Mar 30 22:51:42 108 PA - Comparative Intelligence for a Lead
From Chronicles
Mar 30 22:51:42 108 PA.
NIGHTINGALE
It's nearly the end of the month, and while the classy crowd probably isn't here for it, more than likely some people are using it as an excuse to drink. The music is somewhat muted tonight, as are the lights. Really just an elegant, swanky air tonight. Gabriel is sitting up at the bar counter itself, brown translucent bottle in hand, apparently talking up a pretty blond girl with a third eye in the middle of her forehead.
While the meeting may have been arranged, Sage has used the atmosphere to her advantage and slipped into the place while the man was busy chatting it up with a girl at the bar. She picks out a table towards the fringe of the place where less people are located. She even gets herself a drink before she goes to contact the man. Instead of a normal manner, it is by reaching out to touch the man's mind telepathically. << Hello, Gabriel... >> She greets the man before adding the next bit, << Third booth on the right... >>
The older man's eyes blink a few times in rapid succession before he turns - surprisingly calmly - to look as instructed. Ah. Gabriel apparently orders the girl another drink before dismissing himself and weaving his way slowly over towards Sage's table. "Evening, Miss Sage," rolls out of his mouth in a thick drawl tonight. He eases himself into the seat across from her bench seat, assuming from the invitation, both now and earlier in the day, that he needn't ask. "May I buy you something?" His own bottle is now placed on the table. Soda. Again.
Sage may indulge in catching the man's reaction but she doesn't speak into the man's mind further for the time being. She smiles faintly before nodding in acknowledgment of the man's greeting, before letting the man settle into the booth. "Not right now, thanks." She comments before gesturing her glass faintly. "I'm not sure what you want to talk about first, though."
Gabriel shakes his head sadly. "Mr. Black and all the crap that's been going on with him, or after him. I just keep coming up short on almost every avenue that I try to look into. Anyway, I do have a few things, and figured that maybe I could blather on to you about them, maybe you'd see some new
Sage raises a brow faintly at the man's responses, before nodding faintly. He has been the major legwork part in this particular operation. She makes a mild dismissive gesture with her hand as the man apologizes for the hour. "It's alright and I am doing well. Yourself?" She asks before taking a moment to sample her drink.
It's about nine in the evening, and the Nightingale is apparently having a special night, as the atmosphere is particularly classy. Quieter music of a careful selection, muted lighting, and apparently someone got the word out, because the crowd even seems to be dressed nicer than normal. Very slick. Sage and Gabriel are off in a distant corner booth, away from many other people. Obviously not trying to hide, but perhaps not completely wanting to be found by the wrong type of person, either. "Can't complain, thanks." He tilts back his Donovan's Fizz briefly. With a little sigh, he holds out a hand, palm raised. "Don't suppose you have anything interesting?"
Sage purses her lips as she considers the question, "I have sensed something, but I will let you decide whether its interesting or not." She comments, "It would seem that hawk is tied into this, after all... unless there is some other network with an evil core that wishes to keep track of me." She offers, before shrugging faintly. To a passerby, the comment is likely ambiguous enough that it would be dismissed as odd conversation at best.
Erica walks into the club dressed appropriately in her regular club dress. She makes her way over to the bar while taking her time looking around the place. Arriving at the bar she sets her purse on the bar while climbing up into a bar stool. She smiles briefly at the bartender before ordering herself a mixed drink. She relaxes on her barstool while listening to the music.
Perhaps trying to be equally vague to other passers-by, Gabriel offers, "Interesting. Sounds like more than I know. Just a little about aliens and truckers associated with the man. This whole new business deal, I just don't think that it's healthy for the city."
Sage hms softly before nodding faintly, "So, aside from a tidbit or two, there's not much to really talk about is there?" She asks simply, trying to cut to the heart of the matter. She offers a faint shrug, << Anything that'd be trouble to mention? >> She inquire softly into the man's mind.
Erica nods in thanks to the bartender as she gets her drink. She starts stirring it with her straw while her head nods in time with the music. She dangles one of her heels from a foot while she takes out a paperback from her purse. She flips the book open to where the bookmark is and starts idly reading.
Gabriel shrugs, perhaps to the question in his mind. In fact, probably. "Nothing Earth-shattering. Guy was scavenging around the time that our client went dead, I got a vague description of his kind, I'm trying to track him down. But it'll take a while. It's a vague description, and the city's a big place. Plus, there's a chance that he's just bouncing dimensions anyway, so might not even be around." The man slaps the table very slightly. "I don't know, maybe that's a total bunny run. Also looked into the guy who was running shipping with Brian." If there's more, it's not said, as the man punctuates it by sipping at his bottle. It's at that moment that Erica's form is spotted at the bar, and he smiles, thinking for a moment. To Sage, quietly, "I don't know everything she does, maybe you do. Maybe Erica could jump-start this damn thing?"
Sage purses her lips, "If he is bouncing dimensions, that might make him both easier and harder to find." She comments, << Leonard. >> She adds mentally, before shrugging faintly and taking another sip from her drink. After she lowers her glass she raises a brow faintly to the man's comment before glancing towards Erica. "I've had an idea or two... but you might not like them." She adds, before getting a mischievous look as she shifts her mental attentions to Erica. << No books allowed. >> She mentions with a mock-serious mental tone.
Erica jumps a little bit in her seat as the voice echos within her head. Her head darts around to look over at the club. Spotting the booth where Gabriel and Sage are lurking she sticks out her tongue childishly at Sage. She puts her bookmark back in her purse and places it back in her purse. Picking up her drink she climbs down from her barstool and starts walking over to the booth.
The older fellow can't help but catch sight of his good friend and now ex-instructor walking over. Still, as per the pseudo-cloak-and-dagger action going on, he just keeps recognition low key - a salute of his bottle. Back to Sage, he arches an eyebrow. "Okay. Well, before get to things I won't like, let me drool out the rest. You remember that Theo guy that got mentioned? Black hired him for shipping, Brian was really glad the new company gave him a job. I thought he might be a good lead. But... he's an ogre by race, runs a small shipping business with as far as I can tell a single hovertruck, and everyone seems to like him. Yes, he does a lot of work for the new company, but that's all I have on him." Gabriel shrugs. "Okay, tell me what I don't want to hear before we upset Erica." He grins, knowing that there would be no upset. Just a silly joke.
"An ogre?" Sage asks with faint surprise, as the name didn't seem to hint at that sort of heritage. She pauses to nod faintly at the man's comments, coming to the conclusion that there isn't much information so far. "Well, if we're going to be able to keep find the hawk's roost... it might take someone that's more aware of things than the normal person and I hear juicers are such... either that, or some sort of techie person." She adds before shrugging faintly, "Not set in stone, though."
Erica makes her way over to the booth, weaving through the various tables and other people at the club. After a few minutes she arrives at the booth and smiles warmly at both Gabriel and Sage. She scoots in to the booth before talking. "Hey, how are you both?" She asks before sipping briefly on her mixed drink.
"Frustrated," comes Gabriel's first grunt. "But other than that, sure, life's good. Glad that Spring is finally here, right?" Despite what the weathergirl on Channel 5 has to say, conditions outside Happy Days Inn are those early of the new and warmer season. "How about you? Worried that I might jet myself headfirst into the ground?" He grins widely before sipping from his bottle again.
Sage offers a small smile to the other woman, before poking the other woman with hand or toe of her shoe - whichever is more convenient - in light retaliation for the childish gesture that greeted her mental comment. "I'm doing well enough." She replies, but the other man seems to inquire about the other woman's state of being that she doesn't feel the need to ask a second time. She does let some amusement show at the man's last comment, "I would think a wall would be more likely."
"Oh I am doing fine. I am not too worried about you hitting the ground. You are competent enough." Erica says with a laugh in her voice. She looks at Sage as she is poked and chuckles to herself. "You'll be fine." She says with a dismissive wave of her hand at Gabriel. Picking up her drink she takes a little sip of the cocktail.
Gabriel chuckles himself a little at the antics of his pair of friends. "Yeah, I'll be fine as long as I stay out of range and maintain my equipment - and no surprises." Clearly though, he puts great trust in Erica. "We have a problem. No body else in the city seem to think it's a problem, but two of the four of us who got involved are dead - which really leaves us with a finite skill set, y'know?" He sips at his soda. "You want to be burdened, perhaps put in danger by helping out - if you can? Hate to do that to a friend unless I'm really in a bind."
With the playfulness of the moment seem to get dimmed when the man speaks about the other two of their party having died, Sage falls quiet. She doesn't seem to have anything to comment about that. She instead takes the moment to listen to the music and a sip a little more from her drink.
Erica shrugs her shoulders briefly at the request for help. "Sure I'll offer what help I can give. It isn't like I know a hell of a lot though. But I'll give you what I can do." Her fingers idly stir her drink using her straw. "What is the problem?"
Oooh, ouch. A glance at Gabriel's face would show that he'd momentarily forgotten about Sage's wound. Still, sometimes it's best to just let things go, which is exactly what he does. Saying nothing, no excuse, apology, praise... just moving on, as life does. The Kentuckian sets his bottle off to the side, then leans his forearms on the edge of the table - no elbows - and clasps his fingers together lightly. "It started with an act of philanthropy. Hired to free some slaves, and we did. They have odd injuries that I'll leave up to Sage to explain in more detail." A nod is offered in the other woman's direction. "Then the man who hired us was killed under very suspicious and fairly obvious circumstances after closing a deal with the big Titan Robotics company that's going in up by the Landing Strip. Then his second man turned up dead. Made to look like a suicide, pretty sure it wasn't. But *now* almost every useful line of investigation I've tried has failed, the few that have succeeded I don't know if they matter at all, and well, fuck it, I'm at a wall." Pause. "Sorry for the language, ladies. This is supposed to be a classy place right now."
Knowing the other two at the booth, Sage pays no mind to the lack of apology as there doesn't seem to be anything to do but move on. She has begun to do so, but there's still a tender spot. The man's comments about the injuries does bring a distraction, but it isn't pleasant judging by the grimness that creeps into her expression briefly. "A partnership between the two dead men." She adds simply, before shrugging to the man's apology.
Erica frowns slightly as she taps her lips with a finger while she thinks. She doesn't talk for a few minutes. "Well not sure how much I could help. I am not really aware of anything going on with Titan Robotics. Do they have any business people that haven't died? If so I would go talk to them. Perhaps they can shed some light on what is going on."
"Only two bigwigs that I'm aware of. Client was Jeremy Black. His gardener of all people told me that the night he died, he was hosting a party to commemorate some kind of deal between himself and the Titan corporation. Don't know exactly what the deal was, but based on other things that have come up, it was probably shipping." Gabriel waves away what is probably extraneous information. "Two men from Titan, Tharen Stele and Argent Goodson. Unfortunately, either I'm an idiot, or they're very crafty, because that's all that I've been able to find -- their names. I suppose we could bring in Miss Vixen on this thing for surveillance, Sage?" The last bit sounds as if it just occurred to him as a possibility.
Sage considers Gabriel for a moment, before frowning faintly. "Whatever happened to the idea of talking to Theo? Thought that was the plan...." She trails off, as if unsure exactly how long ago that was. This has been an investigation she hasn't really been a driving force behind. "We could be chasing our tails considering one possibility or other with anything else."
Erica looks over at Sage and then nods her head slightly. "Sure you never know where you can get leads. If this Theo guy can help maybe that will help you piece things together." She says with a helpless shrug. "I am not the best at investigating sometimes. I'll be happy to help you if you get some leads though."
Gabriel seems to think for a moment. "Well, Sage, now that I'm *comfortable* talking to this Theo guy... doing my best to make sure there wouldn't be a double-cross, which you have to worry about, we should make time to talk to him." He nods a few times. His only suggestion to Erica is, "I know - or at least, am pretty damn sure that I know - that Titan's manufacturing is actually done out west. You're a tracker *and* you can fly long distances. Any chance you could hitch one of their lines and trace 'em back? I sure would like to know what's happening there, because 'there' is a real secret that doesn't make me warm inside."
Sage ahs softly, "I see." She comments with a mildly dubious undertone. She refrains from further comment as she takes a sip from her drink as she drains it further towards finishing it. The next part causes her to raise a brow and glances over towards Erica.
"With how secret Titan Robotics is they would kill me if they found me following them. I can't hide from radar Gabriel. I wouldn't blame them. Don't want competitors finding out where they manufacture." Erica says before sipping on her drink. "Yah sorry I don't think that would work out well for me at all."
"Can't hurt to ask," Gabriel allows. Then adds with a slightly furrowed brow, "At least, not with most things. Too bad, though. The speed at which they hit the city just seems, well... unusual. Not that I've been around here all that long to really know. Just based on my own experience." After a quick sip, he finally gets around to asking, "So, Sage - what's up with the hawk? You both sure I can't buy you something?"
Sage considers the comments shared by Erica and Gabriel before she looks to Gabriel. "Gabriel..." She comments, "this question will probably be a little odd... but you aren't a boxer, are you?" She asks simply, before simply shrugging. "Like I said, I sensed it was a tool and the puppet-master has an evil feel... whether it can lead us anywhere useful is hard to say."
Erica finishes off her cocktail with a final sip. She places the empty glass on the table. At Sage's question she chuckles softly to herself. "Sounds like an interesting animal." She offers with a shrug of her shoulders "I have to depart though. I have an early morning tomorrow. Though if you need me for anything just give me a ring on my radio."
A mild roll of his eyes at Sage's comment precedes a congenial, "I'm not a boxer, but I do know how to throw a punch and defend myself. But to answer your question, I did take a heavy blow to the head when Natasha and I were honeymooning on the Wind Spirit out on the Med. Guy had sold us out, blew our cover back in Kiev, turned out to be this British SOE traitor who made it onto the ship." Gabriel continues the story that wasn't even invited. "We were up on deck, it was night, almost no light. Bastard clubbed me with the butt of a shotgun, damn near knocked me out, *then* I got two barrels of twelve-gauge slug to the gut, off to the side here -" he pokes the proper area of his body. "Natasha, she slit him from behind. I almost bled out before we made it to Monaco, but... here I sit." He holds his hands up and slightly to the sides, shoulder-level. "Apologies if I wasn't paying complete attention, I have a number of things on my plate at the moment." Then, eventually making his way to his other friend, a polite nod. "Take care, Erica. And yeah, I have your number. Or frequency. Whichever works. Be safe." He lifts his bottle in a short salute, smiling.
Sage blinks at the man as he rattles off a story from her past before shaking her head, "No, I was just going to say when it comes to certain things, it seems to worry more about the small stuff hurting you than the main threat." She comments simply, "This investigation is going to get dirty before the end, and anyone involved will be lucky if they're just a little battered around." She pauses to look over towards Erica. "Okay, take care of yourself."
Erica gets up to take her leave. She smiles at both Gabriel and Sage as she stands. Raising up a hand she gives them both quick little waves. "See you both." She says while she strides off to the exit.
With only a shrug, "The devil's in the details. The more small stuff you take care of, the less stuff there is to lump together into something big when you get right down to it. There obviously isn't any huge rush, an if there were, the trails are already cold enough that they won't get any worse. Not that I don't want to see it solved. I'm just being safe and realistic about things, Miss Sage." Gabriel smiles and sips from his drink. "Believe me, when there is an actual large problem that needs my immediate attention, it gets it. But I apologize if I'm being annoying. We'll talk to Theo soon." He watches as Erica moves off toward the exit.
"Its okay. This situation is more yours than it is mine." Sage comments, "I appreciate your desire to be safe, but I can't help feeling that this will quickly become dangerous if progress is made. You're going to get hit anyway, so you might as well see it coming." She offers a faint shrug, "Is there anything else we should talk about in the meantime?"
Gabriel stops to consider. "I suppose not. Neither of us has much to tell. I know in my heart that Titan is behind this, I know in my heart that Titan is bad for more than just the health of two people. I think they're bad, maybe so much as to say evil, for the entire city. Whatever toes we step on, they'll be big ones. Which is why we need to be cautious." He smiles and sips from his bottle. "I don't want to keep you, if I'm keeping you. There are plenty of nice ladies to talk with tonight - you don't have a monopoly." He grins widely at the last statement.
