Dark*Matter: Discovery, the Beginning

[iwatt]

"I'm Agent Angelena Lear," she said, quietly. "The other officers think I'm a police detective specializing in cult crimes. I'm actually a member of an organization known as the Hoffmann Institute, and right now, I'm the only person here who's likely to believe anything you might have to say about the supernatural events that happened here tonight."

Right. And we're supposed to believe this? Turning towards the only one who seemed to actually know anything about what had happened this evening, the young man asks the archeolgist. "Nick, you the man with the inside info. Does this ring true to you?"

OOC: average hitpoints at level up?

 

[Falkus]

OOC: Average hitpoints.

 

[industrygothica]

[sblock]

OOC: Everybody gains 1200 experience points

Nick's Profession Check (1d20+7=22)[/sblock]

"I'm Agent Angelena Lear," she said, quietly. "The other officers think I'm a police detective specializing in cult crimes. I'm actually a member of an organization known as the Hoffmann Institute, and right now, I'm the only person here who's likely to believe anything you might have to say about the supernatural events that happened here tonight."

"May I see your identification please?" Nick asks politely. He really couldn't tell one way or another if it was legit, but he wants to compare it to that of the dead man in the library. If they match, that'll be proof enough that she's telling the truth.

Assuming her ID matches the other Hoffman Institute ID found in the library:
"Well, I suppose if you're from the Hoffman Institute then you already know what happened. Your other agent is inside. I'm sorry, but he didn't make it. We burned the urn, though. It was the only way."

If her ID doesn't match up, or if Nick guesses its a forgery of some sort:
No thank you. I think I'd rather take my chances with someone in a uniform. There have just been too many strange things happening tonight, I can't afford a risk.

 

[Falkus]

[sblock]
"May I see your identification please?" Nick asks politely. He really couldn't tell one way or another if it was legit, but he wants to compare it to that of the dead man in the library. If they match, that'll be proof enough that she's telling the truth.

Assuming her ID matches the other Hoffman Institute ID found in the library:
"Well, I suppose if you're from the Hoffman Institute then you already know what happened. Your other agent is inside. I'm sorry, but he didn't make it. We burned the urn, though. It was the only way."

"Certainly," she said, handing over an ID card. Aside from the name, picture and other incidental personal information, it matched that of the dead man inside. Presumably, they were both genuine.

Angelena sighed, and looked up at the sky. "He was my partner," she said, after a moment. "When we found that the ritual had begun, we knew that he was almost certainly dead, but there was alway a chance. I should have come with him, but he said he could retrieve it on his own, and I had an assignment on the other side of town. He thought he'd misdirected the Secret Masters by having the crates shipped to the library instead of the museum, but they must have caught on."

She then looked back at the group. "It's impressive that you managed to stop the ritual, however. I quite agree with you, artifacts like that are much to dangerous to be left intact."

 

[industrygothica]

She then looked back at the group. "It's impressive that you managed to stop the ritual, however. I quite agree with you, artifacts like that are much to dangerous to be left intact."

"So," Nick continues. "How do we get out of this? I mean, surely they're going to want answers. They'll never believe the truth. Hell, I'm not sure that I believe the truth, and I was there. But there are three dead men in there, and I have no idea where to go from here."

 

[Shayuri]

Meredith peeks over Nick's shoulder to see the ID, then focuses on Angelina.

"Secret Masters? Look...you're talking like this sort of thing happens a lot! I don't know about you, Miss Lear, but I think we deserve some kind of explanation! Who would go around trying to...to...bring back Egyptian mummies? And even if they wanted to, HOW? That...this isn't some kind of movie after all. But..." she digs in her bag, producing the chip she swapped out. Before the police took her camera, she put the first chip back in...the chip where she'd photographed the crowd and murder victim. The 'normal' footage. All the supernatural stuff was on the memory she now held. "But I know it happened. It's all right here. How is that possible?"

 

[Falkus]

"Don't worry about the police. Their investigation will determine that a wanted serial killer entered the library and killed two people, before being gunned down by several courageous citizens. We'll make sure of it. No need to bother them with facts that they wouldn't believe anyway. They'll give you a pat on the back, perhaps a lecture or two about vigilantism, and that'll be the end of it. From the police, that is."

The Hoffmann Institute agent turned to look at Meredith. "You're quite right. You do deserve a truth or two. Not the whole truth, not yet, but part of it. You encountered something that the average human being is incapable of understanding, and yet you not only managed to react rationally, you managed to defeat a rather malevolent force. Not many people could do that."

She sighed again. "It's never easy, the initiation. It wasn't easy for me, it wasn't easy for the dozen other times I've had to explain the facts of life. I'll be blunt: Much of what you know is a lie. That magic and the supernatural are concepts that exist solely in works of fiction. You've uncovered a truth tonight. That magic is real, that ancient Egyptian necromancers can be brought back to life. And, as any student of human psychology can tell you, when something exists, there will be people who will exploit it. In this case, a man looking for power by calling back an Egyptian necromancer into life."

"The reason why you didn't know this before is because you, and most other people on this planet, didn't and don't want to know, and refuse to know that reality is a lot less stable and scientific than we're taught to believe. How else could we cover it up without the willing cooperation of the people we're hiding it from? Except, of course, for a few people like yourselves and me and my fellow agents who, when presented with the TRUTH, see it for what it is. Look at your fellow witnesses from the library. They saw everything you saw, but they refuse to acknowledge it, can't explain it, and probably won't even remember it by tommorow."

 

[Friadoc]

For much of the activites after the conflagration within the Library, Cade has remained silent, as it was the first time he has had to try and kill another human being, whether they deserved it or not, and that is a lot for one person to absorb so quickly.

Yet, Cade has put on a good enough face and simply listens to the conversation, resting behind the normal assumption that the country boy is more of a doer than a thinker. He did the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons, and that should be enough for him and his maker.

However, Cade breaks his silence with a quip, actually a quote, on the topic of the conversation.

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents," says Cade as he quotes H.P. Lovecraft from Call of Cthulhu.

"Ma'am, I can't really speak for the others," says Cade in a simple tone, again retreating to the safety of the country boy. "But, seeing what I saw, knowing what I know, well....I want in."

Cade's tone leave little mistake in what he means by 'In'.

But, Cade softens his tone with a 'Tom Sawyer' like grin as he adds, "Oh, yeah, I want my sword back, too."

OOC

My Trophy! *grins*

 

[iwatt]

"Ma'am, I can't really speak for the others," says Cade in a simple tone, again retreating to the safety of the country boy. "But, seeing what I saw, knowing what I know, well....I want in."

Looking at his companions, Larry wasn't sure what the angle was. There's always an angle. The proffesor was in as well, no doubt about that. The reporter was hard to read, but she'd probably let her curiosity get the best of her.

"So what is this, a recruitment offer? I didn't join the marines when that judge asked me too, and I don't see any reason to volunteer for your Men in Black now. Unless you have something to put on the table."

 

[industrygothica]

"Don't worry about the police. Their investigation will determine that a wanted serial killer entered the library and killed two people, before being gunned down by several courageous citizens. We'll make sure of it. No need to bother them with facts that they wouldn't believe anyway. They'll give you a pat on the back, perhaps a lecture or two about vigilantism, and that'll be the end of it. From the police, that is."

The Hoffmann Institute agent turned to look at Meredith. "You're quite right. You do deserve a truth or two. Not the whole truth, not yet, but part of it. You encountered something that the average human being is incapable of understanding, and yet you not only managed to react rationally, you managed to defeat a rather malevolent force. Not many people could do that."

She sighed again. "It's never easy, the initiation. It wasn't easy for me, it wasn't easy for the dozen other times I've had to explain the facts of life. I'll be blunt: Much of what you know is a lie. That magic and the supernatural are concepts that exist solely in works of fiction. You've uncovered a truth tonight. That magic is real, that ancient Egyptian necromancers can be brought back to life. And, as any student of human psychology can tell you, when something exists, there will be people who will exploit it. In this case, a man looking for power by calling back an Egyptian necromancer into life."

"The reason why you didn't know this before is because you, and most other people on this planet, didn't and don't want to know, and refuse to know that reality is a lot less stable and scientific than we're taught to believe. How else could we cover it up without the willing cooperation of the people we're hiding it from? Except, of course, for a few people like yourselves and me and my fellow agents who, when presented with the TRUTH, see it for what it is. Look at your fellow witnesses from the library. They saw everything you saw, but they refuse to acknowledge it, can't explain it, and probably won't even remember it by tommorow."

Nick is obviously deep in thought. He can hear those talking around him, and comprehend what the lady is saying, though his thoughts are with his lost friend Cliff Kenzington and the mysterious circumstances around his disappearance. It was artifacts so similar to these that were the cause of the whole mess, and the reason Nick got involved in the old Egyptian lore in the first place. He guess he owed it to Cliff for saving his ass in a way. Hopefully, with his newfound knowledge of the truth, he could someday repay him...