Case 1: A Metal Prank

[Angelic Crux]

Lindsay wasn't one to ever really seem eager. But there was a quickness to how she followed at Mia's heels. Like there wouldn't be enough if she was late. Even if she knew that wasn't true. It felt like it might be.

And yet, even so, as the trunk opened, she hesitated. A glance up at Mia before she reached in and took a granola bar... and stuffed a second one in her hoodie pouch. She would've tried to make it two in one swipe, but she didn't have big hands. But, as her eyes went to the diet coke, they flickered to the water, too. Water like she'd once not seen, way way below a plane, going over the Atlantic.

"Can I... stay in the car? There's just... I want to try to see something."

It shouldn't have been a big ask. But she knew she was scruffy and maybe Mia thought she'd want to drink the anti-freeze or steal the change in the cup holders. Lindsay didn't really blame people for thinking she was a punk. She blamed them for sucking.

And Mia was the opposite of someone who sucked. So Lindsay, despite herself, wanted Mia to like her. And that meant having permission to sit in the car.

[dunderklumpen]

"You've saved us a lot of time running through all that red tape. It's probably nothing, but my Captain will kill me if I don't come back with something. You're a lifesaver."

Kenna pulls out her own notebook and takes down the relevant dates, times, and places.

"And, no need to take the file. We just need a few details from it, right Officer?"

When she feels like she's got the essentials. She turns to Officer Mori.

"I think maybe we should head to the hospital and have a word with Mr Levine assuming he's still at the hospital. I think our colleagues can handle the apartment."

[Inquisitor D]

"Sounds good to me, boss." Officer Mori takes a second to throw her paper coffee cup into the bin. Before they leave though, she takes a paper napkin, scribbling a few numbers on it before passing it to Janine. "Thanks again for the help, ma'am! Here's my cell. We've got a fair bit to track in the area. If anything... strange happens, you can give me a call. This way it's off the scanner, the sheriff can't get at you. If we get a break, we were 'just in the area', and can call it in to help out. Everyone's happy, right?"

Once they're out of the office, Mori's silent for a bit, letting the two walk. Once they've made some distance from the station, she starts talking. She doesn't turn to look at Kenna, and her voice is quiet. Not quite a whisper, but tough to overhear. "You want me to keep this up? Dunno if 'Officer Mori' is more useful or more problem for you."

Inwardly, Myrtle sighs. This could be a problem. People's tendency to forget the supernatural usually helps cover her tracks, but when someone else's real life is involved... this is a profoundly mixed bag. She risks a glance behind her, just to make eye contact with Kenna for a second. "Sorry, by the way. For not checking before doing this. I'm... still not used to working with other people. Just figured you could use help too. And 'random civilian following a detective around' would raise more questions."

Edited February 22 by Inquisitor D (see edit history)

[dunderklumpen]

"Are you kidding? That was amazing!"

Kenna regards Officer Mori. It's actually hard to think of this as Myrtle. She doesn't really know her that well, so, in many ways. Mori is the realest version of Myrtle that Kenna knows.

"That was a good call. Cops generally don't speak to civilians, and it definitely would have looked weird if I had just run in there with someone in tow.

"It threw me a bit at first, but there really wasn't time to give me a heads up and I didn't think that you could, um, change so fast."

"And you sure did a number talking Janine around."

Kenna is silent for a while while they walk. She doesn't feel comfortable talking about herself, so she needs to work her way into it.

"I don't know if you'd noticed, but I'm not aces at sweet-talking people. I can bash their heads against a wall when they need it, but I'm not a people-person. You're fake-cop is probably a better cop than me."

"We shouldn't need an extra uniform for the interview, so if you're not comfortable, you can drop it, but it's fine by me if you want to keep the look for a bit."

Edited February 24 by dunderklumpen (see edit history)

[Inquisitor D]

"Aww, boss! Don't sell yourself short. And don't oversell me, either." Mori steps back, throwing her arm over Kenna's shoulder and grinning at her new friend. It's... easier to talk to people like this. Easier to be direct, positive, open. Even as she lets the boss go, and the topic turns to more 'Myrtle' matters, that Mori smile doesn't quite leave. She's just a little quieter.

"I'll keep it in mind. But rapidly changing faces comes with problems. If Janine or the sheriff's mob run into you after this, and I'm not around, they'll start asking questions. She knows we're working together, and the other two saw us go in. So for now, let's stick with Mori."

It's surprising how much she has to think about life as a stage show now. Sightline of the audience, exits and entrances for a costume change. Mori laughs, "Only problem is it isn't too easy to carry my case around like this. If people see a cop hefting some great big mystery object? More questions!"

It's the main reason she's ever used her true appearance on an investigation. It's hard for almost anyone to justify carring something like that. All the same, Mori stretches her arms out. "Still, nice... just to get to walk, if I'm honest with you. Beats my last day job!"

[Morphling]

Mia raises a brow at Lindsay curiously. "You want to wait in the car? I mean sure, I guess. Just don't drive off with it while I'm gone." She grins at the lame joke, and uses the button on her keys to unlock the passenger doors. She almost turns to head to the apartment, but pauses, looking at Lindsay again. "What are you going to try anyway?"

[Angelic Crux]

"There goes my master plan..." she mumbled. It wasn't quite to the point of being a joke, a kind of half-baked witticism one could walk back if it didn't land. It was okay not to be witty, but trying to be witty and failing was a good reason to throw yourself out a window when you hung out with high-schoolers.

Lindsay opened the door after its squeak, flopping in. She wasn't very gracious. At all. But, one foot still hanging a bit out the door, Mia asked her. And she paused. 'cause she she didn't like the idea of saying she'd bring back something when she never really knew what she'd find sifting through herselves. Maybe just tears and a newfound sense of emptiness.

She chewed at the inside of her cheek, not quiet looking at Mia until she did. "...I wanna remember Nancy."  She didn't explain more than that. Just closed the door, her sleeve-shrouded hand fumbling at the lock on the door before she cranked the seat to flop back.

Just a bottle of water, a granola bar, and a million other yous, branching out to forever. (...until they didn't.)

She rolled on her side, so she wouldn't choke and spit up the granola and water she chewed up into a kind of wet-dry sloppy oatmeal before she swallowed it down. An echo of the kind of meal someone might cook over a stove for someone hungry. Yeah... a Lindsay who'd gotten into studying would still be a hungry Lindsay... and any Lindsay was a curious Lindsay. She swallowed the slurry, falling into herselves. Nancy died a year ago... tumbling back a whole year... or more...

When every day sucked, climbing back down the tree felt like pine needles stabbing her deep inside. Under the skin, in the viscera. Like... in her ventricles and arteries and stuff. Or, she assumed it did. She'd never actually touched a pinetree.

The creative writing club she'd never bothered to actually attend that arranged a writer's workshop...
Believing in God just a little longer, instead of throwing it in Mom's face, and getting involved in the church...
Getting a boyfriend from Springfield (please don't get pregnant...)

Her eyes fluttered, blind, seeing, searching as her whole body began to tremble with the rushing senses of a multiplicity of selves.

Mechanics

So, I think this is closer to a Change the Game move than an Investigate . Hear me out! Lindsay's ultimate goal here isn't to find a parallel Lindsay who befriended (the apparently lovely, extroverted, and kind) Nancy, but to follow up on Rigobaldo's comment on how Nancy knew Mr. Ruis much better. Even if Lindsay can "remember" being a tagalong / found-family daughter to Nancy (in a heartwrenching way, since she'd have to leave behind feeling loved and safe after her remembering) it's not clear she'd necessarily get any investigative clues about Mr. Ruis. Hence, this seeeems to me to be closer to the description of "Linked Moves" than an individual move.

Imma wait on a GM adjudication before rolling, but potentially relevant tags...
 

• Parallel and Future Lives (Lindsay is taking the time to try to visualize/trackback the paths that could have lead another her to hit it off with Nancy. She knows the person and the place, so it's not a shot in the dark)
• Deeply Immersed (Lindsay is lockin' herself up in the car to get that peace and quiet.)
• Seizures 'n shit. [Weakness] - Uh, this one's up to you. I kinda know you can throw it at me whenever you like and I accept that.
• Neglected [Weakness?] - There's a mention of weaknesses, in extreme circumstances, being a power tag. A kid being more likely to get looked after by a lil' old lady seems like it'd fit?

Ultimately, I know Lindsay's Mythos package is funky and throw myself on the whims of the Storyteller.

 

Edited February 23 by Angelic Crux (see edit history)

[yxanthymir]

Case 1: A Metal Prank

Kenna and Myrtle leaves the small town of Springfield after getting the keys of Mia's car. She is not happy to part with with her cherished car, however she definitively understands the reasoning.

Soon they start the trip back to New Dunkirk, and the journey is uneventful as the first one. After one hour, they arrive at Saint Dimas Hospital. The exterior of hospital in New Dunkirk boasts a modern and imposing structure. It rises several stories high, featuring a combination of sleek glass facades and durable steel accents. The entrance is adorned with a prominent sign displaying the hospital's name in bold letters in bright red colors. The surrounding grounds are well-maintained, with landscaped gardens providing a touch of tranquility amidst the bustling city and the chaotic hospital.

Armed with her badge, and the fact that the hospital stays at her jurisdiction, Kenna manages to make them move in the hospital without much difficulty. The staff of the hospital was waiting for a law enforcement representative to appear at any moment. The circumstances of the arrival of the patience were not known. They were actually surprised it took this long for someone to appear. The staff responsible say the patient is recovering from surgery and has a mild case of amnesia, but it is stable and can receive them.

Finally Kenna and Myrtle enters the infirmary where Adam Levine is resting. A tall guy with blonde hair. his face is covered with some bandages, and one arm and a leg are in a cast. He and other patient present look at them with alert and curious eyes as they enter the room.

 

[yxanthymir]

Case 1: A Metal Prank

As Lindsay fades into a deep sleep, her mind literally is catapulted from her body in a frantic motion. Disoriented she starts to see flashes of a new reality, one that she was adopted by Nancy. She sees her younger self, happier, with more meat in her bones, dressed in a pink dress like a mini barbie girl. Almost an entirely different person. They are living at the same condominium at Springfield. She sees some mundane scenes of her daily life with Nancy in a quick sequence, always with colorful clothes.

The scene disappears and she sees herself in a lush green park playing with a rainbow ball with an unknown man under the caring and watchful eyes of Nancy. Rigobaldo is not present. The scene flashes forward to the tall and robust man kissing Nancy a light kiss on her lips. Lindsay's hair suffers a light stroke from a caring hand, jumbling her long hair. She looks with awe to her foster parents, and cannot stop a small teardrop from one of her eyes.

The light fades entirely. Lindsay is in a dark place, almost no light, but from the light of the moon entering by a small window at the top of a wall. She is afraid of the dark and her heart is beating hard at her chest. She controls her fear as she knows what to do. This is not the first time she is in this exact situation. She approaches the stair at the other side of the room. There is a locked iron door. She counts the bricks on the left side of the door, and removes one brick from the place. It is loose. Behind the brick, the door's key.

Then she suddenly wakes up. Her frail body shaking lightly. A deep sensation of longing in her chest.

 

 

Edited March 12 by yxanthymir (see edit history)

[Inquisitor D]

"Hey, hey! Don't get up. You're not in trouble." Mori opens with a smile. She moves towards the window, deliberately leaving the path between Levin and the door free. Make sure he knows they're not penning him in. Keep it casual. She leans back, pulling out the notebook again.

"Officer Jun Mori, NDPD. This is Detective Blake. We're looking into mysterious incidents. And it sounds like you were on the wrong side of one."

Mori laughs, perhaps a bit harder than she should. Mori would laugh here, trying to make the situation lighter. Myrtle though? Her role is grating a little here. She has too much sympathy for someone in Levine's position to treat this so easily. "Staff said you were suffering a bit from memory loss. Can you tell us what you remember of how you got here?"

[dunderklumpen]

Kenna nods politely to Mr Levine but stays silent and lets Officer Mori ask the questions.

She has a look around the hospital room looking for anything noteworthy or out of place for the victim. Did he get flowers? Too many flowers? What time of day was he admitted? Anything unusual amongst his stuff in by his bed.

 

OOC

I'm not really expecting to find anything interesting by observing, but if it might be fruitful, I am happy to make a roll.

 

[yxanthymir]

Case 1: A Metal Prank

Adam shifts in his bed when he hears the question. He appears bored and maybe a little grateful for the intrusion. That way he could do something else other than watch the sterile walls, painted in soothing pastel hues, and listen to the faint and constant hum of medical equipment. Near the foot of his bed, an adjustable monitor displayed Adam's vital signs in real-time, casting a soft glow on his face.

A single curtain, suspended from a track on the ceiling, partitioned the room. Behind it, another occupant rested and recuperated. As soon as he perceives the visitants are not for him, he returns to his resting position.

The room is bare, devoid of any personal touch. There is no other objects present, other than those characteristic of a hospital room.

I am in trouble already. - He says showing the cast in his forearm. - Yeah! I din't remember anything after the accident. And I don't think what I remember is right. But I think I should start from the beginning.

I left the house of my brother, after his anniversary. It was already late in the night. What day is today? - he asks and gazes at them intently, but soon dismisses the question with a movement from his good hand. - I was driving alone through a dark street near the Springfield school when a young girl appeared before me in the middle of the street. I tried to brake the car, but...

Fear appears at his countenance. And he asks with a deep concern in his voice. - Is she alright? I didn't kill her? Tell me I didn't kill her.

 

Edited March 2 by yxanthymir (see edit history)

[dunderklumpen]

"I don't think you need to worry about that. We've got no reports of any injuries from the scene other than yours, so I'm pretty sure you didn't hit anyone."

Kenna replies in her business-like cop voice.

"But, we're going to need details on what you can remember. Can you describe what you remember? How old? What she was wearing? Was anyone else that you could see?"

"If we get a good description we can track her down and make sure everything is all right."

"What do you think Officer Mori? It sounds like Adam here swerved to avoid hurting a little girl, putting his own life in danger. A pretty selfless act if you ask me. That makes him a bit of a hero if you think about it."

 

 

 

 

[Inquisitor D]

The patrolwoman had actually looked away as Levin got into the specifics of his story. She's much more... measured than she had be with Janine.

"Driving through a school zone, late, and had a close call with a kid. Didn't see the kid coming until she was in the middle of the street. The facts don't look good. I could see some people making... uncharitable assumptions, let's put it like that."

No. No, this is not useful. He's obviously traumatized by this. And scaring him even more won't help. Hell, the odds are good the kid isn't even real. She should be taking cues from Blake on this one.

Mori takes a breath. And she just about manages a smile. "Boss is right though, there's nothing called in. No way concerned parents could've missed their daughter getting hit in the street. And... well, I'm guessing things get weird after that point. It wasn't a simple auto wreck that got you here."

OOC

Dunno if this quite merits an invoke since we're not rolling, but this is a great example of Myrtle's Facade-breaking honesty. This really is stretching it for 'calm, composed, good humoured' Officer Mori. It's not quite OOC for 'a cop', but even so telling Levine 'Yeah, you screwed up hard' is not helpful. (hence her backpeddling)

 

[Angelic Crux]

The good ones that could be always got under her skin. Odds were, that could be was slimmer than a piece of bible paper. But this was the first time she'd fallen back into a nice, really nice, super nice could have been. Her consciousness reaching out of the cage to touch another's...

welcome home~

i made your favorite

i'm so proud of you

one, two, three, four, there it is...

i'm so glad you're here

 

And then... lying back, alone, in a car, with a little upchuck in the back of your throat, just-digesting granola. She sat up, slower than she felt she should have. Because you move better when you get three regulars a day and gymnastics classes after school. But more than her muscles and bones... something deeper ached. Could've moved better. Could've been bigger. Smarter.

could've

could've

could've

...

 

"Sorry about that."

Lindsay murmured as she crept up on Mia. Not like, ninja creeping, but just not really feeling like announcing her presence until absolutely necessary. Eyes a little more wandering, focused on the surroundings in a way she thought made her look observant, instead of avoidant. Maybe she'd be able to find that iron door and end up a hero. "Did you find anything?"

While her left hand hung by her side, the right was shoved into her hoodie pouch. A bit sore from punching the dashboard and imagining that pretty little face. God, she hated it. She hated it.