[d20 Modern] Gangs of Texas [PG-17] IC

[Dvang]

Bourbon Street - Alleyway
Fifth Ward
6:45pm

Willy scowls as he sees Mickey Barton arrive.

If anyone works for THEM it'll probably be that loudmouth Barton he thinks. Suddenly energized, Willy props himself up and stalks behind Barton, trying to keep his footsteps silent but not trying to hide himself so that hopefully Barton wouldn't notice him.

If Barton is here, something is up for sure. Maybe I can find something before he does.

Willy gets as close as he can to the scene, hoping Tommy will follow him to keep the other officers away from him. His eyes, no longer wild, scan the car and the surrounding scene intently for any evidence, any information, that he could use.

Mustn't let THEM hide their evidence of THEIR crimes. Poor girl, I've got to do what i can to help her, even after her death.

 

[Nuke261]

Bourbon Street - Alleyway
Fifth Ward
6:45pm

Mickey Barton. What is he doing here!
Mickey Barton was nothing but trouble and everyone knew it. He did actually get results and sometimes he made sure the right thing got done, but he had his own way of doing it. He had made a name for himself, that was for sure.

It suddenly dawned on Tommy that the deceased had looked to be Detective Nguyen's sister. Oh this could be bad. This could get very, very bad.

The next thing Tommy knows, Willy is walking past him, headed straight for Detective Barton! Great! Tommy thought sarcastically. He hurried to catch up to Willy, wrapping the balnket around him, more to look semi-usefull than anything else.

"Willy, why don't you come sit in one of the cars for a few minutes to rest. Then you can try and tell me what you know. Okay?"

 

[Dvang]

Bourbon Street - Alleyway
Fifth Ward
6:45pm


Willy eyes Tommy from the corner of his eye, but does not slow down in heading to the crime scene.

I sure hope I can trust Tommy. But, I've got to make sure I find whatever it is THEY are looking for before they can cover it up...

"Sure Tommy, that sounds good." Willy says, "I just need a few minutes to stretch out my old legs before sitting down." He continues over to the crime scene, trying to spot anything unusual and trying to avoid Barton's notice.

 

[Catulle]

T-Bull's House - Dining Room
Fifth Ward
8:30 pm

"As I read it, the problem isn't so much that the virus has changed, but that it's now being carried by a different kind of mosquito. - Or is that just a result of the fact that this virus is mutated?"

Amy frowned, chewing at her lip a little as she considered how to phrase it in layman's terms. She leaned forward in her seat , aware of the light weight of the vial resting in her palm as she spoke.

"The carrier can affect the virology significantly in some cases. It's like the disctinction between Creutzfeldt-Jakob in humans and Spongiform Enchphalopathy in bovines, and in turn from the endemic form found across Europe in sheep and goats . Ordinarily, this kind of 'evolution' takes some time - from the eighteenth century in the example I just cited. The same goes for the different way rabies moves between species. I mean, there is a leading theory that CJD isn't viral, but prionic... Rabies is viral, but has changed little in some time. Perhaps we are looking at a prion. It's one of a dozen or so hypotheses I had before my research was shut down." Amy gave a look towards Carlos, then back to Kia as her voice trailed off, realisation hitting her that perhaps she had not done such a good job of getting her point across succinctly, if at all.

"What I mean is, yes, no and maybe all at the same time. Usually, the kind of development I've seen in West Nile just doesn't happen. I have some work at home still, but the majority's in the hands of the CDC, or whoever they are." She sighed and sank back into the cushions.

"Which reminds me." She looked straight at Carlos, silently willing him to look up at her, "An Agent Stone spoke with me after work today." She shivered only slightly as she supressed the discomfort of the recollection "He said that his Director wanted to meet with Dr Munguia and me tomorrow morning. They know where I live, and they're sending a car over."

 

[KitanaVorr]

Bourbon Street - Alleyway
Fifth Ward
6:45pm

Barton walked up to the policeman gathered as Willy and Tommy approached the group, they could hear him speaking. "No body yet, eh? Well - I hope it ain't too much ruined, she had some nice curves ya know. God I wish I had a chance to nail that ass."

The other cops tried not to look too disgusted at Barton, but really truly failed utterly. Their dislike of him apparent, they began to make the excuses to move away from him, leaving the sargeant and another cop in the vicinity.

His light blue eyes moved over the convertible, but he didn't seem at all moved by the sight of the blood, the bullets, the flash of cameras as the crime scene scientists begin their detailed capture of the entire scene. There's something inherently not right about this man, but neither Willy nor Tommy can place it.

Then suddenly he seemed to start, staring the contents of the purse all over the floor of the car. His blonde brows knitted together in thought.

Just then the sargeant noticed Tommy and Willy. "Tommy, the detective wants to hear what you saw when you first got here."

Barton glanced at both of them. "Someone get this stinking street rat out of here," he ordered with barely a glance at Willy. "He's f#cking up the whole atmosphere."

OOC: TOMMY, DVANG

 

[Velenne]

T-Bull's House - Dining Room
Fifth Ward
8:30 pm

Creutzfeldt-Jakob, Spongiform Enchphalopathy, prions...it was like the darkest days of medschool all over again. Carlos remembered most of it, and its significance, but was still confounded by the implications.

"...He said that his Director wanted to meet with Dr Munguia and me tomorrow morning..."

"Oh boy, a trip to the principal's office? Just for you and me? Golly I hope they don't call my mom and dad, or kick me off the track team!" He pumps his prosthetic leg once.

"Guess it's time to start cooking up a buffet of excuses. 'Which would you prefer, Mr. Director- my dog ate my sanity, or I was abducted by space aliens who altered my brain patterns?' Hell, that sounds better than 'I was trying to protect the work from MiB's engaging in some kind of government coverup of an out-of-control man-made superflu.'"

Carlos leans back in his chair and sighs. Turning to Amy, he smiles and says, "Well look on the bright side Amy, we'll get to have breakfast together for the second day in a row. Only this time, it's buscuits and sausage gravy..."

 

[KitanaVorr]

T-Bull's House - Dining Room
Fifth Ward
8:30 pm

Jason's eyes nearly dove into the back of his head when his sister started talking about mosquitos and what not. "Only Jess could ever figure out what you were saying," he complained good-naturedly. "So you're telling us cuz this new mosquito carrying this virus or prion or whatever the heck...that this is the reason why its different?" He racked his brain for a moment. "Culex thingy and Asian tiger...I remember something in the paper about it."

Amy's mind goes back to the newspaper she had read this morning. The entire time she had spent concentrating on the disease, she didn't have the background for studying the Asian Tiger mosquitos...but she did remember when Jessica took the copies of her research that her sister had someone in mind to look into it for her. She also remembered with a start that all the Asian Tiger mosquitos captured had been destroyed - and their habitat where they had been caught cleansed.

"I think Dr. Munguia has a good question...what is the connection between the gangs, the bugs, and the Suits?" The detective frowned slightly. "And Jess knew Will Matthews? How well do you think? And why would she be involved in all this? Did she know about the virus, Amy?"

When Amy spoke about the trip to the director, Jason looked even more serious. "I don't like, sis. Let me have someone follow you. I don't know who these guys are and I don't want you or Dr. Munguia to get hurt."

OOC: MALCOLM, LAMAR, CARLOS, AMY, KIA, MIKE

 

[garyh]

T-Bull's House - Dining Room
Fifth Ward
8:30 pm

"I'll help however I can," Lamar offered. "These guys have to be stopped."

OOC: I'll try to get back into the flow of the game as well as possible. Oh, and Kit... I think the 16th page might be a good time to start a new thread.

 

[Dvang]

Bourbon Street - Alleyway
Fifth Ward
6:45pm

"Hey Barton," Willy says, as he looks at the purse contents intently, trying to identify everything that is there and what might have made him do the double-take. "Look at it this way, I may be f#cking up the atmosphere, but that means you're actually getting some f#cking for once". Willy flashes a jovial, but mechanical smile and continues to edge up to where the purse and its contents are for a better look.

What was it that made him start? There's gotta be something here, I know it. I'm not gonna let THEM screw with people this way like they screwed with me if I can help it!

 

[Catulle]

T-Bull's House - Dining Room
Fifth Ward
8:30 pm

Though she thought she kept her composure throughout, Amy couldn't help the inward wince as Carlos rattled off another battery of lines. Doesn't he realise how he sounds? Just when I think he's engaging his brain, more childish humour... Sympathetic embarassment, or something else, she wasn't going to dwell on it. For now.

She waited out Jason's speech with a growing sense of unease.

"Well, I don't know how to put it without sounding absolutely certifiable," at this, she couldn't help a look towards Dr Munguia, "but the Asian Tiger cultures are the key. They're what are being taken out of circulation. Jess indicated that their habitats were destroyed, my confiscated research contained samples of the more virulent strain of the west nile virus which could well have been taken from patients bitten by Asian Tiger mosquitos and I'd be ready to theorise that Mr Matthews had one of them in his entymology collection or at the very least had been collecting near the former habitat." She chewed more at her lower lip, the focus showing in the cast of her forehead and though she looked at Mike, her attention was plainly elsewhere, in the ether.

"Yes, Jess knew about the virus. We were talking about it shortly before the... Fu Kim. I thought it was a little strange that she was taking an interest in my research; she usually responded much like you did after a few minutes." She paused again, weighing up the options internally before committing to a course of action.

"I don't think we can avoid that meeting, but if it was dangerous, the agents wouldn't have told me and set me on my way, would they? I think we should go, Carlos and I, and that we have somebody watching just in case I'm wrong." She looked around the room slowly, searching for an affirmative sign or positive reaction from anybody. She let her eyes rest a little longer on Kia.