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xp_logsAlex, Quentin, and Hope do a little legwork on the tip Inez gave them. Super backdated due to player life.
Inez had taken care of the person who had told her about the Underground, but he had friends, because of course he did. Not to mention who else he might have told - or they might have told - to get themselves out of trouble.
Which was how they found themselves in front of an unassuming apartment building on the edge of District X. "It'd be too easy if they were just sitting on the steps," Alex muttered, going through his phone to see if they had apartment numbers. "How do we want to do this? Wait for one of them to come out or go knock on doors?"
"You've brought the world's preeminent telepath on this job," Quentin scoffed from his shotgun seat in Alex's car, feet kicked up on the dashboard. "And also her." He indicated Hope in the backseat. "We don't have to wait for shit. Abbott can just ghost around until she finds where they're hiding and then blammo, we know what they know and then they don't know anything anymore. You're playing easy mode with me here."
"Or the world's most preeminent telepath can just scan the entire building and we can just be done far quicker?." Hope replied with a syrupy tone in her voice as she looked up from her tablet where she had been cataloguing the information they'd gathered so far. "Sue is currently investigating the background of the last two people we found... which are rather sparse, I am afraid."
She sat up and quickly tucked the tablet away when she spotted two girls holding hands heading towards the door. "QQ, does that blonde woman not resemble the picture of you showed us..."
"I don't want to render you completely redundant and leave you out of a job," he mockingly declared. "And all blondes tend to look alike, no offense," he added for Alex's sake, "But . . . you might be right. She looks like the what, third one down the telephone line? Temple's friend to that laundromat owner to her daughter to her?"
"If I started dyeing it different colors, I'd just be stealing your spotlight," Alex responded, craning his neck back to look at the woman. "Okay, dazzle us, oh great mind folk. It's going to look creepy if a guy tries to follow them in, so... Hope?"
"I still cannot hear a thing if I just follow them in." Hope leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes as the waves roared in her ears and took her to the astral plane. Arriving at the plane she quickly shifted to it's lowest levels, the aura's from Alex and QQ flaring up first, but then she could easily find the two girls. "They're lovers, alright." She sent to QQ. "Alright, I am going to see if I can ride along with them."
A bracelet, studded with small shells and pearls, formed into her hands and she dove down, snapping the bracelet in place on the astral spectre of the blonde and slipping inside her head. A dizzying moment later she was looking through the girl's eyes.
#I always hate it when lesbians are the bad guys, they're supposed to be better than us,# Quentin bemoaned telepathically, linking himself and Alex to Hope. #Trying to dive into her memories to see if she talked about us to anyone else. Her mind's a mess. She's nervous about something. Pathologically so. Is this what clinical anxiety does to a person? Couldn't be me.#
"Alex, apartment 27-C. We might want to have Sue sneak in here later on." Hope quickly sent. "Either they collect cookie tins or there is something else in there..."
-I'll take option b,- Alex replied. -Q, if you're not having any luck, we might have to take the long way around and try to talk to them.-
#No, I have another idea. Usually doing more than just leaving a suggestion, especially from afar, is a little tricky. But you're doing something, Abbott, like you left a door unlocked. Messy, but it helps me.# From his seat in Alex's car, Quentin's body started to emit a faint pink glow as he extended his mind to the open portal in the young woman's mind. He did not notice, though, as his sight was no longer his own. He looked down at his skinny arms and slender fingers. Not his, but the young woman's. Anna, he knew her name was. The phantom shell and pearl bracelet adorned her astral wrist, but it faded from view as Quentin focused Anna on the material world. That made his—no, her— stomach lurch.
The girlfriend asked what was wrong, and Quentin sensed an opportunity. A trip to the bodega for Pepto Bismol would give him a few minutes alone in the apartment. #This body's so sluggish. Probably from all those tinned cookies.#
#Are you sure it is just her nourishment?# Hope commented as she focused on taking in as much of the rest of the room as possible while Quentin sent the girl's partner off. #It might just be me, but something feels off here.#
Quentin shook Anna's head. #No. I've just never fully commandeered someone's brain before. Implanted a strong suggestion to do something or rifled through their memories, but totally shunting out someone's consciousness and taking over is a new trick. A good one, though. I can see why Chuckles used to do this all the time before he got telepathic Alzheimer's.# He had the woman walk to the counter to get one of the tins, but it was awkward and she almost stumbled. It was like a toddler trying to take their first steps. When he finally got her there, he made her sit on a chair rather than risk an accident that would lead to more questions from the girlfriend.
#Pick up the tin,# he commanded her to no avail. He got her across the room but her hands and arms were unresponsive. #Pick it up!#
Hope narrowed her eyes as she watched Anna stumble. #Wait... I truly have no idea if this would work, but why not... let's go for her left arm. You ready?" She gave it a beat, then counted down: #Three, two, one...# Careful to picture each detail in her mind, she visualized Anna lifting her left arm and move it in the direction of the tin.
Anna's arm moved slowly, like it was weighed down, but with the combined focus of Hope and Quentin, she managed to do what they wanted. The tin lid popped off, revealing a small sheaf of notes, the kinds commonly used for clandestine Underground communication with digital could not be trusted. No names, just numbers and seemingly random letters. Dates, times, and probably initials.
#Alex, do you see this?# Quentin asked as he and Hope flipped through the notes.
#Yeah,# Alex replied grimly, frowning from his spot in the car. His attention was torn three ways, trying to see the notes as Quentin showed him, typing everything he could on his phone, and watching the street to make sure the girlfriend wasn't coming back yet. #Think you can pick her brain a bit to find out where she got this stuff?#
#It's as we thought. Down the line the way Temple told us. I can make her forget all this, but she'll still have the receipts. Might want to send in Storm to clear the place after all when we're done.#
#There still is the girlfriend and if she's involved, she'll notice." Hope countered, raising her mental eyebrow. #Considering Anna actually put things in a cookie tin, I am quite certain the girlfriend is at least aware... Unless you want to wait and scan/wipe her as well?# She and Quentin slowly pushed the notes together again in preparation of putting them back in the tin, she paused and frowned at one note. #Wait, if we are taking these dates and times... they are actually still coming... four days away in fact. Quentin..."
Quentin's groan of disgust and exhaustion escaped Anna's mouth as a tired whimper. #On the one hand, being so dumb to write this all down makes it easier for us to intercept and track, but anyone could follow up on this, too. They endangered themselves and for what? Underground clout? Fuck, here's what we'll do: I'll come back with Storm tomorrow and mindwipe these two dumbasses while she takes the evidence. Then we'll go to this drop in four days and finally plug the goddamn leak. And Abbott, for the love of fuck, stop moving her, you're dropping the notes all over the place. Just let me do it.# He then proceeded to drop a sheaf of notes himself.
Hope sent him the mental version of a poke in a certain sensitive body part. #Okay, this is clearly not working if we try to do this on our own. Doing this together worked last time..." She focused for a moment. "Are you ready? One... two... three..." Anna's arms seemed to move just a little smoother and started gathering the various notes.
Alex rolled his eyes at both of them, then stopped when he saw someone coming down the street. #Girlfriend's coming back, guys. Wrap it up.#
Though Quentin would rather shoot himself in the face than admit it, it seemed the power of cooperation did work to get things back in order. And not a minute too soon. He broke the connection the moment he heard the key slide into the lock, and found himself gasping for air back in his own body as if he had just run a marathon. "Fuck, I need a drink."
It took Hope a little longer to 'unsnap the bracelet' so she could slip back to the astral plane. From there it was far easier and familiar to slip back in her own body and she carefully took the time to let the waves die down slowly, so she could calmly adjust to her body. Fully aware of everything she did, she drew in a breath through her nose and slowly let it out through her mouth before opening her eyes. "Well, that was quite the adventure..."
"We can break into the office liquor cabinet," Alex assured Quentin as he started the car. They needed to go through what they'd learned with everyone else and make a plan.
And also, a drink just sounded really good.
Inez had taken care of the person who had told her about the Underground, but he had friends, because of course he did. Not to mention who else he might have told - or they might have told - to get themselves out of trouble.
Which was how they found themselves in front of an unassuming apartment building on the edge of District X. "It'd be too easy if they were just sitting on the steps," Alex muttered, going through his phone to see if they had apartment numbers. "How do we want to do this? Wait for one of them to come out or go knock on doors?"
"You've brought the world's preeminent telepath on this job," Quentin scoffed from his shotgun seat in Alex's car, feet kicked up on the dashboard. "And also her." He indicated Hope in the backseat. "We don't have to wait for shit. Abbott can just ghost around until she finds where they're hiding and then blammo, we know what they know and then they don't know anything anymore. You're playing easy mode with me here."
"Or the world's most preeminent telepath can just scan the entire building and we can just be done far quicker?." Hope replied with a syrupy tone in her voice as she looked up from her tablet where she had been cataloguing the information they'd gathered so far. "Sue is currently investigating the background of the last two people we found... which are rather sparse, I am afraid."
She sat up and quickly tucked the tablet away when she spotted two girls holding hands heading towards the door. "QQ, does that blonde woman not resemble the picture of you showed us..."
"I don't want to render you completely redundant and leave you out of a job," he mockingly declared. "And all blondes tend to look alike, no offense," he added for Alex's sake, "But . . . you might be right. She looks like the what, third one down the telephone line? Temple's friend to that laundromat owner to her daughter to her?"
"If I started dyeing it different colors, I'd just be stealing your spotlight," Alex responded, craning his neck back to look at the woman. "Okay, dazzle us, oh great mind folk. It's going to look creepy if a guy tries to follow them in, so... Hope?"
"I still cannot hear a thing if I just follow them in." Hope leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes as the waves roared in her ears and took her to the astral plane. Arriving at the plane she quickly shifted to it's lowest levels, the aura's from Alex and QQ flaring up first, but then she could easily find the two girls. "They're lovers, alright." She sent to QQ. "Alright, I am going to see if I can ride along with them."
A bracelet, studded with small shells and pearls, formed into her hands and she dove down, snapping the bracelet in place on the astral spectre of the blonde and slipping inside her head. A dizzying moment later she was looking through the girl's eyes.
#I always hate it when lesbians are the bad guys, they're supposed to be better than us,# Quentin bemoaned telepathically, linking himself and Alex to Hope. #Trying to dive into her memories to see if she talked about us to anyone else. Her mind's a mess. She's nervous about something. Pathologically so. Is this what clinical anxiety does to a person? Couldn't be me.#
"Alex, apartment 27-C. We might want to have Sue sneak in here later on." Hope quickly sent. "Either they collect cookie tins or there is something else in there..."
-I'll take option b,- Alex replied. -Q, if you're not having any luck, we might have to take the long way around and try to talk to them.-
#No, I have another idea. Usually doing more than just leaving a suggestion, especially from afar, is a little tricky. But you're doing something, Abbott, like you left a door unlocked. Messy, but it helps me.# From his seat in Alex's car, Quentin's body started to emit a faint pink glow as he extended his mind to the open portal in the young woman's mind. He did not notice, though, as his sight was no longer his own. He looked down at his skinny arms and slender fingers. Not his, but the young woman's. Anna, he knew her name was. The phantom shell and pearl bracelet adorned her astral wrist, but it faded from view as Quentin focused Anna on the material world. That made his—no, her— stomach lurch.
The girlfriend asked what was wrong, and Quentin sensed an opportunity. A trip to the bodega for Pepto Bismol would give him a few minutes alone in the apartment. #This body's so sluggish. Probably from all those tinned cookies.#
#Are you sure it is just her nourishment?# Hope commented as she focused on taking in as much of the rest of the room as possible while Quentin sent the girl's partner off. #It might just be me, but something feels off here.#
Quentin shook Anna's head. #No. I've just never fully commandeered someone's brain before. Implanted a strong suggestion to do something or rifled through their memories, but totally shunting out someone's consciousness and taking over is a new trick. A good one, though. I can see why Chuckles used to do this all the time before he got telepathic Alzheimer's.# He had the woman walk to the counter to get one of the tins, but it was awkward and she almost stumbled. It was like a toddler trying to take their first steps. When he finally got her there, he made her sit on a chair rather than risk an accident that would lead to more questions from the girlfriend.
#Pick up the tin,# he commanded her to no avail. He got her across the room but her hands and arms were unresponsive. #Pick it up!#
Hope narrowed her eyes as she watched Anna stumble. #Wait... I truly have no idea if this would work, but why not... let's go for her left arm. You ready?" She gave it a beat, then counted down: #Three, two, one...# Careful to picture each detail in her mind, she visualized Anna lifting her left arm and move it in the direction of the tin.
Anna's arm moved slowly, like it was weighed down, but with the combined focus of Hope and Quentin, she managed to do what they wanted. The tin lid popped off, revealing a small sheaf of notes, the kinds commonly used for clandestine Underground communication with digital could not be trusted. No names, just numbers and seemingly random letters. Dates, times, and probably initials.
#Alex, do you see this?# Quentin asked as he and Hope flipped through the notes.
#Yeah,# Alex replied grimly, frowning from his spot in the car. His attention was torn three ways, trying to see the notes as Quentin showed him, typing everything he could on his phone, and watching the street to make sure the girlfriend wasn't coming back yet. #Think you can pick her brain a bit to find out where she got this stuff?#
#It's as we thought. Down the line the way Temple told us. I can make her forget all this, but she'll still have the receipts. Might want to send in Storm to clear the place after all when we're done.#
#There still is the girlfriend and if she's involved, she'll notice." Hope countered, raising her mental eyebrow. #Considering Anna actually put things in a cookie tin, I am quite certain the girlfriend is at least aware... Unless you want to wait and scan/wipe her as well?# She and Quentin slowly pushed the notes together again in preparation of putting them back in the tin, she paused and frowned at one note. #Wait, if we are taking these dates and times... they are actually still coming... four days away in fact. Quentin..."
Quentin's groan of disgust and exhaustion escaped Anna's mouth as a tired whimper. #On the one hand, being so dumb to write this all down makes it easier for us to intercept and track, but anyone could follow up on this, too. They endangered themselves and for what? Underground clout? Fuck, here's what we'll do: I'll come back with Storm tomorrow and mindwipe these two dumbasses while she takes the evidence. Then we'll go to this drop in four days and finally plug the goddamn leak. And Abbott, for the love of fuck, stop moving her, you're dropping the notes all over the place. Just let me do it.# He then proceeded to drop a sheaf of notes himself.
Hope sent him the mental version of a poke in a certain sensitive body part. #Okay, this is clearly not working if we try to do this on our own. Doing this together worked last time..." She focused for a moment. "Are you ready? One... two... three..." Anna's arms seemed to move just a little smoother and started gathering the various notes.
Alex rolled his eyes at both of them, then stopped when he saw someone coming down the street. #Girlfriend's coming back, guys. Wrap it up.#
Though Quentin would rather shoot himself in the face than admit it, it seemed the power of cooperation did work to get things back in order. And not a minute too soon. He broke the connection the moment he heard the key slide into the lock, and found himself gasping for air back in his own body as if he had just run a marathon. "Fuck, I need a drink."
It took Hope a little longer to 'unsnap the bracelet' so she could slip back to the astral plane. From there it was far easier and familiar to slip back in her own body and she carefully took the time to let the waves die down slowly, so she could calmly adjust to her body. Fully aware of everything she did, she drew in a breath through her nose and slowly let it out through her mouth before opening her eyes. "Well, that was quite the adventure..."
"We can break into the office liquor cabinet," Alex assured Quentin as he started the car. They needed to go through what they'd learned with everyone else and make a plan.
And also, a drink just sounded really good.
