Caesar Gonzalez
Location: La Hacienda
Skills: Investigation, Security Tech
The relief on Thalia's face was palpable, even as Caesar became more sullen and remote. Seeing and hearing his deceased daughter on the computer screen gave him more than an ounce of mixed emotions. Not the least of which was a sense of urgency - one which prompted him to use his training as an Investigator to try to commit as much of what she was saying down to memory. Caesar had taken down as much information as he could and filed it away on his sat phone as well as company intranet, not to mention the small updates he had been sending Keystone (a thing which gave the big man profound irritation, though Caesar did not know that). But that last bit, followed by the sudden destruction of the flash drive, had taken him completely unaware.
Struggling to maintain what he had retained in the labyrinth of blood and very businesslike chaos that was his mind, Caesar turned his attention to the various apps on his device that would prompt the speedy recording and distribution of information before it began to be altered by the maelstrom of compromised emotion that was he. What gave him the most concern and simultaneously the biggest head scratch was the image of a cat with an ankh just seconds before the system flared and burned out the flash drive. To the best of his knowledge, that was impossible. Thalia had clearly taken proper precautions when accessing the file, following getting the countermeasure under control, and whomever was hacking her machine directly would have to know that she was accessing that offline drive at that moment. The implications of that thought were damned grim indeed. Had his Familia been infiltrated? Compromised somehow?
Thalia herself was about to hit a level of batshit that she had previously not been able to reach without pharmaceutical assistance. She quickly disengaged the flash drive and disconnected her system from the secure (possibly "secure") network at the Hacienda and ran a quick diagnostic. If her machine was harboring an unwanted guest or more corrupted data, she needed to know immediately. Getting a whole new computer would be a pain. Luckily, she kept most of her important stuff on individual, external drives. Starting over would be full of suck, but the process could go quickly.
J. Keystone
Location: Queensguard Industries R&D, near the Security Checkpoint nearest the party -> The Party
Skills: Leadership, Security Procedures
Keystone answered his phone immediately, figuring on it being Caesar
finally cutting out the text messages and file uploads. It was an unfortunate circumstance that it was in fact
not his boss, but their contract holder here in Justice. And boy, did she have a compelling question:
"Care to explain how someone just got murdered right in front of me?" That security checkpoint was ever two steps away from him, seemingly forever and a day since he had attempted to get himself and the Tech lady following him to it for a report. Now it seemed that, in addition to
every single checkpoint refusing to answer him, he had gotten no word whatsoever about someone being killed on his watch, neither by means of security measures (panic button, med emergency alert, fire alarm, etc.), nor a communication by any personnel on scene. It was as if the only people present that were doing their jobs at MSS was himself, Ibanez, Vinters, Huang, and Whitmore. And he hadn't heard back from Whitmore comparatively in a while, either.
The MSS Justice Branch had problems. Damned big ones. Keystone would have given a lot right then to have Alicia alive and in charge, or Caesar back scaring the hell out of people with a glance. His people were useless, and they were supposed to be his eyes and ears in this place, especially now as the cameras were down. He might as well answer the lady. Keystone owed her that much.
"No ma'am. Ain't capable of explainin' somethin' I wasn't witness to. We're goin lockdown. A detail will be with you on the immediate." Keystone turned his attention to his comm unit, establishing the clearest, most forceful tone he could muster short of yelling.
"Right. Complex is on total lockdown. I want the party sealed off - no one in an no one out for the duration without my personal okay, y'get me? Don't give a bloody twatfart who they says they are. HUB: Get the on-call list for tonight, an' ring up every bugger what's on it. Ibanez: I want cameras and satellites back right bloody now." The painful thought on this was that they would have to bring in the police now, a thing which he most assuredly did not want. The Justice cops had a reputation for corruption. But the legalities of the matter were clear; MSS had a right to detain people only so long as they are waiting for law enforcement to take over a scene, and then maintain a presence so long as it was private property and did not interfere with their investigation. Keystone was no investigator. Caesar was, but he wasn't there.
The possibility that the murder was a distraction from something else did not escape him. But someone was killed, someone else did it, and their contract holder was in the room with both of them. He turned around and returned to the door leading to the main room of the Gathering of the Social Elite. Keystone gave himself a couple of seconds to get in a deep breath ad blow it out, just enough time for an existing security detail to merge with his group of two on the scene.
"Secure exits. One man on Queensguard at all times, that'll likely be m'self unless I say otherwise. No one goes nowhere, right?" Into his comm,
"I want perimeter and checkpoint sweeps, and I mean right fongin' now or the lot of you'll be sacked before I dim your bloody bulbs. And make the call. Boys in blue need t'be notified." He nodded to Vinters, secure in the concept that she would hang on his last order, that being to stay with him. As soon as the ground security team acknowledged their places taken, Keystone opened the doors, assigned a sentry, and walked straight to Elizabeth.
"Ma'am, this might be a good time to get you to your office and put on a kettle, if you take my meaning. Need statements, an' there's a killer still in this room." ...meanwhile, at the front gate...
"What d'ya mean, lockdown? No, we're expected, y'see!" An accent very much like Keystone's emanated from the backseat of a Yellow Cab, prompting a small argument and a couple of light punches from the persons squished into the vehicle's seating. As it turned out, the event plus the mishaps that had plagued the evening had made Keystone completely forget about his friends from London, and the fact that he was supposed to pick them up at the airport. Oh, but his face would be red when he remembered this one, but for the meantime, they had to dig out and show off their official MSS employee IDs. Then submit to a scan. Then show a picture of themselves in a bunny suit. Or something equally as mortifying.
