Hitherby drifts out of Sistine's and looks for a bird. "Sephar, you'll have to lead me to the area. I want to stop a decent distance from it and pick up some street rats -- so they won't hear about two measures of Essence getting spent. You want to grab a bird and lead the way?"
Sepharbird goes out with her to also look for another bird, "Okay."
There are many pigeons outside.
Sephar beams and gets two pigeons and lets the little bird go, as it likes pigeons better.
Hitherby slips into a pigeon, then, and stretches her wings. Sometimes, the simple pleasures are best.
Sepharpigeon1 goes back into Sistine's and pigeon2 heads for Bellman's.
Hitherby coos, "In here," to let Sephar know which one she's in, and follows.
Sephar stretches happily and then flips and wings for the studio from all the data it's gathered, and coos happily back to Hitherby, "Me here."
The two birds wing across the city, towards the studio. Below them, the city is beginning to stir to life, bringing back happy anthill memories to Hitherby.
Hitherby leaves the swarm of bugs on the Sistine's roof, after popping it back in to let people know we're on the way. (Keeping them possessed, for now.)
Sepharpigeon looks for a warehouse like area a decent distance from the studios where there's likely rats.
There are some nearby warehouses, yes.
Hitherby chirrs happily to herself. It's nice to remember sometimes that humans haven't forgotten where civilization came from.
Sephar (has the bird in Sistine's and the rat at the Lab, will keep them during this.)
Sephar settles on the roof of the warehouse, "I think here might be far enough..."
Hitherby lands beside Sephar and bobs her head. "You have Forces free for a human?" she wonders, in a bird-voice incomprehensible to anyone but a Jordian, a Kyriotate, or a student of one or the other. (Barring really good listeners.)
Sephar bobs a nod.
<
Hitherby paces around on the roof to a side of the building where there are the fewest passersby,
so that the rats don't come out and get squished by horrified people, and flutters down to Call.
Or, if they can get to the roof and down again easily, she Calls from there.
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Fifteen rats come squeaking and scuttling out of holes and crevices, and huddle, looking up at the
pigeons.
Sepharpigeon coos, "Coool."
Hitherby coos soothingly and begins the process of possession. Shall we assume I can take over
thirteen of them, or should I roll a lot so that there might be an Intervention?
Sepharpigeon cranes its neck to look at them.
Hitherby aimed for the darker kind of rats, if she could be that specific; otherwise, she takes what
she got. :)
Demiurge will assume you can take over thirteen without problems, Hitherby. And these are all
the rough tough warehouse dark rats.
Hitherby can't talk to the rats she didn't possess, not really, so she sort of makes a shooing motion
with her beak, and says to Sephar, "I'm going to bring them down on the street." (Oh, how good
it is to be talking to someone who can understand bird-mangled speech!) "I'd like you to have a
human to carry them in a backpack or purse or something, so that they don't get squished or
attacked or noticed en route."
Sephar bobs a nod and looks ofr a homeless person hiding among the warehouses?
There are a couple of clumps of homeless people, in corners out of the wind.
Sephar takes one with a bag or pillowcase nearby.
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Demiurge says "Okay, Sephar. You're into this guy, who has a rucksack, a baggy overcoat, and
a couple of bags."
Hitherby can see where Sepharbird was looking, and so she begins bringing the rats down or
around towards that person.
Sepharman stretches sore muscles from sleeping on concrete and then picks up the things the guy
has and walks over to the rats. Sepharbird lands to perch on his shoulder.
The host body is perfectly responsive. There are still some muscles there: he clearly had some
training at some point.
Hitherby scuttles carefully, avoiding sight and accidents. She is fearsome pack leader! She is
ferocious alpha female! She is weak, cringing follower! She is -- well, okay, she's just a bunch of
rats.
Sepharman bends down, opens the rucksack and goes into a doorway as the bird calls in mangled
bird, "Here, Hitherby."
Hitherby scurries into the rucksack and finds good places to nest.
The rucksack is large enough to fit the rats into.
Sepharman closes the sack as the rats finish flowing in and carefully puts it on his back and starts
the walk towards Bellman's.
Hitherby's bird calls down warning, "Don't be seen dropping them off!" And will pace Sepharman
from above, not making a big deal of it. It's not like Sepharman is going to try and lose her.
Sepharbird flies back up to where the Hitherbird is and perches next to her.
It is perhaps twenty minutes walk towards the Bellmans compound. A lorry is busy backing
through the main gate, but the complex otherwise looks still fairly quiet, morning-sleepy or
closed.
Sepharman salutes the call with a small grin.
Sepharman walks by the complex, and looks for an alleyway or doorway a door or two down
from the complex.
The complex is set apart from the other nearby buildings. There is a convenient niche between the
next couple of buildings, though. A furniture wholesale store and a paperwork specialist.
Sepharman stops at the niche then and carefully checks to see if he's visible from the complex
before bending down to open the rucksack and let the rats go.
Hitherby scurries out. (And wonders if Sephar's bird has kept rough pace, along with
Hitherbird?)
Sepharbird is with Hitherbird.
Hitherby lands Hitherbird on a nearby roof. Softly, she says, "I'll keep in touch here."
Sepharbird trusted that Hitherbird would know a good place to just perch in a tree together as
that was the rough plan from the previous day.
Hitherby (or tree.)
Sephar bobs cheerfully and settles next to Hitherbird.
There are some trees inside the compound: or there are the buildings to either side.
Sepharman, after the rats boil out walks on a few more blocks, looking for a cash machine.
The grassy area behind the compound is large. It's a group of outdoor sets. There is a cash
machine findable, yes.
Hitherby prefers the building to either side. Sepharbird can get to the compound pretty fast. She
didn't get a great look, because she was trying to be inobvious, but from when she was following
Sephar above, did the grass look tall?
Demiurge says "There was tall grass inside the compound, yes, but there's also a fence or wall
around it."
Hitherby murbles to herself in bird form, rats melding against the wall of the niche inconspicuously
while she thinks. What kind of wall/fence, on the back? Completely smooth or something
maybe-climbable like brick?
Sepharman possesses the cash machine to get $20 from it.
<
Hitherby asks Sephar, who understands those flat pictures, about the outlying walls.
Demiurge says "Some of it is possibly-climbable brick, assuming rats can climb up eight feet."
Sepharbird explains the walls.
Demiurge says "Some of it is close-link chain, some of it is metal slats."
Demiurge says "The cash machine complies, Sephar."
Sephar says "They might fit between the links and slats?"
Demiurge says "Probably, Sephar, yes."
Hitherby experimentally has one of her rats jump as high as it can using her Kyriotate strength.
Much less weight, but also less leverage, so she doesn't know how high she'll get.
Sepharman takes the $20, pats it gently and Sephar un-possesses it and the man wanders to a
place that servers quick breakfasts, like a McDonald's and gets him a hot coffee, food, and then
takes him to a bench away from the others.
Demiurge says "Not eight feet high, Hitherby, no."
Sepharbird explains to Hitherbird that they might get through the slats or the chain-link
fences.
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Hitherby bobs her head. "What about traps?" she wonders.
Demiurge says "You can't _see_ any traps, Sephar."
Sepharbird says, "I didn't *see* any traps, but that's always a possibility," from its experiences the
night previous.
Hitherby reflects. "I have been taught the ways that humans kill animals," she said. "And one of
them is the lightning in their fences."
Sephar says "Ah. True. Hrm."
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Hitherby comes to a decision. "I will attempt the brick. I am a skilled climber; it is a thing that
insects do well. And if that fails, perhaps we can lift the rats over the fence -- although that seems
conspicuous."
<
Sepharbird bobs a nod.
Hitherby sneaks a rat out towards the back, and as soon as she finds a place where a rat can be
concealed, she brings out another and stops it there, and so forth -- ultimately trying to have as
many rats as possible in the closest concealed place to the brick wall, and one at the wall.
Demiurge says "You manage to get the rats quite close, Hitherby."
Sepharbird says softly, "Just a moment, I'm going to try the fence."
Sephar possesses the fence nearest the rats that are working towards the complex.
Hitherby takes her lead rat and looks up at the wall. Then she pauses and waits on Sephar.
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Sephar tries for the bridging, so that the current drop isn't noted elsewhere...
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Sepharman settles all his bags around him and he eats a few bites of his breakfast, savoring the
taste and feel, sipping the coffee carefully.
Sepharbird says, "Okay, the fence is free of lightening, Hitherby."
Sepharbird says,"Just the portion nearest you..."
Hitherby knows Sephar can't stay long in an object, so she hurries, timing it to get through in
about half the time Sephar can stay -- and being as inconspicuous as that allows. Squeezing
through the fence and into the grass.
The rats get through safely into the long grass, finding ample cover.
Hitherbird coos happily to Sephar, when the last tail has cleared the fence completely. "You are,
as Daimon would say, excellent."
Sepharbird shuffles its feet in gentle embarrassment.
Sepharbird unpossesses the fence.
Sepharman sets his breakfast on the bench with a quiet sigh, and then possesses a nearby tiny bird,
which perches on the back of the bench as Sephar unpossesses the man.
Demiurge says "Okay, the rats are now perhaps 250 metres or so from the main building complex:
there is some hilly ground between them, then concrete bordering the complex."
Hitherrat #6 pokes its head up out of the grass to locate the biggest building and starts the group
heading that way, fairly scattered.
Hitherby scurries to the edge of the hilly ground and looks around for humans.
There are no humans in convenient sight, though there are some nearer the building, unloading
the lorry that has just pulled in.
Hitherby is paranoid, but does not believe that they would use serious terror weapons in the earth
inside their own complex. Accordingly, she sets the rats off towards the building, aiming for a
point away from obvious human vision. She'll take the road through the hills that she considers
herself least likely to take -- sort of in the middle ground along the sides of the hills, where it's
uncomfortable to walk and the view is imperfect.
Hitherby goes in more or less two single-file spaced lines.
The rats journey safely, coming to a point near the edge of where the concrete begins, but where
they can still stay under cover.
Sepharbird watches the man as Sephar unpossessses him.
Sepharpigeon watches Hitherpigeon for signs of her getting swallowed by something in there.
The man blinks, mutters something about the DTs, and stares around.
Sepharbird hops and chirps, "DT's?" though it's problematic if the guy actually understands it or
not...
The man looks at the bird, and says, "That does it. I'm swearing off the booze today." He rubs his
head.
Hitherbird updates Sephar now and again. Meanwhile, she surveys the wall of the building visually
for cracks et al (and to see what it's made of, generally) and puts an ear to the ground in one rat
to listen for the familiar sounds of bugs moving under the earth -- although if that would be
impossible to hear, she does a tap-pattern to ask them (not Call of the Wild, but language) to drop
by. They might know where the bugs already in the walls are, after all.
The wall of the building is of good structural concrete and brick. There are a few anthills
nearby.
Sepharbird bobs a nod, chirps approvingly, steals a crumb and then hops away to sit in a tree
nearby, just in case Hitherby will need someone again.
The men unloading from the lorry continue to unload stuff that looks like cloth and ready-cut
timber, carrying it inside.
Hitherby wanders carefully over to an anthill in one host and asks politely, "Come talk to
angel?"
Some ants stream up, and wave their antennae curiously.
Hitherby asks, "Looking for good place to enter walls. Know place? Or fellows-of-the-kind who
do? Cracks, maybe?"
The ants inform Hitherby in painstaking detail that there is a tribe of ants who maintain rights on
the entry into the place-of-spilled-human-food, over to the left and round the side.
Hitherby compliments the ants extravagantly on their knowledge, wisdom, and loyalty to the
Great One.
Hitherby scurries off that way, thinking, "Wood and cloth?"
Hitherby's comprehending eyes, when they reach that place, identify it as the canteen inside. It
seems to be operating, even at this time of day, with a morning shift queueing up for bacon and
eggs and the like.
Hitherby studies the entrance and the place, reporting to Sephar on the wood and cloth. Rats can
gnaw through concrete, and *do*, but it may take a little time -- how dark is it in the canteen?
How many people are looking down?
It is moderately well-lit in the canteen, but most people aren't bothering to look down. They're
more busy talking, or working on waking up with the help of coffee.
Hitherby looks for a local anthill, and will call via tap-patterns if she finds it, but is under the
impression that the secret entrance is probably the canteen door. So she begins studying it, bracing
herself to send a rat in that way to find a nice hidden inner wall that might be, oh, not concrete
and brick. (I dunno if extra time is even applicable, but it gives me something to do while waiting
for the ants. :)
Sepharpigeon hrms and Sepharpigeon in Sistine's tells the folks there about the Bellman's folks
moving timber and cloth into the studio and likely gets told that that is most of what sets are made
of?
Demiurge says "The local ants come up, and direct you to their entrance, which is a small crack
beneath one of the windows."
Demiurge says "Yes, likely, Sephar."
Sepharpigeon murmurs to Hitherpigeon that it's likely that the wood and cloth are being made into
sets and things for the studio.
Hitherby studies the crack. How long would it take to widen it enough to squeeze through? How
exposed is it?
The crack is not very exposed, but it would take at least several hours to widen enough to get
through.
Hitherby mulls. Okay. If she can't fit through the crack, then, she will send her scout rat into the
canteen as she has prepared it to.
Meanwhile, the men with the lorry are carting the last of the stuff inside.
Hitherby sneaksneak. (She knows that it's better to use bugs at this point, but her intuition is
saying that that has its own serious risks.)
Demiurge says "Hitherby, I apologise for being stupid, but _how_ is the scout rat getting in?"
Demiurge is sorry if she has missed something earlier.
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Hitherby will attempt to sneak her troops in just behind the lorrymen, dark as shadows, quiet as
she can be, then -- and hopes that she will be given enough time to this by a gracious God who
understands why she didn't know of the need to hurry :)
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With incredible stealth, Hitherby _just_ manages to get her rats round to that door in time, and
they scuttle into a general unloading bay, which is full of things being stacked and crates of goods
and storage items.
<
Hitherby scurries into hiding places before anyone notices her. And looks at the inside walls. She's
half-alert to anything interesting being stacked, but isn't really expecting them to be working with
Lucifer's trident or Asmodeus' personal secretary.
Most of the stuff stacked against the walls seems to be sets or scenery or props. A bundle of
cuirasses here, a pile of space helmets there, some fur-fabric suits, a dismantled castle wall, the
like.
Hitherby also sniffs around for the presence of other rats, although all the rats she has here herself
may confuse the issue.
There are no obvious cracks or passages in the walls. It looks as if whoever built this actually did
good work. And there are no other rat-scents.
Hitherby turns her attention, thus, to doors.
Hitherby will complain to Stone another time. :)
There are several doors out of the large room: the big doors outside, a large set of double doors
facing them to the inside, and a couple of smaller doors to either side.
<
The lorry men finish the unloading, and head out, closing the main outer doors behind them.
<
Hitherby considers.
Hitherby coalesces her rat-pack near one of the smaller doors, to form a makeshift ladder or a
pillow (in case of falls) if a ladder is too ridiculous. And she climbs the ladder, the door (with
claws) if it's wood, or jumps up to the handle and makes an all-out effort to turn it.
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The door comes open under Hitherby's talented claws, swinging open to show a minor
corridor.
Hitherby considers.
Hitherby sends six rats down that minor corridor and the other seven to open the other small
door. Constantly striving to stay in any shadows she can find, to move in bursts from one to
another, and to be as paranoid as a Prince.
The other rats open the door, onto a corridor that is of similar dimensions. The rats in the corridor
on the left can see a door at the end, and hear muffled voices behind it. The rats on the right can
see a similar door, but hear no voices.
Hitherby summarizes the layout information so far, which is minor, for Sephar.
Hitherby holds the rats in the right very still, very quiet, listening as hard as they can to see if there
is something similar. To the left, what she does depends on whether the voices are stationary or
approaching.
Sepharpigeon bobs a nod, listening.
Demiurge says "There seems to be nothing on the right. The voices on the left seem to be
stationary in the room. There is a momentary sound of falling liquid, as of someone pouring a
cupful of something."
Hitherby approaches the door and listens very carefully, because, you never know, she could
make a Perception roll, or it could be a thin door. (Where the voices are.)
The voices become just about audible.
A female voice first. "... unreasonable. We usually get more appropriate subjects."
A male voice, dark and smooth. "We work with the stuff we get assigned, honey. You ought to
know that by now. But yeah, I'll give you that this one's a bitch."
Hitherby, in the other hall, opens the far-end door -- where there are no voices or obvious sounds.
It could be a mistake, but in multiplicity there is speed, and speed is probably her only safety.
The female voice, lighter and cooler. "So far it's not taken on her. Are we supposed to keep on
trying forever?"
Hitherby murmurs to Sephar what is going on, sounding a little bit worried.
Beyond the far-end door is what looks like a small coffee-rec-room. There's a percolator of coffee
on one side, several somewhat tatty chairs, a table, a half-finished crossword.
Sepharpigeon fluffs its wings, eyes narrowing a bit. "Maybe we should find their 'her'?"
The male voice. "We don't have forever. Look, the recent set gave me some ideas. Have some
coffee and tell me what you think of this one." There is the rustle of paper.
Hitherbird says, "We can't fight a Seneschal, Sephar. But -- you're right. I should look, in case it's
a captive."
Sepharpigeon bobs. "Or so we at least know where she is for the others, if we all do something
later."
Hitherby drifts all the rats but one away from that voice-door, coalesces the pack, and opens one
of the big doors. Also could be trouble. She regrets that she has no way of closing the other
doors, really.
The female voice says, after a minute, "Hm." She sounds more approving. "Okay, so, heroine for
that part. Yeah. That works."
Demiurge says "Hitherby, it takes a lot of work to open the main doors, even though you have
Kyrio-strength. You're lacking leverage."
The main door creaks open slowly into a large corridor that leads into a largish room beyond.
There's a man slouching there and drinking coffee, who looks up in surprise as the door opens,
coming to his feet.
Hitherby abandons all swarms but 1 and tries to possess him with the 5 Forces that leaves her.
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The man staggers, then is still as Hitherby takes control of him.
The male voice behind the door says, "Mm hmm. And look, here we get her in a funny light. She
has to go with that one. We just need to find the _right_ areas to push."
Hitherby sits the man back down with his coffee. Inconspicuous, inconspicuous. She may use him
later, but not now. For now, Hitherman looks around and, if there are no other humans around,
sneaks her rats into the hall.
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There don't seem to be any other humans around. The hall is of moderate size, and has a pile of
camera equipment in one corner. The rest of it has been roughly decorated in Medieval
Hollywood Castle. There are doors or archways in the other three walls.
Hitherby stands the man up again and has him walk over to the door or doors and open and look
through them. The rats divide into three groups of four and look through the archways or wait
by the doors for the man's viewpoint. (I guess it's just too hard to resist the utility of hands.)
The door on the right leads onto a hallway of what looks like offices and secretarial things.
The door straight ahead leads into what looks like some more Hollywood Medieval sets.
The door to the left leads onto some stacked camera equipment, and stored other stuff.
Hitherby tilts her heads thoughtfully. None of which open obviously into important areas or
underground torture chambers?
Demiurge says "Alas, no."
Hitherby leaves the offices for now as the most-likely-location of demons (when they're not doing
evil things) and proceeds into the Hollywood Medieval sets area.
Hitherby also ignores the room of stored stuff, unless it had other exits.
Demiurge says "It looked as if there was another exit on the other side, but there was stuff piled
in front of that exit."
Hitherby pauses a moment, then.
Hitherby studies the stuff piled. Does it look *recently* piled?
After some silence, the female voice in the conversation says, "Very well. Let's give it a go, next
time she's in the right level. How are the others doing?"
The male voice replies, "All up to schedule."
Demiurge says "Not that recently, Hitherby. Some of it has dust on it."
Hitherby nods. She will send the man to close quietly the doors she opened earlier in the right
hallway that had nothing but a coffee center; she leaves the escape routes open. And the ratpack
goes for the Hollywood sets.
The Hollywood Medieval sets are, to any film fan, very typical. There is the Noble Bedroom, the
Map Room, the Guard's Chambers, and the Cells. All of which are empty at this time of
morning.
Hitherby leads her rats back, and realizes that there is only one thing to do, which is no doubt
going to trigger all kinds of magical alarms. That is, go gently into the storage room and begin
moving stuff out of the way as quietly as possible. Using the human host, of course -- rats are not
good at such tasks.
Hitherman moves stuff specifically out of the way of the door, rather than just tidying up in
general.
The stuff is easily piled out of the way. There is much fascinating stuff, including a whole load of
camera lenses and cellophane transparencies in different colours. After about ten minutes, the
door is cleared enough to be passable.
Hitherman very gently opens the door and looks through.
The door opens on a corridor, which looks much the same as all the other corridors. A bit of
paper falls off the other side of the door, and flutters to the ground.
Hitherby suggests to Sephar, after some reflection with a spare brain, "Possibly they -- *design*
nightmares using all of these things? And only then do they use them?"
Sepharpigeon murmurs, "With all that stuff, maybe..."
The female voice in the conversation says, "Okay. We'd better get down and see about setting up
the next run, then. Unless you've got any business?"
Hitherby looks at the paper. Makes a Will roll to read it, if it's got something written in English
on it; this is important.
The male voice replies, "No, under control. I'll have to be up as usual, but we've got a few hours
yet."
<
Hitherby sends the rat listener into hiding back among the Stuff in the main room.
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The note says, "PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS DOOR. EQUIPMENT STORED ON OTHER
SIDE."
Hitherby sends her rats through, then closes the door almost all the way and returns Hitherman
to his coffee.
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The corridor that you have entered seems to have several office-type rooms off it. It runs for a
short distance.
Hitherby listens to the office doors in passing. All the doors are about the same?
All the doors seem to be about the same. Some of them have metal plates on them.
Hitherby agitatedly reads the plates, knowing that the lives of angels and, in fact, the rats she has
here, may depend on it. The latter may be more important, at the moment; Hitherby is painfully
aware how vulnerable 13 hosts makes her.
Hitherby keeps enough attention in Hitherman and the listener rat to see if the people from the
office go out the way that Hitherby came in.
Hitherby (although the listener rat is hiding among boxes and cloth and timber.)
The plates all seem to be names. Mr Bellman, Mr Devoir, Ms Acaday, Mr Phad, and so on.
Hitherby hesitates for a moment in confusion. The question that she thinks, which the GM may
freely not answer is, "If all these are offices, and that door is unusable, how do they get *in?*"
Demiurge points out that there is a door at the far end of the corridor, as Hitherby came in
partway along the corridor.
Demiurge says "Of course, Hitherby's sturdy animal intelligence may not be very good at linking
doors together."
Hitherby is used to hives, hills, and nests. Doors are strange, but entrances and exits and hallways
are not.
Hitherby, hence, after establishing that the rooms to the side are (in a sort of abstract sense) living
quarters, eventually finds herself at the door at the far end.
Hitherby carefully applies her traditional technique to open this far-end door, unless it also has a
plate reading, say, Ms. Beleth.
Hitherman looks down at himself, and Hitherbird describes his clothing to Sepharbird -- to see
what this person's status is, if one can tell.
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Sepharpigeon says, "Not high on the pack list, either security or stage hand."
There is no nameplate on the door that Hitherby goes through. There is, instead, another small
corridor, leading off to the right to a room from which comes the smell of fresh coffee, and to the
left, to another door.
Hitherbird bobs her head and coos thoughtfully.
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Hitherby concludes that the left door must, ergo, be the door the two voices went through.
Hitherby scuttles up to the door and listens for footsteps or voices.
Hitherby, if she hears none, will open the door.
There is what might be, in the distance, the sound of retreating voices and footsteps, and another
door closing.
Hitherby opens it, yah, then.
As Hitherby swings the door open, it opens onto a short corridor area with a secretary's desk at
the far end, and a door beyond it that looks as though it might open on the outside world. Beside
Hitherby, on the direct right, is a door with another notice on it, and a swipe card gizmo next to
it.
Hitherby doesn't see a secretary, though?
Demiurge says "No, it's an empty desk, as though the secretary hasn't come into work yet."
Hitherby makes an Int roll to see if she has any idea what the swipe card gizmo is.
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Hitherby decides that it is a futuristic phone for speaking to the secretary with.
Demiurge says "The sign on the door says "Authorised Persons Only"."
Hitherby makes her traditional effort to open it.
The door fails to open.
Hitherby considers this problem thoughtfully.
Hitherby goes to open the door to the outside. And tells Sephar, "I might need you to open a lock
for me."
Demiurge says "Hitherby, the door to the outside is also locked."
Demiurge says "Unless your rats have mastered the art of operating the bolt as well as the door
handle."
Sepharpigeon nods. "Where?"
Hitherby says to Sephar, helpfully, "I'm not sure. Let me think."
Sepharpigeon bobs a nod.
<
Demiurge says "Yes, to one side of the corridor, down from the locked door."
Hitherby scurries over to the window and hops or ladders up to peek through it.
Outside is a stretch of concrete, and a couple of ornamental trees, then the main road. (It's
enough, if described, for Sephar to locate the area.)
Sepharpigeon listens?
Hitherbird does in fact describe it to Sephar, and asks that she open the door reading
*embarrassed cough* the door with the phone thingie next to it.
Hitherby adds, "It will have rats near it."
Hitherby huddles her rats up by the door, close to the wall.
Sepharpigeon takes off and flies by... peering for the door.
Sepharpigeon likely spies the door and the lock the first pass, then tries to possess the lock on the
second pass.
Demiurge says "Sephar, you _can't_ see that door through the window."
Sephar says "Ah. I can't. Hokay."
Sepharpigeon possesses the window to open it?
Demiurge says "Sure: roll."
<
Demiurge says "As you possess it, Sephar, you notice that there's an alarm switch on it. You think
you can open it while not setting off the alarm, though."
Sephar nods and tries to disarm the alarm.
<
Demiurge says "You've done it, you think, Sephar."
Sepharwindow tries to open, now.
<
The window opens, letting the fresh morning air in.
Hitherby does not in the least mind having an escape route, should it come to that.
Sepharpigeon flies into the window.
Demiurge says "Sephar, you recognise the swipe card gizmo on the door for what it is."
Sephar says "Is it likely that I could possess it and get it to unlock?"
Demiurge says "Oh yes."
Sepharpigeon outside says to Hitherby pigeon. "That's a lock on that door. I think that maybe
that's where the prisoners are kept, and maybe we should wait until we can bring the others with
us to open it?
Sephar pigeon says, "I'll defer to your wisdom, though."
Hitherbird says, "You're probably right -- except that without knowing anything about the primary
target, which this might be, we can't call in Malakim -- and bringing in the others would be a real
problem if it turns out to be a meeting room and all of us have to fight our way out for
nothing."
Sepharpigeon nods, "True."
Hitherbird says, "I can't open it, so it's your decision. But I'd prefer if you opened it."
Sepharbird bobs a nod and possesses the lock to try and open it.
Sepharpigeon nods to Hitherby and the bird tries to do what it does.
<
The door clicks, and swings open slightly. Beyond there are stairs, going down.
Sepharbird flies to the open window and perches there...
Sepharpigeon says, "There... I think."
Hitherpigeon says, "Be prepared to flee if you have to. I don't mind if you also stay prepared to
come help if you have to, too." An amused note. Then Hitherrats, six of them, pour down the
stairs into the depths.
The stairs lead downwards, into yet another corridor. (Really, one could film a dozen Dr Who
stories here.) Several rooms open off it, apparently storage areas.
Demiurge says "Hitherby, make a Per roll."
<
<
Hitherby reports this carefully to Sephar.
Hitherby walks a rat, very carefully and gingerly, up to that wall, and touches it with a paw.
The wall feels solid enough, but it isn't _entirely_ flush to the ground. There's a very faint air
current beneath that bit of it.
Sepharbird at Sistine's gets another bird and flies to Liz's hanger and computer to start entering
the layout data into her computer.
Hitherby considers this. A secret corridor, not an illusion of some sort.
Hitherby assesses the situation. She can't get enough of herself under it to heave it upwards with
her shoulders, right? A paw really can't heave upwards with any useful strength. If she lay on her
back, maybe, and stretched her limbs backwards, and slipped a paw under, and pushed? Or not
enoguh room for that? If not, I'll look for a trigger as cleverly as I can, taking some time.
<
After some investigation, Hitherby perceives that there is an small area of wall which has a strong
sweat-scent to it, suggesting it is frequently pressed, to one side and about four foot high.
<
Hitherbird describes the spot to Sepharbird.
<
Hitherby moves five of her six downstairs rats to just under the bottom stair, so that they look like
shadows. This is known as the 'risk multiple hosts but have a chance of saving all of them', as
opposed to the 'lose one host and get the others safely away' strategy.
Sepharpigeon bobs a nod with the information and marks an X on the schematics appearing on
Liz's computer.
Hitherby carefully reins in any urge she has to put extra effort into it, because that would just
cause an Essence expenditure. She leaps, and lashes at the spot with a nose and paws of doom.
(Her weight and her strength probably cancel out, making this a 'push' -- if she makes it.)
<
<
<
The chunk of wall pivots - an area some six foot high by five foot wide - showing another corridor
beyond. It's stone-walled and stone-floored, and has electric lighting. The door looks likely to
swing shut again in a moment.
Hitherby darts the rat, when it lands, under the door. Hurry hurry.
Hitherby leaves the other five as shadows under the bottom step; they can also open the door if
reinforcements are necessary -- unless the door can be sealed remotely, in which case they'd all
be dead if they went along.
The door closes behind Hitherby. She can see an identical patch in the wall on this side,
corresponding to the pressure patch on the other side.
Hitherby reports this to Sephar.
Hitherby scurries along the hall, about one third the hall's width from the edge. Looking.
Watching. Listening. All these things that she is *so* rotten at. But her sense of smell seems to
be okay.
Sepharbird marks the double spot on the schematics on Liz's machine.
Demiurge says "Hitherby, your sense of smell informs you of the presence of recent blood, and
disinfectant, before your ratty eyes observe several rooms of unpleasant machinery. And film
equipment."
Off the corridor, there are also a couple of offices at the far end, and a room which seems to be
a rec room of some sort, and a sealed metal door with a keypad to the side of it. Voices drift
down the corridor from the rec room.
Hitherby puts an ear to the door, although she doesn't recall metal being particularly conducive
to sound. If someone's screaming loudly behind it, say --
No sound drifts past the metal door.
Hitherby sneaks up close to the rec room, as close as she can get and be concealed. (Which is
probably right on the other side of the door, given how vision angles work.
Sepharpigeon shuffles back and forth once. "You okay?"
There is a lazy conversation going on behind the rec room door; three men, by the sound of it.
Two of them are wondering how long before they get some "action", while the third makes an
occasional grunt.
Hitherbird bobs her head. "Okay, yes."
Hitherbird thinks. "How complete do the schematics look?" she asks Sepharpigeon.
Sepharpigeon peers a bit... this way, that way, around that bend...
<
<
Hitherby explains, "I'm thinking of taking a look in there, at them, but I'll want to evacuate almost
all of me from the building first -- so if there isn't much more to cover, then I'll start doing
that."
Sephar pigeon bobs a nod, "I think that's a good idea."
<
Sepharpigeon says, "It looks like you've covered a portion of the cellars, there's more to them,
but I'm not sure you need to go much further given what you've found and what we've heard."
Hitherbird considers this. "I can't eat through metal or stone," she admits. "And I daren't use
Songs. Okay."
Hitherby leaves one rat in the stairs area, to open the door out when the most scoutful rat runs
for it; the rest stream up the stairs to gather by the window.
Hitherman thoughtfully sets down his coffee and opens the lorry doors, if he can, to let the one
rat that was there get out again.
Hitherby starts bringing the -- ten -- rats that will be by the window onto the windowsill and out.
Surveying the outside first, of course, to make sure that she won't be leading them into a bunch
of Calabim with Uzis.
There are no Calabim with Uzis out there, no.
Hitherby also checks for mundane things like human watchers or big flat areas with no cover at
all.
Sepharbird perched on the windowsill would warn them.
No human watchers. There are areas with no cover, but that's because the building fronts on the
road.
Sepharbird hops up and out and onto the roof edge to watch quietly as the rats come out.
Hitherby's rats find an area with cover outside. Hitherpigeon suggests to Sepharpigeon, "You can
open the main gate, yes?" Assuming that there is one.
Demiurge says "There is a side gate, Hitherby. That bit of building fronts directly onto the
outdoors."
In the underground corridor, the metal door clicks and begins to open.
Sepharpigeon nods, "I think so."
<
<
<
<
Sepharbird flies over to the gate, possesses it, and as the rats approach it, Sephar tries to open it
for them.
<
Hitherrat . o O ( Blood and ashes. ) She peeks her head around the corner into the rec room for
one quick impression and then darts for the least-likely place to be noticed -- still pretty
noticeable. That is, right beside the metal door, on the ground, just to the left (where human and
animal if not angel psychology dictates that an average person will look second.)
The gate outside opens for the rats, at Sephar's wish.
Hitherby races those ten rats out.
In the tunnel below, a woman carefully edges through the door, then closes it behind her with a
tiny *tink*. She has short-cut hair, far-too-big jacket, t-shirt and jeans, and hugely pupilled eyes.
Her movements are sloppy, overreaching.
Sepharbird flies back to the open window, waiting for the last rat.
Hitherby scurries behind her feet the instant the woman is even a little bit away from the door.
Unless her animal instincts advise freezing. Hitherby listens to her animal instincts at times like
this.
Hitherby . o O ( Even though they're often wrong. )
The woman is halfway down the corridor when the metal door slams open behind her, and a blond
man pokes his head out. His eyes go wide, and he yells, "Grab her!!!"
There is a commotion from the rec room, and the door slams open as the three men come spilling
out.
Hitherby drops Hitherman and leaps for the woman.
Demiurge says "You fail, Hitherby."
Hitherby congratulates herself on a charitable thought and tries to find somewhere where she'll
be unobserved. Since the secret door opening by itself is probably noticeable.
Hitherbird narrates to Sepharbird, just to make her less oblivious.
Sepharpigeon asks, "Shall I do anything?"
The other outside Hitherrat, that Hitherman let out the rear door, may have made it around to the
gate by now, and scurries out.
The woman turns, and suddenly...
<
<
<
Suddenly, the underground corridor is full of great big hefty Malakim with huge black wings and
fiery swords, sweeping down like Justice Incarnate. They're also carrying boingy hammers.
<
<
<
<
The three bruisers from the rec room, and the blond guy at the door, seem to be taken by surprise.
The blond man flinches back, slamming the door, while the three others seem at a loss.
The woman, on the other hand, sprints down the corridor - swaying somewhat - and manages to
spot the pressure pad. She hammers on it, and the door begins to swing open.
<
Hitherrat, on the other side, jumps for that pressure point.
<
<
Sepharpigeon hears everything Hitherby's seeing?
Hitherby squeaks, "Follow! Friend!" the instant the woman that the Malakim are rescuing gets
through, and races up the stairs. Inside, she curls up happily in the corner, sure the Malakim will
prevail.
<
The woman entirely ignores the rat: she slides through the door as soon as it is open, and runs
down the corridor, making for the stairs upwards.
Hitherby describes to Sephar, yes.
In that corridor, the Malakim boing the thugs on their heads with the boingy hammers. Cartoony
bluebirds flicker round the boinged heads.
Hitherby tags along with the woman, then, if she cannot lead her.
<
Hitherrat, in the corner, thinks, "Yay, Malakim! -- wait."
Hitherrat, in the stone hall, decides that now is a good time to make a clever exit.
The woman staggers up the stairs, and yanks at the door at the top, forcing it open and coming
out onto the surface corridor. Her eyes go to the open window, as those of one who beholds the
Promised Land.
The thugs appear to be coming to the same conclusion regarding the Malakim. In fact, the
Malakim have just faded out of existence. Swearing in helltongue, they follow where the woman
went.
Sepharbird flies out of the way silently, to not discourage her.
Hitherby, if she does not squeak through the secret door before the Malakim fade, attempts to
fade out of sight and go through just after the thugs.
The woman puts her hands on the windowframe, and, still swaying somewhat, manages to squirm
through. She drops to the ground outside, and looks around, trying to get her bearings.
Hitherrat goes out the window -- but possibly after the woman is gone, depending on how fast
she is at going up the stairs.
Sephar goes back to perching on the window.
Hitherrat squeaks, "The gate is open!"
The thugs do not seem to have noticed Hitherrat. Instead, they pound down the corridor, and up
the stairs, the way the woman went.
Hitherrat bounds towards the gate, her high-leaping run making her look like a Prank herself.
(And this is deliberate; she doesn't have to run with her Strength showing.)
Sephargate bangs a few times, to attract the attention of the woman.
Hitherby boing. Boing. Boing.
The woman eyes the rat, then the gate, then runs for the gate.
Sephargate stays open.
Hitherpigeon says, "Sephar, away from the window!"
The woman makes it through the gate, just as the thugs come out into the surface corridor.
Sepharbird takes off on pigeon warning and goes off after the other fleers
Sephargate bangs shut, locks.
<
<
The thugs see the open window, and swear some more. They head for it, squeezing through: one
gives tongue as he catches sight of the running woman beyond the gate.
The Hitherrat with the woman has one primary goal: staying with her. And, since she has Forces
free, she'll grab a human if she can.
<
<
<
The gate comes apart in a scream of metal, shrapnel flying to left and right as the thing just
*shatters*.
Hitherrat attempts to clear the window behind them before they think to close it, which they
probably won't.
Sepharbird flies above the woman, going with her as Hitherrat goes with her.
There is nobody else on the street at the moment. The woman looks to left, then right, then to left
again towards the busier area that is town, and her hands clench as she concentrates.
The thugs do not notice Hitherrat scrabbling out, indeed. They're fixing on the woman.
<
Hitherrat squeaks Sistine's address.
Sephar says "Are there cars here, Demi?"
Demiurge says "Hitherby, Sephar, make a Per roll."
<
<
There are, indeed, a couple of cars parked on the lot.
Demiurge says "Sephar, Hitherby, you both perceive a Song going off from the woman."
The woman simply snaps out of existence, gone.
Sephar pigeon whews softly.
<
Sepharbird gets out of there. Sephar actually just unpossesses the bird.
One of the thugs seems to have caught sight of the scrabbling rat. He calls to the others, "Get
it!"
The three thugs are now all out of the window, and running for the demolished gate.
Sepharpigeon flies up from where it's perched, possesses the far gate and deliberately tweaks its
alarm.
Hitherrat is naturally making for the gate, as well, unless he was pointing at the rat outside, which
is scrambling for real safety.
<
Hitherby realizes, "Calabite." And will Sing Corp. Form on whichever rat was referred to.
The far gate alarm goes off.
<
<
<
More people come running out of the studio, heading for the far gate.
<
<
<
Though a lump of concrete crumbles to dust behind it, Hitherby's rat reaches the drain just in time,
and can vanish into those dark safe depths.
Hitherby makes sure that the other twelve are as far gone and hidden as they can reasonably be
and then drops back to the 1/4 Force swarm at Sistine's.
<
---