Orien & Co. Paranormal Counsel and Investigations ~ [GM]

[Manliest of Faces]

...a lot plainer than I expected, but okay. You'd think a place touting itself for working with the supernatural would be a bit more spruced up, but hey, it was the service that counted, not the presentation. So the needy something slunk up to the door of the rather boringly presented building, reaching push open the slightly ajar door, but stopping short to mentally facepalm. Right, not gonna work...still gotta get used to the lack of muscles.

So instead the being squeezed through the available crack, not having any troubles with such due to the fact that she was made entirely out of some kind of fluid. An acidic substance to be precise, but only someone with an extensive chemistry background could gather that without a visual. The aqueous thing was mostly translucent, save for a faint blue hue and some recognizable eyes, and once fully through the door, bore a feminine figure with sizable curvature all around and long straight 'hair' that constantly dripped back into the puddle of itself below. Notably there was nothing on its persona; no baggage, devices, or even clothing. Not like it could carry that around with it anyway, though. Liquids can only carry what floats on their surface.

Attention tuned in to both the only other person there and the 'music' coming out of the computer nearby. While the reverberations of such were generally quite enjoyable, it never really did much care for rock and its subgenres, even before that incident. The mix of bad music and inattentive help didn't do wonders for its mood to say the least, signified by the irritated banging (more of a splashing, really) on the counter for attention. "Excuse me," the living fluid piped up, its voice as feminine as its form and bearing an odd accent most identifiable as Franco-Canadian, "Could I get some assistance, si'l vous plait?" At least her tone was patient enough.

[Shin~The ladle monster!]

Manliest of Faces

[ Sorry, I will type up a reply for you I promise! I work in a call center and I have an old lady on the phone who knows absolutely nothing about computers. x.x

This requires all of my attention, just to explain what the 'Start Menu' is. >.< ]

[Shin~The ladle monster!]

Cale Harshal

For someone who seemed utterly dead to the world - a pun more befitting of Shayla really - Cale was very quick to wake up and snap to attention.

"Huh? Wha-- Oh, hi there!" Cale's feet slid from the desk with a thump, hitting the ground right next to a pair of old, scuffed combat boots. She straightened up in her chair, clicked the music off, and then stared for a few moments at the aqueus apparition before her. "Uh....."

At first, she wasn't quite sure what to say. Then again, when Shayla had coaxed/pleaded/blackmailed Cale into working for her, she had mentioned they were likely to run into all sorts of strange and unusual folk. Now, Cale was more the punching sort, than the desk job sort. Then again, she was glad she wasn't acting in a 'punching' capacity right now, as she wasn't sure she would be able to harm this... woman?

She rubbed her head ruefully, none too elequent as she ruffled her orange-blonde hair and spoke up. "I mean, welcome! Sorry 'bout that, I wasn't expecting anyone ya see. Name's Cale Harshal, how can I help ya out this fine evening? If ya need someone to nose around on your behalf, I'm your gal. If you're lookin' for the paper pusher, she's back there. I could get her for you."

She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, indicating the closed office door marked 'Shayla Orien'.

[Manliest of Faces]

(( Haha, no worries. I work in IT, so I'm VERY familiar with "oh god how did this get here I am not very good with computer." ))

Well, at least she was a lighter sleeper than the moronic guards in that facility. Though she always hated that initial stare people gave her... a fairly strong reminder of how inhuman those whitecoats had made her.

"Ah. Good day," the human blob answered back, polite enough in contrast to her impatience, "...I assume since you work with the supernatural, you can work with the unnatural, yes?" Considering sufficiently advanced technology was comparable to magic, it made enough sense to her/it/whatever. "...you see, there's this particular, well-known company I have a score to settle with..." She wouldn't reveal the name of said company unless an agreement was proposed; with who she had in mind, there was no such thing as too careful due to their international presence and likability.

Expecting to be chatting for a decent while, the liquefied woman pulled up her own seat, unsurprisingly made of a decent portion of her being. Occasionally she fiddled with her not-really-hair hair, trying to brush it around while only succeeding at flinging a few droplets of herself to the side. Each drop seemed to have a mind of its own, quickly congealing with the base product herself again.

[Shin~The ladle monster!]

Cale Harshal

To her credit, Cale did get over the initial shock of seeing a blob-woman fairly quickly. She straightened up in her chair, although she made no move to fix up her sleep-rumpled clothing. The lithe woman nodded enthusiastically.

"Sure we can work with whatever ya got. Honestly we're so desperate for business right now we'd probably even do normal work." It certainly wasn't a grade A sales pitch, but then again Cale couldn't give to shits about their public appearance. She was just glad to have something to do. Her smile turned into a bit of a wolfish grin when the woman stated her business. "A score to settle, ya don't say? That definitely sounds more like my department. No reason to wake- err, bother Shayla with this yet."

She raised a brow as she saw the woman form her own chair, but said nothing. She also didn't seem to mind about the water droplets flying everywhere, or about the state of the floor. Shayla probably would have been worried about the computer.

"So, you've got my interest. I'm willing to help ya out with this one, and I'll let the boss worry about matters of payment later... I'm gonna hafta know more about this company though."

Sensing that this customer seemed to be the close-mouthed sort, Cale got up, slipped her feet into the big, unlaced combat boots, and kicked the garbage can out of the doorway, allowing the front door of the business to slam shut before she returned to the reception desk.

[ Heh, I work for the Microsoft online store. Honestly, if somebody doesn't know what a server is, THEY SHOULDN'T BE BUYING ONE. The same goes for programming and web development software. >.<; ]

[Manliest of Faces]

(( A-fricking-men. Just because I get paid to fix up and troubleshoot s**t does not mean I should have to double as a technological babysitter because no one listens when they're told not to do *insert obviously dumb thing here*. Jeeez. I can't even get these people off of Norton Anti-Virus and Internet Explorer/Safari. /rant rant ))

Finally, maybe a plan could come together. After the last botched attempt with some Australian butch, this seemed much more promising. So with pre-approval made, the revengeneering blob proceeded to lay out her purpose. "...I'm sure you've heard of the front B.L.T.C., or 'Better Living Through Chemicals,' yes? The supposedly eco-friendly, humanity driven chemical research, engineering, and distribution company? ...yea, they're full of s**t."

With the wham line dropped, the insider informant went into exposition mode, eye contact broken as she focused more on the details. "...see, I wasn't always this freakish malformation of a person. Honestly, I'm pretty new to it, about 3 weeks or so. I used to be a journalist for a local newspaper back home, just enjoying life as I please and not having much a care for the world. Unnecessary details aside, I was tasked to interview one of the head scientists there of a new rumored compound that could assist well in surgery, especially in transplants due to its adaptive nature. While I did get the info I came for, I decided to peek around and get some filler shots for my article. Needless to say, I stumbled across something I shouldn't have; their testing facility." The former journalist's eyes suddenly grew wider, her voice dropping to a monologue, trauma apparent on her. "Ungodly sins against nature that were once men, begging for the sweet release of death. A sickly, bare woman with limbs and appendages not meant for humans. Another thrown into a putrid vat marked TB, came out as a chimeric abomination."

As suddenly as the mood took her, it stopped. And so did she, her mind hyperfocused on what happened in that facility. She didn't say another word, only stared into the great beyond.

[Shin~The ladle monster!]

Cale Harshal

Carefree demeanor aside, Cale did settle down into a more serious frame of mind, propping her elbow on the table and settling her chin into her palm as she listened to the journalist's story. It was a frightful tale, and it confirmed all of the misgivings Cale herself had ever had toward scientists in general. She herself didn't much like geneticists, as she was a strong believer that they would slice you up and examine your insides as soon as easily as they might look at you. Her grin turned into more of a glower, and she shook her head.

"That's just ******** sick. Listen, I got your back on this one. If there're folks screwing around with people like that, they've gotta be stopped."

Noticing that her client had zoned out, Cale tried to call her back into reality. Sadly she did not have the hang of tact, not the way that Shayla did. Cale was as blunt as ever when she spoke up.

"Hey, d'you think they'd have a cure or somethin' in there? You know, some way to turn you normal again? Anyway, I need you to tell me exactly what you want me, personally, to do 'bout this business."

[Manliest of Faces]

It took her a good while, but the yet-to-be-named woman eventually pulled her mind back to the present. She retained the compromised tone and traumatized expression though. Whatever happened to her in that place must have been equatable to Hell, if her account of others was accurate. It didn't help that before such, she had full confidence in trust in the company for their work in fields she preferred not to bring up in common conversation.

"...I doubt it. They don't look for fixes to problems they create. They just work off the problems to make a working product. They treated us more like abominable sixth-class beasts, rather than fellow human beings..." Somewhere in there must have been a trigger-word, as the woman entered a trance again. "...solitude. Reprimanding. Injections. Examination. Solitude. No time to rest, we could rest when we were dead. Science called to us. For the greater good. It was what we were born for. Natural selection." Unlike last time, after her spoken train of thought stopped, this time the woman was able to bring herself back on her own accord. "...sorry... I tend to trail off about things..."

Instinctively clearing her 'throat', no chance there'd be obstructions there, she focused back on the matter of business. That other issue could be discussed with a psychologist once all was said and done. "...right, I need someone capable of gathering sensitive data. Someone who has no chance of being in their system. Someone like you. I need you to get in, get undeniably incriminating evidence, and get out. Pictures, documents, IDs, video footage. Anything and everything, the more the better. I need ammo to wage a war over media against them. I can write a scathing article that would make a tabloid writer gasp, but that's nothing without proper evidence. Can you do that?" She wasn't entirely sure if this other woman was the sneaky type, but anything would do at the moment. Even if it just causes rumors to spread, that leads to suspicion, which leads to paranoia, unto investigation, and unto justice. It was a slippery slope, they just had to get the snowball rolling.

[Shin~The ladle monster!]

[ sorry, work's suddenly gotten actually busy for once. bleh. ]

Cale was a little bit uncomfortable when the woman trailed off again, and she shifted in her seat. The woman was obviously traumatized, and with good reason. But Cale wasn't good with all the psychological s**t, that just wasn't her forte.

"Okay, an in-and-out job I can do." Cale nodded, grateful to sieze a topic of conversation she was comfortable with. She also unknowingly put another of her client's questions to rest when she continued. "So, do you want me to do this on the sly, keep out of the way? Or is this an instance where I can go in, cause as much trouble as possible, and then book it with the evidence?"

Her eager, wolfish grin certainly showed which one she would prefer, although she sounded as if she were confident in performing either feat with skill.

[Trexasle]

Name: Leontias Métaliene
Status:
Location:He hated having to accept help from others.

Oh not because he hated earthlings or anything, infact he found them fascinating and really just wanted to takeon with him back home...if he ever found a way back home, in order for everyone to be perplexed of the species as he was. He adjusted the wraps that his arms were in and decided to open the door to the detective agency. He hid the bandaged arm under his coat and proceeded to look around, apparently the boss was talking with someone. something about an in and out job.

"Uhh Excuse me...are you busy miss?"

[Shin~The ladle monster!]

Cale Harshal

Oh, how Shayla would have paled at the thought of Cale running the business. Nothing would ever get done, and half their customers would probably be offended by the careless way she handled everything and lynch them.

As a glowing example of her customer service skills, Cale looked up from her conversation with the watery woman, gracelessly cutting their talk short. "Mm? Oh, hey there. Yeah, I'm a bit busy at the moment sorry."

She did push her chair back though and stand up, remembering to promis her previous client that she'll be right back. "I'll take you in to see the boss though, she's just back here."

The tall woman strode down the hall and stopped at Shayla's door, pounding on it with an open palm a couple of times. "Hey! Client to see ya, now!" Then she looked over to the new man with a grin. "Yeah, you can just go right on in. And you," She turned around and called to the aqueous woman. "I forgot, I've got an actual office too. Come on in here, and we can continue our chat in private."

With that, she disappeared into the door marked AccaliaCale Harshal, holding it open for her client and giving the newcomer a rueful smile. "Heh, sorry about this. First time we get any business, and now we're busy.

[Manliest of Faces]

(( And I was busied myself, sorry. Granted, by something more inconsequential such as Saints Row the Third, but. ))

"...alright then. Lead the way." The gelatinous one followed her assistant into the more appropriate office, noting the misnomer on the door as likely this Cale's person's real first name. "Don't worry, at least your means of getting business is legitimate. Now, about the infiltration..."

"...if I were you, I'd go for the Solid Snake approach of being a ghost in there. Not even an Amazonian one woman army was able to burst her way through...I think..." Her focus switched away again, but she didn't enter a trance. "...I haven't seen her since, so I'm not sure. I think her name was Rae or something..." She sounded genuinely concerned for the meathead she may have sent to its death... or worse. There were much worse things than death in there, she knew that for a fact. Now was not the time to guilt trip though, it was time to plan.

Thankfully, she had a plan already. Much more refined after her last survey through the sewage and ventilation systems. Heck, she could have gotten that heated evidence easily herself if she weren't unable to carry a camera and the records department weren't air sealed and...well, lacking solidity sucked, she'd leave it at that. "...alright, game plan. The main experimentation facility isn't too well hidden, since they're overconfident in their publicity. Chat it up with reception with basic questions, including where the restroom is, to wave off suspicion. Head to said bathroom, and apply pressure on the top-right and bottom-left portions of the mirror there; I've seen some of the workers do such and cause a portion of the wall to become an entrance. Minimal security, quite dark, begging for infiltration. Leads directly to the holding cells. Ventilation system larger there, average adult could crawl through, go straight up to surface to accommodate lack of normal oxidation down there. Take one left, two rights, three lefts, one more right, then straight ahead, 2nd vent down leads to security office. Find and press button labeled "Records Dpt.", preferably after disposing of security, and only that one. If possible, take photos through vents of anything compromising. Every little bit helps."

"...do you need me to write this down?" She was asking sincerely, knowing full well she was spewing out an info dump. She couldn't lift much anymore, but she could lift a pencil and paper. Granted, both would be soggy and the paper partially eroded, but it was something. "...anyway, once you pop the switch, I'll be waiting at records to scoop up as many sensitive folders as I can into myself. I can get in and out easily without their knowing." Hopefully this would work for both of them. If not, well...they'd see. "...by the way, for the sake of convenience, please, call me Natalie." The now-named Nat extended her right hand for the socially accepted shake of such. "It's a pleasure, Ms. Harshal."

(( Text text text text text ))

[Trexasle]

Name: Leontias Métaliene
:

He nodded and held the wrapped up hand, he proceeded to sit down in the chair and adjust his seat. Human chairs, never fit his bum correctly, if only they have seftium, then maybe their chairs would be as soft as the clouds. However, he could not blame earthlings for their lack of technological advance. Civilization just works that way sometimes. He would stare at the female and begin to find a way to explain his predicament.

"You see, I am an alien that came from a distant planet, crash landed on earth and decided to help out a pair of people from a zombie invasion in hopes of finding information about fixing my ship." He stopped for a second and looked down at his hands, maybe he could show her better than he could tell her. He was going to regret this, certainly he was, but he didn't think it would be believeable otherwise. "And I found a pick there, and it made me grow stronger, made my playing more advance...but...Overtime..."

He then finished unwrapping his arm, which was now a giant black arm, tentacles spewing oout of his pores with sline going down his arm, his hand was now a giant three fingered claw. "Yeah...I need to find a cure..."

[Shin~The ladle monster!]

[ Am working on a response, it's slow going here at work sorry... ]

[Shin~The ladle monster!]

ShaylaOrien

[ I'm gonna work off the assumption that Nat followed Cale into her office, and Leon went into Shayla's, aight? I hope that's kay. ^^ ]

Shayla had been bent over her desk, studiously scribbling away at some paperwork. She was just wondering how they had accumulated so much work without actually having helped any clients yet when Cale's rough, incessant pounding rattled her office door. Cale's manner grated at Shayla's nerves, but when the door admitted to enter the new man Shayla presented him with a perfectly professional manner.

The woman was almost a whole hand shorter than Cale, but she certainly had more curve to her. Her trim figure was clad in a smart purple blazer and black pencil skirt, she wore a dark blouse with the top couple of buttons undone to combat the heat of the small office. She looked over the rims of her slim glasses and smiled with emerald eyes. Oddly enough she had been working in the dark - she reached over to turn on the lamp that sat at her desk and light flooded the room, throwing her pale skin into sharp relief.

"Ah, welcome to my humble business kind sir... oh, my." Whereas Cale would have stared at the alien in slack-jawed wonderment, Shayla merely pursed her lips and raised her brows at the story her client immediately launched into. "Well... you've definitely seen enough excitement to last a lifetime I see."

She tactfully refrained from any of the multitude of shocked responses that sprung to mind at the sight of the grisly arm. Instead, she slid her paperwork carefully away from the dripping slime and only moved her chair back a little bit to avoid the writhing tentacles. "I can see that you are in definite need of a cure. My associate and I are here to help... although I'll admit, we aren't scientists nor are we magicians. Which leads me to believe you may have an idea of where this cure may be... perhaps you need our particular array of skills to help ferret out some information...?"

[ Don't worry, Nat is comin' up next...! ^^; ]