Missing Students

Log Info

Title: Missing Students
Emitter: Adrian
Characters: Antigone, Tyche, Wilberforce
NPCs: Various
Place: Campus and the Pharmacy
Time: Early Afternoon; July 7, 2010
Summary: Adrian and Mariscka didn't come back to campus last night, so a few fellow students start looking for them.

Lunch has come and gone and Antigone, at least, senses an emptiness. Mariscka and Adrian, both absent and none seem to know where they might be. Strange. A simple matter to get into Rider Hall, a slightly more complex task to open the lock to Adrian's door. Antigone steps in and shuts the door behind her, looking over the room carefully. She pokes and prods at a few things, and then decides.

Something is wrong.

Antigone moves more quickly now, removing candles and a bag of sand from her bag. She sets up the candles in a wide triangle, drawing a circle from the three points and then bisectors from each point, placing more candles where those bisectors intersect. The mystic shrugs off her coat and sits crosslegged at one side of the symbol.

Adrian's room is very tidy. Everything in its place. Everything has a home. The only thing missing is his bright orange backpack. Apparently, Adrian is a neat freak. Who knew? Well… anyone who has been in his room here at Steranko would of course.

Tyche returned to her room only a few moments before Antigone arrived. Just long enough to drop off her book bag and try Adrian's cell phone. But in the midst of the attempt, she hears the door in the hall closing, and hangs up to rush out. "Adrian?" she calls, even as she moves towards his room. She knocks thrice. "Adrian?"

Antigone stays sitting on the floor, her hands on her knees. Her head jerks up and the door swings open rapidly. "Tyche," she says, looking serious and intense. That's helped, perhaps, by the big symbol in front of her and the many flickering candles. "I presume you have also noticed Adrian's absence? Come in, and watch. Be sure to shut the door."
You paged Antigone with 'Or would your ritual play for Tyche also? Kinda like a movie projection? Don't know what your SFX are.'
From afar, Antigone never defined it precicely. I was thinking it running as sort of a phantom play overlayed on the room, which would mean Tyche could see it as well.Perhaps that's too showy and outside of the ritual?

Because that's not creepy at all. Tyche stares at Antigone, then down at the door, then back to Antigone. "Uh." She slips in and shuts hte door behind her, then leans up against it. The conspicuous lack of bookbag draws her attention first, and she sighs. "Yeah. I don't sense him on campus anywhere. He wasn't in ethics class. He didn't come home last night. Tuesdays are always busy, so I expected him late, but … What're you doing in here, anyways?"

"Casting," Antigone says with a gesture to the glyph. "I have modified a spell to allow me to observe past events in this room. With luck it will show me when Adrian was last here and what caused him to depart."

"I can tell you that without a spell," Tyche says with a faint roll of her eyes. "He left the room to go to work. Took his book bag with him," she toes towards the vacant place by the desk, "so that he could do his homework if there happened to be a lull. We had an assignment due today. He went to the Pharmacy in town. We'd probably be better off asking Mister Mallory if anything happened, last night. Come on, I'll drive, and you can do the hocus pocus while I talk to Mister Mallory."

Antigone stares at Tyche, unblinking. "How do you know that?"

Tyche sighs and looks to Antigone with a bit of a sadenned expression. "Because I know Adrian's schedule, and I know Adrian, and I know exactly what time he left last night, and that he was in a good mood when he did."

Antigone makes a gesture. The candles go out, followed by Antigone scooping up the candles. Her feet kick at the sigil, wrecking it, but leaving the sand. Maintenance will get it, yes. "Very well," she says. She places the candles and her bag of sand back in her bag. She puts her coat back on - it helps hide her sword, conveniently - and then picks up her bag. "Let us make haste."

Wilberforce knocks on the door, "Hey, is that you in there Adrian?"

Tyche starts at the knock, and steps away from the door. She turns around, takes a breath, then pulls it open. "Yet another worried friend?" she asks, then smirks. "Antigone and I are heading into town to check up on what happened last night. He never came back from work." Beat. "Oh, and hi. I'm Tyche."

Wilberforce comes in from Common Area - Rider Hall
Wilberforce has arrived.

Antigone has everything ready to go. Her focus zooms to Wil as he arrives. "Hello," she says in a distinctly proper English accent. "Antigone." She offers a hand.

"Hey, I'm Wil. Wilberforce for being proper. Yeah, worried friend." Wilberforce says as he steps in and takes the offered hand, giving a half-smile towards Tyche and Antigone. "I just came back from town, there was an incident at the place he was working last night." Smile is gone, "Well, more the place was nearly destroyed. One guy is in the hospital and Adrian is missing. So is Mari, and from what I saw, they took her too."

"Wait … what?" Tyche's smirk vanishes, too, replaced by a look of brief confusion mixed with dread. "Someone attacked the /pharmacy/? Geeze," she takes a step back, into the room, "What …" she trails off, then shakes her head. "Tell us the story on the way. Antigone, I think your spell is definitely going to be needed." She slips past Wilberforce into the hall and rushes to grab her keys from the room just across the way.

Antigone too looks serious. Then again, she usually looks serious. She shakes Wil's hand and then takes it back. She slides past Tyche and Wil, heading for the parking lot. "A power nullifyer and a powerful mentalist and precog. A concerning combination," she observes.

Wilberforce turns and watches the two move out the door, "On the way where?" He follows along, "Well, the whole place is surrounded by police tape now. I found one of Mari's cards though in the mess. From what I heard three or four people were seen flying off from the scene after it happened. And one was left for the hospital in bad shape. I was going to track down a bit on the company he works for… since research companies make me suspicious by nature."

Tyche emerges from her room and starts towards the door, then stops dead in her tracks and glances back to Adrian's room. "Wil, could you grab a juice box from the refridgerator?" she asks, then heads back into Adrian's room herself and starts pulling open the drawers in his desk with no explanation. A moment later, she emerges with a small, clear medicine bottle and a syringe in her hand, and shuts the door behind her, "Let's go," and starts for the parking lot.

"I am sure we will find him in time," Antigone tells Tyche. She goes with both of them for the parking lot. When they arrive at Tyche's car, Antigone looks at the girl. Yours?" she asks. "I approve." She tosses her bag in the back seat and opens the door, sliding into the front passenger seat.

Wilberforce hits the fridge for a juice box. "Alright, one juice box." then he heads out with the others and helps himself to the back seat of the car. "Either of you have a smartphone? I could do a little looking up on this company the security guard worked for, see if they've got a facility nearby or something. Make myself useful back here and all."

Tyche pulls out her iPhone and hands it to Wilberforce as they reach the BMW in the school lot. She nods to Antigone and slides into the front seat. The red leather all smells and looks brand spanking new. It doesn't even have comfortable worn spots in the driver's seat, yet! "Hopefully AT&T's network won't crap out on you on the way in," she tells Wil before turning the key in the ignition. "Seatbelts, please," she asks as she puts her own on. And once everyone's strapped in, Tyche pushes on the gas. For once, the 'little miss perfect driver' manages to use the car for what it was intended, as she speeds down the drive, then down the road towards town, less than concerned about little things like Basic Speed Laws today.

Antigone has done just that, putting her seatbelt on even before Tyche tells her to. As the three tear out of the school, Antigone produces a large book from her bag. She opens it and flips to what seems to be a blank page. After a moment, it changes, and a map of the city forms, with a small dot moving along. Them, it seems.

Wilberforce belts himself in and gets the iphone browsing along, looking up the company Matthew Arthur works for and looking to see if they've got any facilities local. "I did find one of Mari's cards there… I bet they took the rest of them with them."

"Who's Maricksa, anyways?" Tyche asks over the rush of wind. "Is she another student?" She rolls through a yellow light without slowing down, then gets distracted by the book. Glance, eyes on the road … glance, eyes on the road. "What's that?"

"I met her once," Antigone explains. "A quiet girl. Her school records indicate she is a powerful telepath and precog, using the tarot as a focus. I am unsure as to the details of her powers." She narrows her eyes at Tyche. "Focus on your motoring," she chides. As for the book, she answers with one word. "Efficient."

"She's my girlfriend." Wil gets out the important information first, at least from his perspective. "She'll be a freshman this fall, has a drom in Jones Hall. She didn't show for breakfast and so I started poking about." He switches gears, "The guy she stuck a sword in works for Scion Pharmaceuticals, they're in Baltimore, San Fran, New York and.. Cleveland? They've done government work too."

Tyche chirps around a corner and glances back at Wilberforce, then does indeed 'focus on her motoring'. "Baltimore's going to be the nearest. If we don't turn anything up at the pharmacy, I guess we'll be making a daytrip of it. Check the news; see if there's been anything mentioned about them lately?" She rushes through yet another stale yellow. Almost to the pharmacy!
The little dot moves along in Antigone's book, tracking their progress to the pharmacy. "Congratulations to you both," Antigone says over her shoulder to Wil.

You paged Wilberforce with 'There aren't any truly recent news articles about them, but a Google search will yield that the company was sold two years ago for a considerable sum of money. Further looking into this indicates that they are no longer simply working on pharmaceuticals, but also military technology. The company's stocks are pretty level with no major ups or downs. About ten years ago they finalized a major contract with the military for an energy-booster.'

"Congratulations?" Wil asks then shrugs, turning his attention to seeing if Scion has been making the news lately with anything. After a bit he shares what he's come across. "They were bought two years back for a big pile of money. Now they're branching out into military tech beyond just pharmaceuticals. Nothing else interesting really, they do have a big military deal for some kind of energy drink or something."

Tyche frowns as she thinks over the information being given. "Military tech, energy drink, pharmaceuticals research. Anyone remember the Super-Soldier programs?" she asks, as she rounds the last corner and pulls her car into the lot. Here, she at last slows down, as she pulls as near the store as she can get to find a parking spot.

When they finally get to the Pharmacy it is indeed covered with yellow crime-scene tape. Nothing has changed about the place since Wil was here earlier this morning. Across the street the apartment building also has crime scene tape over one window that shows evidence of a fire. The windows at the front of the store are all busted out, broken glass litering the sidewalk. One thing that's different from this morning. There's no police cruiser out there and the Mallory's have come and gone.

Antigone closes her book, tucking it under her arms as she slides out of Tyche's car. She grabs her bag a moment later, walking towards the crime scene, looking it over with a careful, if at the moment mundane, eye. "Empty," she concludes. "It appears the scene has been preserved." She boldly lifts up the tape and ducks inside.

Wilberforce slides on out of the car as well. "They've been about taking photos earlier this morning. I was hiding out while they did that. And I've been through it as well, pulled out one thing I know Mari will want back." He stops shy of the police tape and looks around, then over at the apartment building. "Didn't get a chance to check out that building while I was here earlier though. Wonder if it was collateral, or the initial target."

Tyche doesn't get out right away. Instead, she remains in the car with her eyes closed for half a moment and steadies her breathing. A few moments later, she gets out at last and chirps the alarm behind them. "Antigone, how long does your spell take?" she asks, looking around the area thoughtfully.

"Perhaps ten minutes," Antigone answers, "The exact interval depends on the specific mystic energies present." She pauses a few betas. "You seem unsteady," she says to Tyche.
Wilberforce drifts a little away from the two as they discuss something about a spell, his attention on the damaged apartment building for the moment. "I think I might go take a look over in that apartment, see if there's something over there…"

"I'm fine," Tyche promises Antigone. "If it's alright by you, I'm going to link our minds telepathically, then go with Wil to check out the apartment. If anything goes weird, just tell me mentally and we'll come running, okay?"

A nod from the mystic. "Acceptible," she says. "Thank you for asking, before doing so," Antigone adds. She puts down her bag and starts puling out her things, the sand and the candles, laying down an arrangement quite similar to what she was using in Adrian's room. "A fine idea, Wilberforce. Please be careful."

Wilberforce gives a bit of a nod and hands back over the iPhone. "My phone at least has a camera on it. Think the traffic along here is light enough we can risk a quick entrance by the broken out window?" He asks as he eyes the apartment across the street, trying to get an angle that might show if there are people moving about inside the damaged apartment.

"Better to ask permission and be turned down than to ask forgiveness and not receive it," Tyche's mind gently speaks into Antigone's. "Let me know when you're done."

"We could just go in through the front door and knock," Tyche offers to Wilberforce as she takes the iPhone and slips it in her back pocket. Following him towards the street, she studies the apartment as well. "Do you think skulking about will get us more information than asking?"

Antigone takes a seat on the floor, along one side of her triangle glyph. The candles all light at once and she puts her hands on her knees. Antigone's breaths are even and steadied, focused, careful, as she focuses on the magic she needs to do.

"Well, we could try that first." Wilberforce grins a bit, "Guess that's the more mature way to go about it, right?" He takes a look then starts across the street for the front door of the apartment building.

"We're supposed to be the ethical superheroes, right?" Tyche asks with a faint smirk as she follows Wilberforce across the street. And up the front of the building to try the door.

It's a three story apartment building. And the front door leading into the lobby is unlocked. There's a guy sitting at the front desk looking annoyed because he's filling out a stack of paperwork that probably has to do with the fire.

Antigone's spell comes to fruition a bit sooner than she'd expected. Phantoms fill the space, shadows of people she knows. It plays out quickly, an accelerated version of events. Adrian coming to work, the busy patrons, Mari hanging out and doing her homewor, the visit from other, Camille, Linus, Jerry and Sunday. Soon after there's the thunderstorm, the flashes of lightning filling the shop. The figures appear, three of them in dark colors, ski masks, gloves. A woman, it appears, wielding scythes who goes to battle with Camille. Somebody who throws lightning around, and a bit brute who, thankfully, gets a sword through the gut. The key point, where Antigone freezes the flashback, comes when a bolt of lightning hits Adrian and Mari, knocking them out and allowing them to be teleported away.

Wilberforce holds open the door to let Tyche go in first as soon as he spots the guy with the paperwork. "Maybe you'll have some luck getting us past that guy?" He says as he holds back, letting her head on in as he hangs back near the door.

Tyche makes her way in right beside Wilberforce, then pauses and frowns in thought. "I can sure try. If the door to the apartment's locked, do you think you can get in without a key?" Tones all very hushed. She waits just long enough for an answer before putting on her best smile and gliding up to the man behind the desk. "Hi there," she says, giving the man a good once over as she settles on the far edge of the desk. "You look bored out of your mind."

Wilberforce gives a quiet, "Easily…" as he waits for the distraction before he starts to slink his way across the foyer and to the stairs going up to the upper floors. He could probably be slinkier if he went super low to the ground, but he'd rather not be seen doing something bizarre just in case they've got a security camera on the lobby and front door.

Her drama still frozen, Antigone stands up, walking through the still tableau. She looks at one of the attackers, eyeing him up and down. Tyche, she thinks, It appears, judging by his abilities, that one of the attackers was Torrent, a former graduate of the Institute - he has not been heard from in perhaps five years. He electrocuted Adrian and Marisicka and extracted them with a teleport.

"Completely bored," the man behind the desk drones. He looks up, prepared to scowl at whoever is bother him, but smiles instead when he sees Tyche. "Though, I think my afternoon just improved. I haven't seen you here before… you new?" Pause. "You're not a reporter or something? Because there's really nothing to say about last night that hasn't been said already. I wasn't even here. It was my night off." He shifts the papers, lifting them up, "And yet I still get stuck filling out all this crap."

Wil has a clean line to the upstairs and that second floor apartment. It's obvious which one it is because it's the only one on the second floor that's been sealed with crime scene tape and there's soot around the door from the fire that had raged within.

Tyche shrugs a little and leans over to look at the paperwork. "Yeah, we moved in a few weeks ago. I'm Carrie," she offers, looking back up at him to feed the lie a little more. "So what happened, anyways? I was out at the movies, and then got home and saw the fire department. Did someone blow up their stove," she flinches a bit at the news from Antigone, but attempts to maintain a straight face nonetheless, "or something?"

"Electrocuted?!" Tyche's voice touches Antigone's mind. "Please tell me you don't mean he killed them. Have you figured out where they were taken? How to track them down?"

Hardly. It appears they were stunned. Given that they were teleported….I may be able to locate them, if they have not gone far. I cannot promise any particular success, sadly. Antigone releases her hold on the magics, letting the scene around her fade out. Is your task proceeding well?

Wilberforce eyes the door, actually glad to see the soot showing that it's not an airtight door, like anyone bothers to put them on an interior entrance. He waits for the hallway to clear, then slides in underneath the bottom edge of the door and into the damaged apartment.

Wilberforce will find an apartment empty of people. There's severe fire damage in here covering the furniture and everything within. It looks like the lightning struck the window, lit the curtains and then just went completely out of control.

"George," the man tells 'Carrie' holding out his hand. "I wish it were just a stove blow up. Less paperwork involved in something like that. You gotta fill out extra forms when neohumans are involved. Some pyromaniac neo tried to burn the place down. There were kids in that apartment." He shakes his head, "Not to mention everyone else that lives here. Luckily someone stopped her. The kids said it was a little blonde girl with bright pink lipstick. But you know, kids…" He shrugs.

"Probably making it up," Tyche says agreeably. She takes George's hand, squeezes it gently, then says, "I hear some people wound up kidnapped across the street. You heard anything about that?"

"Wil's checking out the apartment. I'm talking to Bozo the Clown a the front desk. Do what you can to locate them; we'll be back there in five minutes or less."

"Kidnapped? Really? I hadn't heard anything about that. Mrs. Parker in 3F was outside for most of it, because she was walking those yappy dogs of hers? Anyway, she said there were a bunch of kids over at the Pharmacy like always, but then the lightning started and cars were getting friend and the building caught on fire…" George shakes his head, "She didn't say anything about kidnappings, just said two teens flew out of the building and one of 'em busted the glass." He scratches his chin. "Doubt she told the cops that. She doesn't like cops. But yeah, didn't hear nothing about kidnappings… just that our building and the Pharmacy turned into Neo Battlegrounds."

Wilberforce finishes his look around then slithers on back out of the apartment and comes downstairs again. He doesn't make as much effort trying to be stealthy leaving, as he figures someone on their way out probably doesn't trigger as much of a look as someone coming in. And he wants to make sure Tyche sees that he's cleared out.

The search can take some time, Antigone informs Tyche. It may be best if I return to campus so I may cast uninterrupted, and allow Wilberforce and yourself to proceed in your investigation.

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