how much she wished her Aunt Nora had been alive to see the day.

But then again, McCormick's presence was as troubling as it was exciting. If this really was a massive conspiracy orchestrated by Queensguard, then McCormick was involved somehow. And if McCormick was involved, then the federal government was implicated in this. The scandal and conspiracy was overwhelming in proportion, and once more, Cecily couldn't help but hope slightly that the FBI would take jurisdiction soon enough. It was reaching something beyond the scope of the Justice PD.

"Thanks," Cecily replied softly, tying the bandana around her wrist to obscure the tattoo. She already figured that they were going to go inside, and she pulled out her phone, seeing the text from Roy. She realized that this was perhaps the last text she'd ever send, that the possibility of her being murdered inside the compound was high. And so, if this really was the last text, it'd have to be perfect.

The game is afoot! Come at once! -C.A.

[Pundii]

Lucas Walsh

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Location: Safe House

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"Y'know, i'd be lying if I said it wasn't that at least a little bit." He smirked as he glanced over at her, watching as she moved past him and he chuckled, moving about. Lucas started his usual search, looking for hollow spots in the walls and the floor boards, and after a reasonable bit of searching it didn't take long to find one such spot. Getting a crowbar to pull up some of them, dragging out the bag of cash as he looked through it. It certainly wasn't as much as he might have liked, but it would do. Sitting on the floor as he counted it all, he glanced over at Risa as she found the IDs.

Moving over, he chuckled as he picked up a few of them, he'd used such IDs pretty often, both of them had, of course, it worked a charm, and ideally it would help them keep a relatively low profile for the time being as he nodded. "I think you're right, been a while since we made some of these." He commented idly with a smirk, setting the IDs back down on the table as he brought the cash in his free hand back to the bag he'd found, tossing it in.