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 Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:01 pm
Eliazer pressed his back against the cold stone exterior of a monolithic building. He peered around the corner toward his target; the Security Sector’s Zenner headquarters. It was late enough in the evening that the streetlamps were being lit and streets were busy, but not so early that a hooded figure would be easily tracked. Soon enough night would be on them, and he planned on using that to their advantage. When he pulled back into the alleyway his hands went to the blunderbuss in his arms. The long, thin barrel had recently been cleaned and repaired thanks to some ‘borrowed’ parts he’d managed to get his hands on. While Eliazer was keen on getting in and out without any casualties, he wasn’t going to take chances.
Even with a hooded cloak Eliazer kept his illusory necklace at the ready. For the moment he wasn’t using it and his eyes turned toward Honi. Balancing the blunderbuss against his thigh, he started to sign, “Two guards on patrol at the side, but they’re distracted.” Ah, what was the polite word for this? “Street walkers. Are you ready?”
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:02 pm
[Corny via Discord]
Breathe in... Breathe out.... Breathe in...
The mantra wasn't the most helpful, but it was enough to keep her from jumping at every shadow as she followed Eli; and there were a lot of long shadows in the side paths they followed... Orange hair once more fell along the sides of her face as she hugged the wall. It probably wouldn't help if something went wrong inside, but it gave her a mental cushion of security.
She wrinkled her nose slightly at the mention of the guards. Breathe in... Breathe out... Just do what Eli said. Follow directions. Easy enough. With a soft exhale, she nodded and signed back, "Ready. Lead on."
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:06 pm
As much as he wanted to tell her how brave she was and how very proud of Honi he felt words failed him. What was he supposed to say that wouldn’t sound condescending or unsupportive? So, instead of focusing on it, he took a moment to put his hand on her shoulder, kiss her forehead and before they could think about it he started out into the back street.
He walked as ‘normally’ as one could. Crouching and hiding were more likely to draw suspicion if they had been seen so Eliazer just focused on ‘normalcy’. Thankfully one of the guards was busy enough getting close to their new ‘friend’ that they were able to get around on the back side of the building.
Unfortunately, the only way in seemed to be a higher window that may or may not be locked. There was a door as well, but he didn’t know much he trusted it. ”Which one do you want to try?”
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:08 pm
[Corny via Discord]
Honi mentally clutched to the brief contact as tightly as she could and nodded again. As much as she wanted to just leave everything to Eli, she had to pull her own weight here. She took what minimal reassurance she could and followed in her most casual stroll. An added reassurance was that having the entertainers distracting the guards made her overt attempts to avoid looking their way reasonable.
A low sigh slipped out once they were at the back of the building. She was still wary, but could better focus now that they weren't exactly out in the open. She peered at the door and then squinted up at the high window. There was no way the door wouldn't be locked, but the window.. Was that too obvious? She looked to Eli and pointed up toward the window. 'If window is open, I should fit.'
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:09 pm
”Only one way to find out.” Eliazer took one last look around them before squatting and interlocking his fingers for her to stop on. If this didn’t work they could try the door, though he’d really rather not. Maybe another window? Or even a cellar?
Or he could show his actual face and she could pose as a guard…No, Honi would never go for something like that. Even if it were the fastest way to get in he doubted she would agree to turning him in.
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:09 pm
[Corny via Discord]
Breaking into a place, even for a good reason... Honi allowed one brief grimace to peek through before she climbed up into Eli's support. With his help, she was able to reach the ledge and pull herself up enough to gingerly press on the glass. There was a slight creak of rarely used hinges, but otherwise the window easily swung open. Honi hesitated for a moment, but then tightened her jaw and pulled herself up. It was a bit of a squeeze, but she managed to wiggle through and dropped down to the floor.
There, she froze to let her eyes adjust to the dark and listen to the silence. The blood was pounding in her ears and there was murmuring in the distance of another room, but the room she was in seemed to be silent. She grabbed her necklace and cast light until the charm gave just enough of a glow to see where she was going. The room was open, lined with lockers and chairs and a long table. A staff room?
Now she crept over to the door to look it over. A heavy lock was easy to open from this side and she clamped her hand around a bell to prevent noise as she pulled the door open and waved Eli in.
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:12 pm
Eliazer wasn’t proud of the amount of breaking and entering’s he’d been a part of. Some of them were harmless pranks with his childhood friend like lining a professor’s chair with glue, painting main hall of their school with stinky, invisible liquids…and others were more dubious. His arms burned from the effort of staying steady for Honi, and when she started to pull herself up he did his best to help. If he looked a little too long at her thighs, or her backside…well, it wasn’t as if she was going to know.
He stepped back away from the wall just enough so that he could look up and keep an eye on things. While he could still hear the officers around the corner it didn’t sound as if they were getting closer. Eli just happened to be looking that direction when the door started to open and for a moment his heart stalled, hand reaching for his blunderbuss only for his breathing to exit in a relieved sigh when he saw Honi. With one last peep around he entered the room and looked about.
”Does your magic let you sense alarms? Or traps?” He knew some did but honestly Eliazer was pretty in the dark on that kind of thing.
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:13 pm
[Corny via Discord]
Honi's expression fell apologetically. Truth be told, she had experimented very little outside of a small skill range. Afraid to speak out loud, she only shrugged at first. She pressed a finger to her lips lightly as she thought back over her experiences. Someone had once told her what else the magic had potential for...but she didn't think traps were ever mentioned. Maybe she could sense other magic users? 'I will try.' She closed her eyes and hesitantly attempted to open up her senses. The room was quiet save for the thudding of her heart and Eli's quiet breath. Her brow knit to try focusing on anything different. There was the slightest prickle in her mind, but was that magic or nerves? She frowned and shook her head. 'Can not tell. Not sure if doing it right. I'm sorry.'
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:14 pm
Eliazer waved his hand in front of his face with a shake of his head. If she couldn’t do it then they were no worse off than they’d started. Still, he would have been lying if he didn’t say a part of him was hoping she could sense something. When nothing came of it, though, he reached out to give her shoulder a squeeze.
”It’s okay; thanks for trying. What little magic Eliazer himself had was spent entirely on operating his blunderbuss so he wasn’t in a position to criticize her. ”Try not to touch anything unless you’re wearing gloves. We can burn those later.” And to emphasize his point Eliazer pulled a pair out of his pocket and slipped them on. The Bounty Hunter moved closer to the door and got as close as he could without directly placing his ear on it. He focused on sounds in the hall, momentarily tensing when footsteps came closer, but relaxed once they went on. ”We need to find the records office. Keep an eye out for any room with shelves, books, desks…that’s where we’ll find what we need.” And once he was sure the coast was clear Eliazer gently opened the door and slipped out into the hall.
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:15 pm
[Corny via Discord]
Grateful that Eli didn't seem too disappointed, Honi nodded and wiggled her fingers in the gloves she already had on. She turned to take a quick walk around the room guided by the gentle illumination of her light. It didn't seem like there was anything very helpful to be found here. Only one extra door, and there seemed to be snoring coming from the other side. They definitely did not want to go into there.
When she joined Eli at the door, she left her light going until Eli seemed ready to open the door. She nodded her understanding and let out a calming breath. This was it. No going back now. She followed into the hall, but turned the other direction for a look. Some of doors had labels, but not all of them. As she paused at each door, she would turn back to see if Eli had found anything. Down at the end of the hall was an open archway as well, and formal but relaxed voiced floated through. She certainly wasn't about to check there! The first door opened easily. A tiny closet of cleaning supplies... She looked at Eli and shook her head.
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:19 pm
Moving slowly was the hardest part of the mission so far. If they made too much noise, they might draw attention, so the Geian was trying his damndest to keep his boots from landing too hard on the flooring. A few of the doors had names of what he presumed to be officers, while another appeared to be an interrogation space. The arched doorway at the end of the hall caught his attention, though, but not in a good way. They needed to stay clear of that one!
Eliazer reached for a handle and gave it a twist, then slowly peered into the room. In the dim light he couldn’t tell much about it’s contents though the multitude of shelves and stacks of paperwork was promising. Looking over to Honi, he waved her closer and pointed inside.
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:21 pm
[Corny via Discord]
Honi crept down to the next door and leaned close. She raised her hand to turn the door handle after a moment of silence, but a cough from the other size made her freeze. That had been close...
It was a relief when Eli found a room worth looking into. A room far from the archway and this room! Her fingers only slowly released the door handle, breath held until she managed to creep a few feet away. If she messed anything up- It was better to not think about. Once she peeked into the room of interest, she nodded and slipped inside. Concerned after the near slip, she still listened and looked to make sure no one was hiding in any corners or behind the stacks.
..Had anyone organized this place lately?! She looked back at Eli with an exasperated sigh and signed out, "Where do we even start?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:29 pm
[7/10]
"Keep an eye out for anything about Ambrose Kettel." Any information they could dig up on the suspect would be critical, but then he also added, "Six dead, homes raided, gone to Matori; any of those key words. Would have been better if we had a name of the officers who dealt with him." If they had that then they could have narrowed down what files to look for, if they were even organized by officer.
Walking up to a stack, Eliazer started shuffling through the paperwork. So far it was a lot of ledgers regarding civil matters and nothing too noteworthy. Were they organized by case type?
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 4:55 pm
After spelling the name out again to make sure she had it correct, Honi walked over to the next table to start her search. Hopefully, it being an active case would mean the paperwork so far would be sitting somewhere readily grabbed. As she worked her way through the papers, it was increasingly difficult to keep the sinking depression at bay. Searching for the keywords often led to similar cases, and try as she might, she couldn't help seeing a few details. There were so many files on so many bad people doing bad things... Her eyes were damp with the tears that she fought to hold back when she spotted a certain name. An audible gasp escaped before she caught herself as she scooped up the thick file and rifled through the pages marked up with Eli's name connected to the killings. Her face was flushed as she turned and silently held the pages out for Eli to see.
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Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:08 pm
When he saw the papers out of the corner of his eye Eli reached for them out of habit without really looking up from his own stack. It was only when he caught the name on them that his own eyes widened and he looked up at Honi with a sinking feeling in his gut. For a moment the weight of it caught him and he had to swallow it down. These were...all very graphic descriptions of the murders, as well as what details they could round up...all with Eliazer Aberswith attached to them. "I didn't think," His hands paused, " -to look for my name." He should have; hell if he'd started with his own then they would have been out by now. It was just a hard pill to swallow. When he looked at Honi, really looked at her, Eliazer raised his hand on impulse as if to touch her and then...thought better of it. Had she seen the details? Was she worried for her own situation? Or...was she scared of him? "This should be good, now we just need to get out."
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