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 Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2017 6:11 pm
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2017 6:14 pm
Sunday afternoons were seldom quiet for the reporter, but Eva and her team had recently finished their part in covering the medals awarded to the nation’s superheroes the morning before, heroes and their fancy costumes easily becoming the scoop of the nation. It was an entertaining and lively trip to the nation’s capital, but that was behind them now. Eva found herself inside the CHB’s HQ, occupying a largely vacant work space with most of the staff speaking among themselves. She, however, was at the wide table looking at the contents of various folders, all of which involved some questionable matters over at West Valley Park. Within the last month, a group of vigilantes amusingly called “The Merry Men” emerged, and have been doing the work that they claim the police have failed to do. Corruption in such a treacherous area wasn’t unexpected, and though it would be dangerous, Eva wasn’t discouraged, and felt it would be a worthwhile undertaking. Perhaps her golden boy rubbed off on her, and she might just find herself lucky with meeting at least one of the Merry Men? Merry Women? Whichever. She smiled at the thought of what she could accomplish if they succeeded. “Hey Ciri, feelin’ brave?” she asked aloud, looking over at her assistant and friend. Usually she asked that question when they were about to do something dangerous.
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2017 6:32 pm
 Rosetta Stone
Cirilla Gardner ...........Company: Eva Allen
Mood: Preoccupied
Location: CHB HQ
Appearance: Business Casual
OOC:
............... Cirilla had finally settled into her tiny desk across from Eva's. A new job was always stressful, but working for Eva was definitely a non-stop go-go-go experience. But then again, why wouldn't they? Covering the supers after all was a 24/7 love affair. While Eva went to cover the last story with her more experienced team, Ciri worked hard gathering the files that her boss was currently looking over on her desk. She sat in her chair, her legs crossed as she flipped through a book on sign language. Cirilla had never struggled with languages before, for reasons only obvious to herself, but this one was a bit difficult to learn. When her boss called for her attention, she turned in her swivel chair and cocked an eyebrow at her boss. Ciri closed her book and smirked. "Hey, you know some of us don't have insurance yet, right?" Cirilla laughed and placed her book on her desk before standing to walk over to Eva's desk. She placed her hands on the desk and leaned over, looking over the files. "Let's try not to find ourselves on the wrong end of a gun this time? Bravery is one thing, being foolhardy is another..."
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2017 7:36 pm
“It’s West Valley Park! I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how they said hello. I’m covering your insurance, anyways. It’s one less thing to worry about in our line of work.” Their work was dangerous, but there was a sense of adventure that made it so captivating. Every time they hit the road, there was always a story to seek out, something to show the world, and instead of hiding in the background peering from a distance, they were in on the action. It was exciting, really, how often they flirted with death. “Do you need to grab anything before we go? I know our equipment’s being packed right now, and I’m gonna make use of my gun rights this time around, just in case. Let’s hope we find the heroes tonight and not the other guys, yeah?” Her own getup seemed fine, so she didn’t need to worry about changing. As soon as her companion said she was ready, they could get to the van and roll out with their camera guy. West Valley Park, her immediate thoughts were: corruption, gang violence, regular muggings, prostitution, just about all the things that would have kept the normal person far away. However, they would go straight to it. If things worked out, they would walk away—hopefully unscathed—with one hell of a scoop.
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2017 7:50 pm
Rosetta Stone
Cirilla Gardner ...........Company: Eva Allen
Mood: Preoccupied
Location: CHB HQ
Appearance: Business Casual
OOC:
............... Cirilla shook her head. "You know you don't have to do that Eva... some people actually have to work for their insurance." She leaned up and crossed her arms over her chest, pondering how she'd pay her back for the kindness that she showed ever since she was hired. Of course it'd have to wait until they got back from their latest adventure. Ciri looked down at her office appropriate clothes. "You know I don't think I'd fit in very well in West Valley looking like this. Luckily..." Ciri laughed and reached under her desk to grab a book bag. "I learned to keep a spare change! I can just change in the van." Ciri cocked her eyebrow a bit. "You with a gun? I don't think I packed my bulletproof vest." She snickered a bit, knowing well that Eva was capable of using it properly, but not giving up the opportunity to tease her. Ciri grabbed her sign language book and a couple files off of Eva's desk. "Let's go ahead and get this over with... I'm thinking about getting a cat so I can use it as an excuse to not constantly be dragged all over the place."
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2017 9:14 pm
“I’ll try not to have a stormtrooper’s aim. Let’s roll!” she said, leading them on to the van. It wasn’t one of those shabby vans either, all the fancy tech and even the design of the van was modernized nicely. As soon as they got in, their camera guy—whom was also their driver—would take them to the shadiest part of the city. Her own watch read six o’clock by the time they arrived, and there were suspicious fellows leaning around in dark alleys, as well as a few women who just so happened to be standing around; they knew who they were. “Well, let’s review some options. We could ask the police what they think about the vigilantes around, ask some locals, wait until something stupid happens and wait for the vigilantes to pop in, or…” Apparently they just needed to get lucky, though going about this classically and finding out what was going on was significantly more dangerous; get to curious, and some people would get pissed.
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2017 9:32 pm
Rosetta Stone
Cirilla Gardner ...........Company: Eva Allen
Mood: Intrigued
Location: West Valley Park
Appearance: Street Casual
OOC:
............... Cirilla laughed at the star wars reference as she was dragged to the van. When she got into the van she shamelessly changed out of her work clothes into some street appropriate clothes and stuffed them into her beg. Ciri pulled her hair up into a bun, not wanting to deal with it flying everywhere. She listened to the options that Eva was presenting, and shook her head. "You know how the cops feel about vigilantes. If they knew anything about them, they wouldn't be around. Especially if the dirty cops knew anything about them." She peeked out to look at the characters around, and spotted a woman who was likely a prostitute, eyeing the van with interest. "See that one there? She looks like she might know something." Ciri directed Eva's attention to the prostitute. Cirilla grabbed her wallet before jumping out of the van. Ciri was slightly familiar with the area, and sometimes the tricks could be... well tricky. She eyes a couple of the girls before approaching the one she was suspicious of. The woman was leaning against the wall, Ciri stood in front of her, with a hand resting on the wall next to her face. She leaned in close and whispered in the woman's ear before sliding a large bill into her bra. Giggling could be heard from the van and after a few moments, Ciri looked over to the van and nodded for Eva to approach.
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 6:10 pm
As the opportunity to speak presented itself, the modern courtesan pulled the cigarette from her lips, letting out a breath before continuing. “If you’re lookin’ for the guys in costume, wait until tonight, ten o’clock maybe. You might see ‘em, might not. Wait for bad s**t to happen, and odds are you’ll find ‘em. If you’re lookin’ for the crooked cops, you may want to keep your head down, ‘cause you’ll find ‘em everywhere here; they don’t like nosy reporters either. If there are any who aren’t, it may be worth visiting a fellow by the name of Patrick Morse. He’s got his office two miles east of here. I heard he’s pure, but I can’t exactly check for myself,” she said with a laugh. After all, the working girl wasn’t exactly on a clean slate; her line of work made sure she stayed away from the cops, unless they came to her with enough bills.
“We just might, thank you,” responded Eva, before returning to the van. “Well, there’s a name, something. If this guy’s legit, we’re better off asking him instead of pissing off the shady assholes.” She looked the name up on her phone. Patrick Morse, a homicide detective for the CPD, with an office at the station. There was also some info about attempted murders against him; it seemed the wrong people heard he was pure, too, but he was still alive, so that was something. “Not sure if we should keep asking around go straight for this Morse guy.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 6:21 pm
Rosetta Stone
Cirilla Gardner ...........Company: Eva Allen
Mood: Intrigued
Location: West Valley Park
Appearance: Street Casual
OOC:
............... After the woman spilled her guts, Ciri patted her head. "Good girl, stay away from crack." Cirilla followed Eva back to the van and made notes in a notebook that she retrieved from her bag. She listened to Eva contemplate the route to go. "But you loooooove pissing off shady assholes." She laughed before looking over Eva's shoulder, writing down the info she pulled up. "Hm... it's a wonder he's still alive with all the people out to get him... But I guess the dirty bacon keeps him semi-protected to make them look good in front of the brainwashed masses." Ciri leaned back in her seat, doodling a bit on the pad. "Depends on how much more info you're looking for? It seems kinda straight forward with him. Besides, if people keep trying to kill him and he keeps on living, he might have some friends in some masked places. You can only avoid death so many times without help... right boss?" Ciri snickered teasingly.
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 8:33 pm
Eva laughed at the comment on shady assholes. “You know me so well.” Yeah, she was right; if anyone ended up pissing of the wrong people, she did it often, but she was a survivor, and since she still had her head still attached, she figured she was good enough at it; the help was nice, though. While she managed fine alone, she felt a lot safer with someone watching her back. Yeah, there was there camera guy, but he only followed her in some situations, and she often needed to pressure him into it; Ciri was more open to the adventure, however. “I guess we’ll pay him a visit first and hope we find a gold mine of details. I’m sure he can at least comment on how bad the corruption here is. It’s a pretty big deal if we can at least get a cop to admit it’s bad out here.” With that said, she instructed their driver to take them to the local station to question the detective. He wouldn’t complain; he was just going to stay at the van, anyway. At least they had someone readily available to drive them away if s**t went down.
When they arrived, she went ahead and set her phone to her audio recorder. As always, some sort of proof was needed, and she doubted bringing a camera man into the fold would leave the detective very comfortable, especially with some not-as-honest cops lingering around the station. “I can handle the questioning with this guy. Do you want to poke around solo for a bit and see what you can find, or do you just wanna come with? Don’t worry, my feelings won’t get hurt.” As long as Ciri didn’t stray too far, it wouldn’t hurt to let her question people around. With that charismatic display earlier, Ciri’s talents as a hyperpolyglot could shine through. It was just a matter of asking the right people. Of course, there was also the fact that most of the people they knew likely wouldn’t have the balls to snoop around West Valley Park.
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 8:56 pm
Rosetta Stone
Cirilla Gardner ...........Company: Eva Allen
Mood: Intrigued
Location: West Valley Park
Appearance: Street Casual
Translation: "Pardon me, are any of you gentlemen free? I just have a few questions I need help answering. I promise not to take up too much of your time."
............... "Yeh baws... whatevuh yuh say" Ciri laughed as she mimicked the stereotypical mafia thug. She went back to reading her book on sign language before they pulled up to their destination. Ciri put away her book and set her phone as a recorder as well. She grabbed a pack of cigarettes and shoved them in her back pocket before cracking her neck. "I think I'll poke around a bit, maybe I'll get a bit of info from the more shady characters lurking the area to go along with what we already have brewing." Cirilla exited the van and lit a cigarette, taking a long drag. "Just yell if you need me... Not that you would." She smirked and made sure her cell was recording snugly in her bra before walking away from the van. Ciri leaned against a light post in front of the station and puffed away, eyeing the unis outside as she watched Eva's back as she entered the building. She wasn't sure who was safer, Eva on the inside with the dirty bacon, or herself on the outside with, well, everything else.
Taking one last look back at the building, Cirilla shrugged to herself, deciding to take a walk and explore the area, keeping an eye out for shady shade. She took her phone out from her bra and turned off the voice recording, she doubted that she was going to need it. Instead she began to play geometry dash while she walked down the street. There were a lot of shady characters in West Valley, but they were mostly petty pot dealers and prostitutes that acted as just marionettes for the real puppet masters lurking deep in the shadows. It was so sad to her that there was so much evil in the world when all she could see was the good in people. As she walked, her ears perked up a little bit, taking in the sounds of a mild language with some harsh sounds, and maybe spoken a bit nasally at times. Definitely full of emotion. Ciri's mind raced as it soon identified as Spanish with a Mexican dialect. She turned the corner of the block and looked into an open mechanics shop, where several men were talking about day-to-day things that men usually spoke about. She slipped her phone in her back pocket and cleared her throat to get their attention. "Perdonad, alguno de ustedes señores son gratis? Sólo tengo algunas preguntas que necesito ayuda contestar. Prometo no tomar encima de demasiado de su tiempo." She smiled sweetly, hoping that a kind soul would answer some of her questions, possibly regarding the increased about of gang activity and the lack of help from authorities, whether they be super or not.
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Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 7:19 am
 Danny and Jorge were speaking to each other when a stranger came forward, stating she had a few questions. Jorge was already working underneath the vehicle, and only rolled out slightly to see who it was. Of course, Danny took it upon himself to lift his back off the wall, pat the shoulders of his coveralls, and approach her. “¿Le puedo ayudar en algo?” he asked, offering his help with a friendly smile. She hadn’t yet specified what sort of questions she might have had, so he was expecting anything from the work they clearly did on cars to whatever she could imagine. It didn’t look like she was from around the area, but her Spanish was excellent. However, out of courtesy, he stated, “I can speak English, too, if you want.” Earlier, they were speaking Spanish, but that was mostly for the sake of Jorge, whose English wasn’t so great. Danny’s English, however, was excellent; he sounded like the average American young adult, a casual tone at that. Danny himself preferred English; at some point through high school, his dreams were in English, so he caught on to it as one he spoke primarily. Danny was 5’ 11” and wore his uniform, a few of the typical stains here and there, implying he had already gotten his share of work, though he wasn’t sweaty at all. Work for a mechanic was plentiful in a trouble area like West Valley Park.
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Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 7:44 am
Rosetta Stone
Cirilla Gardner ...........Company: Danny
Mood: Curious
Location: West Valley Park
Appearance: Street Casual
Translation: ---
............... Ciri released a sigh of relief when she wasn't completely ignored. She was even more relieved when someone closer to her age approached. She found it easier to talk to someone younger about problems facing a place rather than older folks. They tended to ramble on about young people. She shook her head 'no' at the offer of his help with a car, but a smile split across her face when he spoke English. Her head always raced when she spoke another language and it sometimes caused her to be even more scatterbrained than normal. "English is fine if you prefer." She laughed nervously before offering her hand to shake. "I'm Cirilla Gardner, I write for the Chicago Herald. I just have a few questions about the elevated criminal activity in the Park." She was actually quite thankful that the man was in the line of work that he was in. In her experience mechanics were a man's version of the relationship between a woman and her hair stylist.
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Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 9:03 am
When she offered her hand, he politely shook it and replied, “Daniel Díaz, but everyone just calls me Danny. It’s been s**t here for a while, so if you’ve got questions, lay ‘em on me.” If she was an outsider, then he supposed “elevated criminal activity” was appropriate enough to describe the conditions in the area. People locked their doors at night and checked their cars were locked twice, the paranoia in WVP was very real. It wasn’t easy to try and stay as neutral as possible; that was one of the safest positions to be in. Danny didn’t mess with anyone, tried to be friendly even to the shitheads if it would make them think twice on troubling him, but he didn’t get involved. Danny himself still had some friends from his juvenile period, gang activity he left behind, but friends were still friends, even if he was more distant.
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Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 10:14 am
 Rosetta Stone
Cirilla Gardner ...........Company: Danny
Mood: Curious
Location: West Valley Park - Mechanic Shop
Appearance: Street Casual
Translation: ---
............... "Well, it's common knowledge that the bacon's dirty here. Most of them have ties with local gangs so arrest rates stay low while crime continues to rise. Supers tend to over look the area, considering it low priority, causing some to don a mask and take matters in their own hands in the Park." Ciri brushed some stray hairs from her face and she looked over the area, seeing people who needed help. Maybe some exposure would do some good. "Violent crimes here are becoming more frequent; muggings, rape, murder. The whole sha-bang. Danny I can tell you're straight forward so I'll try to be as well. I'm assuming that since you've been here a long time that you know a lot about the happenings here, whether they be related to the vigilantes or the rise of violent crime. I need some insight here." Cirilla placed her hands on her hips. "And don't try to give me the runaround either... I'm pretty persistent."
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