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

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Grimm, Indiana, Ramada Inn -> Outside of the Ramada Inn
Skills: N/A

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Riley pressed the elevator button once more as she looked over towards the window noticing that the slight haze going on outside, remembering that it was most likely caused by the plane crash just outside of town. Still she couldn't believe that it had happened in the first place as well. It felt like that the bodies were starting to pile up here again, which Riley didn't want to witness again as she waited for Pyira to come over. Looking over she saw Pyira again coming out of their room and gave her a slight smile, and nodded a bit, she personally would rather have a nice scar than a bruised up looking nose any day.

"Once we get to the station i'll go out and buy you some makeup to cover up the bruise anyway." She offered, as soon as the elevator came up to their floor Riley stepped in. She then pressed the lobby button once Pyira got in, and headed down to the first floor once the doors opened she looked at the receptionist who was still at the main desk. "We will be heading out for a little bit, but i'll see you later." Riley said towards the receptionist there and headed back outside, seeing the haze more clearly now she remembered the place pretty well as she headed to the car rental place.

[ONL]

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Robert Adler

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Location: Chicago (Grimaldi Books)
Skills: Law

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"…Yeah, sure. That was just what I thought, Greek legends and the Underworld…got it." Richard gave Adelaide as some sort of acknowledgement to her superiour knowledge of what had been stolen. He was sarcastic, as he usually was, why shouldn't he? This was her forté after all, not his. He didn't know squat about Greek legends or what happened to dead people back when they wore oversized napkins. Should he? Maybe, though he felt confident that any knowledge in that department wouldn't help him out of the shithole he called his desk. Not anytime soon anyway.

But something was ticking inside his head, at the very back of it. That's where most of his professional thinking was located, beside the mental catalog of all his vinyl records: Why exactly that book? If there were two other books in a collection of three, that meant someone had gone to great lengths to just aquire that one, and not all three. Like Adelaide said, they were worth more together than seperate. Robert up closer to where Adelaide was seated with her books, resting his cotton-gloved hands at the table. "Let's pretend I know as much about the Greek Underworld as I know about the sunny beaches of Florida. What exactly does the book talk about? About the Underworld and all that jazz? If that book was so special that they only stole that one, I'd like to know as much about that too."

Robert's question as left unanswered as they were cut off by the phone beeping. The man changed his mind, or were going to threaten her? Who could that…Seriously? Robert followed Adelaide out of the vault and up the stairs with a puzzled look on his face, all for it to resolve itself as his suspicions were were confirmed; It was the Caesar security guy from earlier. Had he folded to her demands? Robert stood silently and watched the man, just as curious as Adelaide must have been.

This really was an investigation that could become a book. One day maybe, one day.

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

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Location: Chicago (Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A

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The obviously flat tone of utilized by the proprietress reeked of a veneer of smugness to Caesar. He would just as soon leave this whole scene behind him, but some unknown entity wished to pull strings and direct him back to this spot, with this woman. Two things bothered the older man in this moment: Firstly, he had difficulty extending trust to many women, especially if they could command influence or had specific value. It wasn't inherently sexism, though Caesar was old fashioned about some things (and had the occasion to be an old chauvinist from time to time). It was the recently acquired knowledge of the existence of Juno and their recruiting policies. Secondly, they were being monitored by Wentworth tech. Not just a competitor, but directly involved in the murders that took place on his company's watch, however set up it might have been.

Nevertheless, like a dog fully expecting to be kicked yet obstinatly holding its ground, Caesar set his sat phone on the counter in front of him. He turned it around to face the lady, pushed it forward a token inch or two, and instructed, "Punch in an account number and relevant information. You will have your payment authorised in a couple minutes." He set a business card down next to the phone, continuing, "Contact me as you find something. I do not want to be present for the search. As I said, there is zero trust for your security provider. Do we have an arrangement?"

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J. Keystone

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Location: Chicago (Outside of Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A

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Of all the things that could be done to improve Keystone's mood, allowing him access to food was probably the best idea yet. It might have even been considered something akin to torturous, having him stand there for a decent length of time while the blessed scent of MSG and stir-fried vegetables wafted about his face. The first box he opened filled him with a sense of profound YAY, and he inhaled deeply of the rich, steamy goodness that issued from within. "Bloody 'ell, is this Crispy Duck an' Savory Plum Sauce? Oh, soon as I get a gulletful, you're on the recievin' end of a bloody hug, you are." He took the opportunity to lean against the vehicle as well, deftly sliding a set of chopsticks from his bag and separating them with the ease of a man trained to do so. Likewise, the big man handled the sticks like a pro, throwing back nifty tidbits of sweet and savory, starch and vegetal in proper order and proportion. It was an interesting thing to witness for one unaccustomed to Keystone's proclivities.

The observation concerning Caesar was likewise noted by the gargantuan Londoner, who shrugged his shoulders and agreed with Claire, after a fashion. "Yeah, on sorts... You, eh, you ain't read up on the old man's background, 'ave ya?" Keystone popped another piece of duck into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. He waved his chopsticks around as emphasis, and swallowed his bite before continuing. "What ain't covered over in black marker's a dog's arse horror story, it is. He's done stuff, like... when he's motivated proper and aimed in the right direction, he's a bloody Mexican Juggernaut. Puttin' the torch to a block's just a knock at the bloody door before the real conversation kicks off."

His eyes drifted down for a moment as if remembering a chunk of sordid past. The expression changed to something bittersweet, but only for a moment. Thoughts went to his times with Alicia, moments speaking with her about their histories, and the like. Keystone had managed to learn a couple things about Caesar during this time, many of which were frightening - but a few earned massive respect. He snapped back in about the same amount of time it took to fit his chopsticks with another bite of meat and sauce. "Tell ya though, he don't look it, but he's one of the good guys. Prob'ly the last clean Federale in his department, way back when. What he done, he done for reasons. Same for what he's doin' now. That's gonna be 'ard to do with his family exposed. They need to get gone, by someone he trusts."

[Morose]

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Cecily Ashworth

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Location: Airport
Skills: N/A

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Cecily put her things in the trunk of Roy's car, listening to what he said. As she shut the trunk, she couldn't help but feel a bit paranoid. Roy had a new partner from New York - sure, maybe that was safe but maybe it wasn't. Whatever was happening in Justice, it didn't seem to stop at the city limits. Could Roy's new partner be involved somehow? Would Roy even know, given his membership in the group? She glanced around one last time, wishing that this wasn't her life. She couldn't deal with being paranoid all of the time. She wanted her boring, normal life back.

Cecily took a breath and a beat, before she got into the shotgun seat of the car. "How'd you manage this? Even I know this car is nice," Cecily asked Roy. At the mention of Riley, Cecily smiled slightly - but it wasn't an entirely warm and carefree one. Instead, she looked tired - like someone smiling after waking up from a nightmare and hearing some good news. The image of Natasha dead on the ground was etched into her brain and she knew that after this was all over, she'd need therapy - if she could even trust a therapist to confide in.

"So your partner... Is she someone we can trust?"

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Monday May 23rd, 2017

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O'Hare International Airport: Roy pulled out onto the highway and smirked a bit. "Oh come on now, this car is so me. Total sports man, main stream, in the fast lane, vroom vroom," he said while trying to keep a straight face. He totally failed before busting out laughing as he drove. "I got it from the Sheriff, think he was going through a mid life crisis when he brought it. Who knows but it was faster than the patrol car," he said after a few minutes and then shrugged a bit.

At her other question he sighed and rubbed his face a bit as he kept driving. "I'm not sure. I really don't trust anyone, besides you, so that doesn't help. I want to think I can but I wonder what, if anything, she is hiding from me. Something about the woman doesn't sit right with me. Maybe I am just a misogynistic old fucker but something just rubs me the wrong way," he admitted before letting out a huff. "Who knows, maybe Justice has just left a bad taste in my mouth."

Grimaldi Books: Robert was right, he was going to have to wait for an answer to his question until later. Adelaide was having to deal Caesar right now. She looked over at the man and quirked a brow. This was a bit of a change but it seemed he really didn't get it. "I can give you the number but paying me isn't going to get what you want. I don't do the research, I will help but if you want me to go it fully alone that will be another $20,000 per hour, paid ten hours in advance at a time as a retainer," she explained as she stepped over to the counter and wrote down a series of numbers onto a piece of paper on a post it note.

Ripping it off she slid it over to him. It was the account number and a total. $700,000. It was a huge chunk of change to say the least. She then reached under the counter and pulled out a folder of legal looking papers. "These will need to be filled out and signed in front of two witnesses as well," she added as she slid them over to him. "And you know what. Unless somebody trusts somebody they'll be nothing left on earth excepting fishes." There was a slight pause. "In other words Senor Gonzalez, not trusting kills far more than trusting ever has."

"I'll take a hug when yer mouth ain't full," Claire chuckled as she hopped up on the hood of the car and had a full seat as she kept her eyes on the book store and watched Caesar talk to the woman on the other side of the counter. Granted she couldn't hear what was going on but it was better to watch than to not pay attention. "I figure most people are good people, in one way or another, until pushed too far. Don't think many start out bad, just shit happens and then before you know it, you are doing the wrong thing for the right reason," Claire said as she ran her fingers through her hair and then shrugged a bit. "Seen two guys beat the fuck out of each other, each of them trying to protect the same girl from the other. Both thinking they were right, both kind of were. Both were so fucking wrong but they meant well."

Grimm, Indiana - Ramada Inn: The receptionist nodded towards Riley as she was informed that the girl was heading out. A little wave to the both of them as they passed. Outside the haze remained but thankfully the car rental place was just a hop, skip, and a jump over. Right next store was a little local rent a car place. Inside was an older gentle-man. Riley might have known him as he had a son that attended Grimm High School that was a few years older than Riley. It wasn't that everyone knew everyone in town but there was enough that faces were familiar. So while she might know the man, chances were she didn't know know him. Just one of those passing faces in a crowd. He had a name on his name tag - Bob. Hi Bob!

Bob is going over some paper work and there is no computer on the counter though looking over the counter one can spot one in the next room but it is old. Like Early 1990's old with a wonderful dot matrix printer making that lovely screeching noise as it goes back and forth over the paper that just keeps feeding into it. The man is hunched over and on a second look, he isn't working. He is doing a crossword puzzle. "Osiris before Jesus, twelve letters, beginning with R," he muttered to himself as he chewed on the tip of his pen.

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Grimm, Indiana, Outside of the Ramada Inn -> Car Rental Place
Skills: N/A

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Riley waved at the receptionist and smiled slightly, as soon as she was out of the building she took a moment to look around, and spotted the car rental place just across the road. "It's just over here." Riley said towards Pyira as she walked across the street looking down the road for a moment. Seeing the haze still over the streets, and sighed a little bit stuffing her hands into her pockets as she walked over into the car rental place's parking lot. Seeing the place was still opened Riley pushed open the door, taking the room in as she held it open for Pyira to get inside next. She spotted the elderly man leaning against the counter doing some kind of cross word puzzle by the looks of it.

She hadn't really filled those out in a really long time, or even looked at the ones that were usually in the newspapers either as she ran a hand through her she remembered that they were pretty boring to her, eyeing the nametag on his shirt seeing his name was Bob. Riley made her way across the room until she leaned herself up against the counter a bit. Getting a better look at his face, he looked really familiar to her but she didn't really know him she remembered his son in a few grades above her. "Hey, uhm Bob right? We are here to pick up a car, Tim came by a few minutes ago said he got a rental car for us the names should be Riley and Pyira by the way." Riley said, she wasn't to sure what was in the cross word puzzle.

[FantasyChic]

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Priya Khurana

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Location: Ramada Inn -> Car Rental Place
Skills:N/A

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Priya lightly brushed her nose where the bruise was. "I have make-up for it already, I just didn't bother. There's no reason for it. I think it makes me look tougher and that can be used to my advantage. Or at least garner some sympathy." She followed Riley past the desk and nodded her head in passing to the receptionist. Riley was rather friendly with her. It could be a Midwestern thing vs her New York upbringing, or perhaps Riley had a thing for her. Maybe it was even the hero's complex. Who knew?

Inside the car rental place, they walked over to a busy looking man doing a crossword. She overheard him as Riley spoke to him about their car. She was eager to get back on the road. "I believe the word you are looking for is resurrection." She waited for the man to acknowledge them and proceed with their car, all the while she debated on whether to call her partner or not. He would be meeting up soon.

[ONL]

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Robert Adler

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Location: Chicago (Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A

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Robert stood leaning against the railing of the stairs, watching the situation that should have happened earlier that day. Caesar was caving in on Adeliade's demands, having slid his cellphone on the counter for her to type in whatever information was needed. Robert himself enjoyed watching the massive man of muscle having to admit some sense of defeat in front of a much smaller lady, though he knew just as well as Adelaide that knowledge was power. He even enjoyed it for himself a bit, holding back his smile from going out into a grin, and just pulling the sides of his smile a bit.

Though he still wanted to go and get his own things sorted out; his and Adelaide's that was. Working with Caesar didn't directly help him determine what had happened in that book store, but he had to wait for Adelaide to finish her business with the Mexican. She was the one holding all the cards, like "Mama" controlling the protagonist in the song with the same name. That's when Robert raised his brows in surprise - Yeah, he couldn't do the whole "Look at me! I can raise one brow as a time! I'm so cool!" thing, so both brows it was - at Adelaide's wording. Though she did have a point. Without trust society wouldn't function as they knew it. Besides, Wentworth couldn't possibly be as bad as he made it out to be? Robert lowered his brows and swapped looks between Adelaide and Caesar, assuming he was one of the two witnesses needed for the signing. He remained silent, this was up for the two others to iron out.

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

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Location: Chicago (Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A

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The "fishes" comment invoked a grim chuckle from Caesar. "...Yule Brenner..." he mused. The scene from the movie that she quoted was supposed to be indicative of a powerful king demonstrating a more balanced side of himself and the ability to change. Caesar couldn't help but wonder if it was supposed to be a crack at his expense or if she was just a fan of "The King & I". Regardless of motivation, questioning it would profit him absolutely nothing. The meat of the comment raised a eyebrow, though. Adelaide might have meant well, but her statement didn't seem to really touch on his present situation.

"Trust..." he began, trying to phrase his words carefully, "Nothing says you can't take my money and feed me bullshit after I go. Someone trying to lie to me would be nicer to my face. Asking you to do the research yourself is trust." It was trust of a sort, anyway. That and, if he were honest, Caesar wasn't exactly a "library" kind of guy. Especially not an unfamiliar one. He looked down at the numbers that she set in front of him, observing, "It looks like trust costs extra." Technically, it wasn't the most fair of statements. She would be the one performing a service, albeit one that she seemed to be charging twice for - once for access to her personal library where she had to act as guide to locate anything within, and once again to read what she found that was relevant to the matter at hand. But that thought was off topic just a hair. "It's your security provider I refuse to trust. You are just running a business. I hope with all this trust I'm buying, you can throw in some privacy." He was using that word a lot today, "trust". It seemed to devalue the meaning, somehow.

Caesar picked up his satphone and switched to a messaging app, sending a one word summons to his associate outside. He eyed the other man in the room even as he completed his thought to Adelaide, "It's no one's business what I'm doing here. Especially theirs." The older man took up the legal paperwork and prepared to fill them out. With witness, of course.

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J. Keystone

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Location: Chicago (Outside of Grimaldi Books -> Inside of Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A

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The ever black hole of Keystone's appetite was blunted somewhat after the first box of MSG laden food went down like a trooper. He did have a thing for Chinese food, even the Americanized stuff that one was forced to consume in this part of the world. If nothing else, it reminded him of his time spent abroad, learning things that no one in his stomping grounds had ever been exposed to. It was a fine period of his life. It even established a big part of who he was; not just some massive, ham-fisted brawler from London's East End, but a cunning, dexterous combatant that brought a lot more to the table than mere physical strength. Technique, insight, and agility uncommon in a man his size. Not to mention a much broader horizon, philosophically speaking.

Eating proficiently with sticks, too. Lest he forget, that was something that set him apart from the people with whom he grew up. So, one box down. Before he destroyed everything else with his almost legendary off-day appetite, he figured on giving Caesar an opportunity to change his mind about eating. A box of rice would suffice for the present. A bit of sesame and soy in first, and his tiny sticks were wielded with technique generally unseen among the gweilo.

As he powered through the takeaway box (albeit with less fervor), he followed up on Claire's personal experiences with people doing awful things for what they perceived was the right reason. "Y'know, some things are right at black and white, what with perspective, yeah? When I got ring-up to be on a bloody airplane to California in two hours, I was beatin' a man slap to death with his own mate. Swung that bastard like a proper cricket bat, I did, after using his bollocksack for an 'eavy bag. If they ain't dead, they're still in the 'ospital. And that one bloke's gonna get a ton o' offers to sing with the Vienna Boys' Choir, so that's good on 'im." He stopped speaking for a moment to set upon a particularly troublesome clump of starchy goodness, then continued, "What I did was brutal. Extreme brutal. Here's the thing: Two o' them was sellin' new designers, eh pills? Custom drugs what ain't on the police register yet, and they was pushin'em out back of a school a friend of mine's kids go to. Wheels of Justice spin slow sometimes, and deaths already 'appened on account o' them pills. Cops can't do nothin' yet, but I'd bet my second-favorite kidney them fucksticks ain't sellin' nothin' to them kids anymore."

"Sometimes, what's right ain't what's nice. Sometimes it ain't even what's legal. There's a line in the bloody sand, and it's way past 'grey area'. You gotta be a little darker, just to make sure it stops. Just to make sure nobody crosses that line again for a long, long time. Ya get me? People with the power to do so need to do it for them what don't. Long as you can claw your way back from the black, afters. That's why we're needin' people like El Jefe in the world. The..."

Keystone looked like he had more to say, but instead he quickly retrieved his company satphone from his pocket and viewed the summons, Inside, from Caesar. "Bein' paged." He opened the door to the security vehicle and set his yummy foodstuffs inside, then answered the call of his employer by returning to the bookstore.

"Yeah, Boss?"

"Need witnesses." He was holding up papers. The setup seemed pretty standard.

"Yeah, Boss."

[Morose]

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Cecily Ashworth

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Location: Highway to Hell Grimm
Skills: N/A

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Cecily couldn't help but giggle slightly, an honest smile on her face."I think if you say vroom vroom, that knocks you down at least five points on the macho masculinity scale," she said, still giggling a bit. It was nice to have a conversation that wasn't completely life or death - just to have a breather and get to tease her friend about his word choice. She felt safe around Roy and although he was essentially her partner, she also recognized he was basically old enough to be her father - and was probably already doing a better job at being supportive than her own parents had ever been.

She then nodded a bit, returning her attention to the topic of Roy's new partner. She could understand that paranoia, not really trusting people. Everyone seemed to be connected to what was going on in Justice one way or another. "Speaking of secrets... Natasha apparently had a connection to MSS," Cecily explained, glancing at Roy. "Her best friend's sister works for them - Lincoln couldn't remember the company name but he said it had blade or dagger or something like that in the title... And I don't think the universe is lazy enough for that to just be a coincidence..."

"She also told me she lied... I think about the murders. I just don't understand why she lied - from what I could tell, she was a good person who always did the right thing... Maybe it was for Lincoln but... If that's the case, then there's just something going on... I'm just not sure how to connect it all. I was wondering if maybe you did."

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Monday May 23rd, 2017

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Road To Grimm: "Ahh but I'm a cop so I have a permanent man card, so vroom vroom," Roy said with a bit of a chuckle. He turned his eyes to the road and did his best to keep them there. Last thing he needed right then was to get them into a wreck but he was listening to what she was saying.

"I'm more interested in what she lied about than why," Roy admitted. Sure, knowing why someone did something helped a lot of the time in cases. You had to set up a motive so you could prosecute people but Natasha was dead so he wasn't as concerned with the why as the what right then. "Okay, let's think on this. We got a long drive ahead of us. If she lied about something, we need to figure out what. What did she tell you - exactly - about the murders. Check your notes," he said as he kept driving.

Grimaldi Books: Claire snorted a bit and shook her head. "If everyone thought like they we'd all be fucked," she said but nodded as he said he was being paged. She watched for a minute and then figured she would stroll in and check out just what was going on. They didn't need a baby sitter for the car. If that had been the case they would have told her to watch it when the arrived. Stepping inside she watched as Adelaide picked up the papers and shoved them back under the counter.

"You are very right. I could tell you anything, thing is even constructing a lie takes time and it takes far more time and effort to construct a lie than give the truth. Lies you have to keep up with, you have to remember exactly what you lied about. It's like studying for a test and every moment after that lie is a final exam you pray you pass. The truth is easy, you never have to remember it. It just is," she said to his whole wordy uppity speech. "You know what, you can take you money and get out. And you can kick your own ass later for not getting answers because of your mouth," Adelaide stated flatly. "You can't get everything you want, even if you are willing to pay, by being this way." Fixing her wrap she stepped out from behind the counter and went over to Robert.

Claires eyes got a bit wide but she let out a huff and walked over to the woman. "Hey, can we talk?" she asked in her thick Boston accent with a smile on her face.

Grimm, Indiana - Ramada Inn: Bob looked up and listened to Riley before his eyes went to Priya. He looked at her confused for a minute before looking back down at his paper and smiling. "Ah-ha! Yes! That's right! Thank you!" he exclaimed before scribbling it in the boxes and sliding the paper aside and laying the pen on top of it. "Been stuck on that one for three hours," he admitted before taking his glasses off and putting them in his pocket folded up.

"Oh right, yeah, Tim came in a little while ago," he said looking around the counter for a minute. "I have everything..." he said as he kept looking. "Oh here we are," he finally said after another minute or two and pulled out a folder with a set of keys in it and a small stack of paper work. "Um, have drivers licenses? Just need to take a photocopy of them and get your signatures here and here," he said as he pointed on the papers. "Did you want the optional insurance coverage?"

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Grimm, Indiana, Car Rental Place
Skills: N/A

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Riley looked over towards Pyira for a moment when she answered the question that Bob had been stumped on, apparently it was a really hard one for him to answer. As Riley leaned forward a little bit, as she looked towards Pyira and smiled a bit and nodded slightly as she rubbed her arm slightly. "We can just say I beat you up then." Riley said with a slight laugh as soon as Bob found the paper work Riley nodded slightly as she started to dig into her wallet before pulling out her driver's licenses and slid it over towards Bob. "Here you go." Riley said, as she looked over at Pyira if she was going to do the same, she didn't really mind if it was just her information on the paper work or not.

"So, hows business anyway?" Riley asked, as she started to sign off on the paper work writing down her signature wherever it was needed. "It's been awhile since I've been in town anyway, I grew up here as well." Riley said, as she looked up at Bob for a moment still remembering he had a kid in school. "How's your son? He was from the high school right?" Riley asked as she finished with the last of the paper work, she just hoped that he wouldn't end up making the connection with her previous visit to town a few months ago either.

[Sigil]

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Caesar & Keystone

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Location: Chicago (Grimaldi Books -> Outside of Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A
Skills: N/A

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Caesar didn't react immediately as the paperwork he was holding was snatched out of his hand and shoved underneath the counter in front of him. He stuck the hand that once held said papers into his jacket pocket, and tilted his head slightly to the side. The proprietress apparently had a bit to say, following the nonverbal refusal of service. While it easily could have been a predictable monologue, there lay the remote possibility that she might say something useful, even in hindsight, and so Caesar continued his lack of reaction until the magic words were spoken: Get Out. Thus ended the legalities of his presence. The letter and spirit of a law that he disagreed with on a personal level was something he didn't overly care one whit about. This sort of scenario, if illegalities were pressed, stood to profit him nothing.

He spent the next half second in contemplative thought, followed by a simple, "Hmm." It wasn't an objection nor a flat refusal to Adelaide's demand for his removal of self from premises, nor was it a question in monosyllabic grunting form. It didn't particularly seem to be an acknowledgement that he heard and understood the intent behind the words, either, nor the wordless expression that he might have an idea forming in the interim. While such things were not beyond the man, it simply wasn't foremost at the moment. When Caesar did react, it was to pick up his phone and clear the open bank transfer application, as it would not be seeing use. "I'm sorry, ma'am." he said flatly. "Disfruta el resto de tu dia."₁ He held no illusion that the woman didn't speak Spanish as well as other languages. Many people seemed to these days.

When the older Mexican turned to leave the building, Keystone immediately moved to the door, himself. He held it open for Caesar and, just prior to exiting behind him, cast a slightly confused look, coupled with a shrug, back at Adelaide. She had apparently moved onto other business, so he simply called out in a voice that seemed friendlier than the conversation so far that day, "Thanks again f'that coffee, Miss!" He let the door close behind him.

Back on the streets of Chicago, the big man wondered how much closer they would be to the actual site they were supposed to be investigating were it not for this detour. Naturally, he wasn't very trusting of the magic letters that popped up on a closed electronic system over a pre-recorded movie of obscure origin that urged them to look for ...something... that cost more money than a decent sized house just to learn about. He began to understand Caesar's earlier hesitance, and the reason why he had made an attempt to alter details of the deal as it went on. Considering all that had gone on in recent weeks, this looked so, so very much like a setup of some kind.

It was extremely possible that the events of the party at Queensguard R&D were making him a little paranoid. The memory of it was still very fresh in his mind of how he followed protocol and beyond, put so many safeguards and as much personnel into play for that last-minute gathering, and set the best technical minds he could acquire on the job. Then he remembered that nothing helped in the least. About how, despite personal communications being online still, no one would report nor give him answers to direct questions. No one was stationed at their appointed areas after he put them there himself. Bad things kept happening and nothing even slowed them down. Even this last bit about the motor pool being robbed, after even more precautions were taken. Was it paranoia after that? And was it too much to think that this could be one huge trap? Another one? Keystone kept those thoughts to himself. What he did voice was another security concern.

"Been puttin' some graymatter to it, Boss. May'ap I ought not go back on the now, yeah? Things bein' arseways as they are, maybe we ought not split up. Can just as easy float a message on one of our secure services..."

"We don't have secure services, Keystone." growled Caesar, interrupting his subordinate. He just glared at the larger man, giving an expression of frustration and anger. "Everything has been compromised. Everything. You know this. My home. Building. Business. Tech. The plane. All compromised. No communication is safe. It has to be handled in person, quietly."

"Well lookit, El Jefe, it needs doin' in a timely bloody fashion, and me on a plane ain't timely. Get me? You an' me's gonna have to think of somethin' else to do, on the sodding now. Got anything indirect you can send what's faster than air travel?"

Caesar thought for a moment. "Maybe." Their new Tech Lead was his niece. Her father, Caesar's brother, was a priest. If nothing else, the Catholics were a highly organized bunch. He might be able to convince a local Church to send a message to his brother Benecio, who in turn may send one up to his daughter. Personal courier sent through channels completely unrelated to any of MSS's holdings in that part of the world.

Keystone could see the wheels turning in Caesar's mind. "Right! Maybe's better'n fuck-all. Got someplace we need to be in town?" he asked, the two of them making their way to the company vehicle. It sounded almost hopeful.

"Yeah. Need to go pray first."

That was NOT the answer Keystone was expecting.

Translations

1 = "Enjoy the rest of your day."

[ONL]

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Robert Adler

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Location: Chicago (Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A

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Things were getting tenser than church rat in a Cat-Beauty Contest. The Caesar fella was still keeping up his guard to them all, but mostly to Adelaide and the security company that he and the Brit was adement weren't to be trusted. Robert himself watched their stage-worthy exchange run its course while he walked up from standing in the staircase and leaning against the wall instead. He was familiar with the law, and the thought of brokering a deal had crossed him more than once. But the heated words from Adelaide to Caesar, Keystone and the new lady made him keep his mouth shut.

He wasn't getting paid to broker deals. Not today, and especially not by Adelaide.

Robert grabbed his cup of coffee while he watched as the defeated Caesar was led out by Keystone, undoubtedly having to leave without what they wanted when they first entered the book store. But hey, what had they given them? Only vauge hints of murder, conspiracy and illegal surveillance, but no more. But with the two guys out of the way, the lady stepped up to Adelaide as she had walked towards him. This was starting to plant the seed of "Being Pissed Off" in him. "I suggest you pick your words wisely, young lady. It's already been a dead-end with your two friends, and we've got important things to attend to. And you heard what she said; easy to be honest, difficult to lie." Robert told Claire flatly, a hint of annoyance flowing with his words as he lifted his coffee to take a sip.

[FantasyChic]

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Priya Khurana

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Location: Car Rental Place
Skills:N/A

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Priya couldn't help but smile. "You're welcome." She wasn't a crossword fanatic, but the fact she was able to think of that made her feel a bit warm inside. She ignored Riley's comment about having her say she punched her. She had hoped that if that were the case, Priya would have at least fought back and won. As badass as Riley appeared to be, she didn't know if the girl was capable in a fight. All she had heard was she killed some guy, so she had guts. Maybe that was enough.

She pulled out her wallet and took out her driver's license. She put it on the counter and waited for the man to do his thing while Riley chatted him up. Did she know everyone in town? Granted, it was a small town, but still. It was proving both useful and annoying at the same time, but as long as it got what they needed, who was Priya to argue with results?

[Morose]

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Cecily Ashworth

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Location: Highway to Hell Grimm
Skills: N/A

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Cecily shook her head slightly, giggling again at Roy going vroom vroom. She was still fairly convinced that his man card was going to be confiscated for that, but she dropped the subject, figuring she would just let him enjoy himself before the Macho Police came and pulled him over. She then nodded a bit at Roy's point. She was so fixated on the why did Natasha lie that Cecily hadn't considered nearly as much what she had lied about. It was a little bit embarrassing for her, but after everything, she knew she was an emotional mess so it wouldn't help to dwell on that.

Cecily took a breath, remembering the things Natasha had told her. "When she was dying... she said that she lied. Two... something I couldn't make out... killers," she recalled. She then thought back to everything Natasha had told her back in Justice. It felt like it had been a million years ago. They had been discussing the evidence that Natasha had found - it all had pointed to two killers. Natasha proposed that they both had been female, too. "She told me it was two female killers that took out Alicia and Lorna," Cecily then said.

"There weren't any confirmed matches in the system on what she could get... Some linked unsolved crimes that were passionate and varied, pointed her to female," Cecily recalled. However, she then bit her lip slightly as she peaked over at Roy. He was a part of this secret organization of supposedly all women. "Do you think it was maybe a different number of killers?" Cecily mused.

What could that middle word have been that Natasha said?

"Two... total... killers..." She then shook her head slightly. No one would say something like that. When people were dying and choking on blood, they tried to keep it as simple as possible. "...She told me there were two female killers..." Cecily whispered again, a potential solution dawning on her. "...Female, then. One of our killers...or both, even... isn't female." But why lie and say it was two females? "No, but if she hypothetically lied for Juno, why would she point at more women if that's the lie? When their organization seems to use women for everything... Or.... no, sorry, I'm confusing myself now... I think that has to be what she meant..."

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Monday May 23rd, 2017

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Road To Grimm: Roy sat there listening as he drove, letting Cecily get her ramble out. Thing was he thought she might be getting somewhere as she kept talking. "No, you're good," he said before turning onto the main highway south, now that they were out of Chicago.

"Juno hires men, look at me," he said and then sighing. "And your former boss," he added. "Maybe she was lying about the fact that it was two women. Juno could have easily sent a male in on the job. I don't know who the man is but I do know this. There is some fucker in the organization known as Mr. March. He seems to be their final stop in things. If what they call Aquaduct can't get it done or them personally, they send in Mr. March."

He stopped for a moment before pulling the car over at the side of the road and putting it into park. Turning in his seat he looked over to Cecily. "What if it wasn't Juno? What if Natasha wasn't lying about genders or number but the organization itself? Like trying to frame them?" Roy said before pursing his lips and lighting up a cigarette. "If they were forcing her to work, maybe she thought she could help take them down by framing them for someone elses murders?"

Grimaldi Books: Adelaide didn't speak Spanish but Italian was rooted and rather close. She was able enough to figure out that he wasn't saying anything bad. She just nodded and waited for the two men to leave before rolling her eyes. Just like a man, fucked up and instead of apologizing and trying to correct the situation, he just walked away. It was no skin off her teeth though. Looking over at the woman she had to smirk at Roberts words. He was right, they did have things to do and she was rather tired of being side tracked. Not that she wold have minded helping but Caesars logic seemed to be anything but logical. If he was trying to find out information, so what if he was there? If Wentworth had hacked her place, they already knew he was there. If she researched it, she would do it there, they would know anyways. Wouldn't it be better for him to actually be present so he could have the information at the same time instead of being a step behind? Seemed he wouldn't get the information at all because if Adelaide could do anything, it was hold a grudge. She'd let the world burn before she would do something nice for someone who she felt owed her one hell of an apology.

"Well what is it?" she asked to the girl.

"Yeah, listen, the boss, he ain't like us," Claire said and Adelaide gave her a look of you don't say. "I don't know what is going on but he's on edge and all I do know is whatever it is you might know he needs to know. Or fuck, what you could find out he needs to know."

"I don't care. I refuse to work with someone that feel entitled to anything. Especially my time. Especially to someone who tries to use guilt and fear and rudeness to get his way. He is no better than that fucker in the Oval Office right now. Pitches a tantrum during negotiations, walks out."

"You told him to leave."

"Didn't stop him from still talking."

"He apologized!"

"Level of apology should always be greater than need."

"Oh fuck, like we got time for this shit."

"Apparently you have all the time you need to still be here talking to me."

"Okay you got me there. Um, how about me? How about I do the research, if he pays?" Claire said and Adelaide looked over to Richard for a moment before shrugging. "Good, wait here!" she said before running out. Adelaide crossed her arms over her chest and watched the door.

"Think she will get fired?" she asked Richard.

Claire ran outside and over to Keystone and Caesar. "Okay, okay, got a deal. You pay, I do the research, I report back to you. That way shit gets fucking done but you and Miss Thang in there ain't gotta fucking deal with each other. That work boss?" she asked as she stood there bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Grimm, Indiana - Grimm Rent-A-Car: The man shrugged a bit. "Well, not a lot of people need a car these days, so slow," he said before giving a nod. Yeah, his son went to the high school, everyone in town did. Taking down their information he and wrapped things up. Keys were out for them. "2015, Ford Focus, out in the parking lot. Gray," he said as he finished up and made sure everything was in order. "Sheriff put you down as unknown for return and unlimited miles a day. No smoking in the car please."

Handing back over the licenses and a copy of the paper work he smiled slightly. "Think that is everything. Sheriff said to tell you he is at the station, hope the visit goes well. If you need anything just let me know and if anything happens to the car, just call here," he said handing over two business cards. One was for the rental place, the other was for a local car repair shop. "They'll take care of anything like flat tires, out of gas, and so forth if you have an issues. Think that covers it. Have a good day," he said.

Outside the car was in the parking lot, doors were locked, tank was full of gas. Tim was over at the station waiting on the girls. Time to get moving.

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Grimm, Indiana, Car Rental Place -> Streets of Grimm.
Skills: N/A

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Riley nodded slightly true a lot of people had their own cars, and only rented if they were out of town just coming off of a flight from somewhere. "Thank you, and I hope you have a nice day." Riley said as she accepted the paperwork and took her drivers license back as well as the keys slipped her license it into her wallet, and slipped her wallet into her pockets as well. Personally she didn't like the Ford Focus, but it would get them around town to wherever they needed while they were in town. She still really missed her old car, having been in a car wreck a week or two back. "I'll drive us there, it isn't that far from here." Riley said towards Pyira as she got out of the car rental and made her way to the car.

Riley seeing the car, she did like the color gray for it as Riley pressed the unlock button on the key she made her way to the car and opened the door. Once inside the car Riley opened the glove compartment putting the paper work in there for the time being, as she waited for Pyira to get in. "Now off to the sheriffs office." Riley said softly, remember spending a lot of the trip there last time at Grimm during the reunion, once Pyira had gotten in Riley put the key into the ignition and turned the car on and pulled out of the parking lot.

[Sigil]

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Caesar & Keystone

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Location: Chicago (Outside of Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A
Skills: N/A

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The discussion between the two security professionals outside of the highly specialized bookstore was the very picture of film noir drama, complete with accents not overly common to the Greater Chicago Area and long coats worn by the men exchanging the dialogue. If the world were suddenly deprived of the fuller spectrum of light and color, reducing visibility to mere greyscale, it would have made for a fine piece of classic cinema. Perhaps it one of them puffed on a lit cigarette and the wind carried a thin line of smoke that could be followed as a segue to the next supporting scene... but neither of them did. Caesar, once upon a time, but gave up the habit years and years ago. Still, the overall tone of their conversation was at contrast to the men and women elsewhere upon the street, simply carrying on their business and, quite possibly, trying to avoid eye contact.

Once the decision was made upon where the older Mexican wanted to hit next, there came an awkward couple seconds of silence as the two of them, Keystone and Caesar, could have sworn that they had forgotten something, though for the life of them it was beyond their scope to process except for the realization that there was a detail unaddressed. Thankfully, the answer came bounding out of the door to Grimaldi books immediately afterward. She even looked like she had positive news. Keystone looked at the woman with an amount of incredulity before piping up, "Wow, someone fished a tansy cake out o' the crapper, then didn't they, eh?"

Caesar gave his own perplexed look to his junior partner on this little expedition, curious as to whether this was a common British idiom or if the man made it up himself. Giving it consideration, he'd voiced several such oddities over the course of the time that Caesar had known the man, each equally as confusing as it was colorfully descriptive. For all he knew, Keystone stayed up late at night just figuring out new things to say in the hopes that someone would finally put him out of his misery. The older man did admittedly have a sudden urge to strangle him. He made a mental note to ask Keystone what a tansy cake was later on. His first action, however, was to recover his satphone and place a quick phone call to the MSS Chicago office. "Payroll. Gonzalez. Si." He tapped the toe of his engineer boot on the sidewalk four or five times before speaking again, "Yes. Standard salary increase in addition to the annual, to be applied immediately. Claire McManus. Cite for her file. Email to confirm. Gracias." He placed his phone back into his pocket and turned to the somewhat animated woman, "Message me with the account information and I'll wire the money immediately. Thank you."

Keystone casually slipped a business card in Claire's direction. They would apparently have to be in touch, and he wanted to take the initiative before channels had to be referenced or, heaven forbid, they had to go through the local office. "Ya know, you're bloody alright for a Beantown Mick, lemme tellya. Cheers then, Miss." He nudged Caesar with his elbow, following up with, "Was there somethin' else, Boss?"

"Yeah." said Caesar, albeit distantly. When all of this settled down, if he was still alive, he was going to institute mandatory annual psychiatric evaluations and CAT scans for all Special Projects agents in his company, starting with Keystone. "Is there a church nearby, that you know of? Catholic, I mean."

[ONL]

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Robert Adler

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Location: Chicago (Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A

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Oh great, she was pulling the I'm not like them card in front of them. Robert raised his brows as he took another slow, long sip of his cup of coffee. Clearly she had an even stronger desire to get the information that Caesar and Keystone had asked to gain access to, but was even more persistant. He looked at Adeliade and Claire as their dialouge continued to write itself like the scene from a law-based tv-show or something, silently judging the two of them. Mostly Claire.

And then she was off, almost certainly to tell her two employers, Robert assumed they were. Robert gave the same shrug back to Adelaide looking back at her. "If he's smart about it and accepts that she does the book-worming for him, he shouldn't. Then again he was not the brightest fork in the bookshelf earlier, so what do I know? I just deal in insurance. " Robert said back, giving a light chuckle at his words as he took another sip from his coffee. He needed a refill soon, drinking at the pace he did. "Speaking of which, still waiting for that answer on those Greek Underworlds and souvlaki." He asked, looking down into his cup and back up at Adelaide. "Please?"