Adventures Assemble S3E3: The Great Brain Robbery!

[Gilliam]

Nightbird
HP: 1
Condition: Normal


The trip to Dakana had been 'one of a kind' as the best way to describe it from thick jungle to technology right out of Michelle's labs and then there was the alien spaceship that had been there for who knows how long. Overall there was a lot from the trip that she would not volunteer to AEGIS today and probably never but it was good to be back in Phoenix City and a climate where she did not have rivers of sweat running down her body.

Philip had also changed after the trip becoming more stand offish and anti-social his intel was worth investigating and missing girls is a trigger point for her.

Finding Moonlight in the base Imogen asked "Any thoughts for what to do about the missing girls? I am happy to start asking some questions and cracking a head or two?"

[Psistrike]

Moonlight
HP: 1 LP: 1
Condition: Normal

Dakana had been...interesting. The jungle was so similar yet so different from the forest back home. The alien spaceship had been a shock, something like that had been on Earth for an unknown length of time. At least now they were back in Phoenix City where the heat isn't forcing her to drink an excessive amount and the bugs aren't all out for her blood.

"Honestly simply asking questions to find out what locals know seems to be our best bet right now. With no further clues it is this or finding someone who can see into the past, and I doubt we will find someone with that ability in time."

[kenseido]

Moonlight and Nightbird

If this was a normal gang situation, Nightbird would just find one of the gang members committing a crime in the area and persuade them to tell all. But since these "gang members" forget everything once they are captured, that leaves other options.

You can try to hit up shady sources and see if they know anything.

Or you can wait for one of these girls to rob someone and follow them back to their lair.

Or you can try to go undercover and get drawn in.

Or anything else you think is reasonable.

[Gilliam]

Nightbird

"Honestly simply asking questions to find out what locals know seems to be our best bet right now. With no further clues it is this or finding someone who can see into the past, and I doubt we will find someone with that ability in time."

"I know just when we need a wizard, they're all out of town. But I do know a person or two who I am sure will be willing to help us downtown. You want to come?"

Unless Psistrike has another idea, I will probably roll investigate & expertise streetwise and use a dose of intimidation.

[Psistrike]

Moonlight
HP: 1 LP: 1
Condition: Normal

"Sure, got nothing better to do, plus whenever one of us goes somewhere alone we seem to get ambushed or in trouble a lot more often."

[Gilliam]

Nightbird
HP: 1
Condition: Normal

Moonlight
HP: 1 LP: 1
Condition: Normal

"Sure, got nothing better to do, plus whenever one of us goes somewhere alone we seem to get ambushed or in trouble a lot more often."

Imogen couldn't help smiling at Aranel's comment it was so true "But think of all the fun we would miss otherwise. But seriously with the girls all missing memories I agree it is best for us to stick together and I know where we need to go first."

Bringing out a map Imogen ran over the places downtown, while it wasn't Kings Junction she still knew the area well, that could be of interest listening to any suggestions from Aranel before they agreed where to go.

Later ...

"The doors closed for a reason, oh shit ... its you."

"Hey thin-man good to see you moving up in the world and yes I'm back."

"Now I have been out of town for a while so why don't you fill me in with the latest goss ... word on the street."

"OH she's a friend and she likes to watch."

"That is surprising, I never thought Jay-Jay had the guts but what do you know about the girls with the missing memories, you know what I am talking about don't you."

"Always a pleasure thin-man"

Once out of earshot and several streets away "That guy always makes my skin crawl" Imogen confessed to Aranel.

Rolls if required

Nightbird Streetwise: 1d20+10 16

Nightbird Investigation: 1d20+9 16

Nightbird Intimidation: 1d20+11 31

[kenseido]

Moonlight and Nightbird

"Yeah, there's a new all-girls gang down past the docks. Strictly theft and grifting. No drugs or violence."

"A couple of gangs tried to muscle them out. The girls run off easy enough, but then anyone involved has the most insane levels of bad luck. If it doesn't result in their death, they usually wish they died."

"Tony sent one of his most loyal girls in undercover. She turned on him and dropped a dime to the cops. Everyone started giving them a wide berth."

[Ysariel]

Amethyst
Condition: normal, HP: 1

"Is everything alright with Philip," the elder lawyer asks as you are minutes away from the main presentation.

"It's that obvious, huh?" Amethyst says.

She is annoyed at Philip. Today should've been a triumphant one by all rights, and he should've been here for the unveiling of their new education software. A program has more patience than any human teacher can have. It doesn't get frustrated by neurodivergent students and their inability to conform to expected behavior. They had worked hard to perfect it in record time with some of the best experts in learning disabilities and special needs education. It was to be a revolution in education. Now, after all the time gritting her teeth dealing with his moodiness, he is just gone without an explanation.

Amethyst sticks her hands in the pockets of her purple (of course) hoodie jacket and inclines her head, closing her eyes. The sounds at Bernard ClairVaux medical centre fill her ears: upbeat music, the sounds of children, the buzz of excited conversation. "He's been extremely reserved since the trip to Dakana. Philip didn't come with us to Dakana -- I wonder if something happened while we were away. I thought we were a team -- that he would talk to us if anything was bothering him. If he hasn't, we need to work on our communication, or something really, really serious has come up."

Then there was the fact that not too long ago, Philip's asshole dad literally hired assassins to off his son. Could that be it? Family trouble seemed like one of the few things serious enough to cause such a prolonged fit of radio silence. She decides not to worrk McKenzie with that fact.

"I'm giving him until the end of this presentation," she takes her hands out of her pockets, opens her eyes, and glances at the corner of her field of vision. A holographic window pops up, showing her text messages. "If I don't get any word from him by then, I'm going to look for him."

Amethyst forces a smile. "Thanks for asking after Philip. And for doing so much for the kids. And for helping out with that stuff surrounding my old company, too, once again. Fighting evil would be a whole lot more of a headache without good people like you."

[Gilliam]

Nightbird
HP: 1
Condition: Normal

Moonlight and Nightbird

"Yeah, there's a new all-girls gang down past the docks. Strictly theft and grifting. No drugs or violence."

"A couple of gangs tried to muscle them out. The girls run off easy enough, but then anyone involved has the most insane levels of bad luck. If it doesn't result in their death, they usually wish they died."

"Tony sent one of his most loyal girls in undercover. She turned on him and dropped a dime to the cops. Everyone started giving them a wide berth."

"Lets see we know a girls gang, they don't remember anything about their time in it and anyone who opposes them suffers really bad luck. It is almost sounding like some sort of weird cult, well to be honest all cults are weird but this could be another level again. What do you think Aranel?"

Always alert to ensure they weren't being followed Imogen still kept her voice low so that only Aranel could hear her.

[stavaros_the_arcane]

GELERT

Family Ties

Amethyst and Gelert

The two of you are at the Children's Hospital where Gelert works for a big presentation. A new education center is opening today, and the highlight is new software that Michelle and Philip wrote to help teach children with disabilities. Leland McKenzie, the senior partner of the law firm that has been helping out Happy Computer's legal issues is also here, having managed to score over $500,000 worth of equipment donations from various companies.

Conspicuous in his absence is Philip, who isn't responding to his commlink. Not entirely unusual, Philip has been extremely moody since you all got back from Dakana. Even Leland has noticed.

"Is everything alright with Philip," the elder lawyer asks as you are minutes away from the main presentation.

Gelert is very happy at the turn out and success of the event. Only Philip's absence is a slight shadow on the day.

Amethyst
Condition: normal, HP: 1

"Is everything alright with Philip," the elder lawyer asks as you are minutes away from the main presentation.

"It's that obvious, huh?" Amethyst says.

She is annoyed at Philip. Today should've been a triumphant one by all rights, and he should've been here for the unveiling of their new education software. A program has more patience than any human teacher can have. It doesn't get frustrated by neurodivergent students and their inability to conform to expected behavior. They had worked hard to perfect it in record time with some of the best experts in learning disabilities and special needs education. It was to be a revolution in education. Now, after all the time gritting her teeth dealing with his moodiness, he is just gone without an explanation.

Amethyst sticks her hands in the pockets of her purple (of course) hoodie jacket and inclines her head, closing her eyes. The sounds at Bernard ClairVaux medical centre fill her ears: upbeat music, the sounds of children, the buzz of excited conversation. "He's been extremely reserved since the trip to Dakana. Philip didn't come with us to Dakana -- I wonder if something happened while we were away. I thought we were a team -- that he would talk to us if anything was bothering him. If he hasn't, we need to work on our communication, or something really, really serious has come up."

Then there was the fact that not too long ago, Philip's asshole dad literally hired assassins to off his son. Could that be it? Family trouble seemed like one of the few things serious enough to cause such a prolonged fit of radio silence. She decides not to worrk McKenzie with that fact.

"I'm giving him until the end of this presentation," she takes her hands out of her pockets, opens her eyes, and glances at the corner of her field of vision. A holographic window pops up, showing her text messages. "If I don't get any word from him by then, I'm going to look for him."

Amethyst forces a smile. "Thanks for asking after Philip. And for doing so much for the kids. And for helping out with that stuff surrounding my old company, too, once again. Fighting evil would be a whole lot more of a headache without good people like you."

Gelert nods in agreement. "He's been acting distant lately and something is clearly bothering him but he hasn't opened up about it yet. I didn't want to pry too strenuously because that often makes people less willing to talk about what's bothering them. But a little reminder that he can talk to us wouldn't hurt."

[Psistrike]

Nightbird
HP: 1
Condition: Normal

Moonlight and Nightbird

"Yeah, there's a new all-girls gang down past the docks. Strictly theft and grifting. No drugs or violence."

"A couple of gangs tried to muscle them out. The girls run off easy enough, but then anyone involved has the most insane levels of bad luck. If it doesn't result in their death, they usually wish they died."

"Tony sent one of his most loyal girls in undercover. She turned on him and dropped a dime to the cops. Everyone started giving them a wide berth."

"Lets see we know a girls gang, they don't remember anything about their time in it and anyone who opposes them suffers really bad luck. It is almost sounding like some sort of weird cult, well to be honest all cults are weird but this could be another level again. What do you think Aranel?"

Always alert to ensure they weren't being followed Imogen still kept her voice low so that only Aranel could hear her.

Moonlight
HP: 1 LP: 1
Condition: Normal

"Not remembering their time in the gang is important, even the best form of brainwashing that doesn't involve superpowers should have a difficult time with that. Are there any known criminals or supervillains with an m.o. of brainwashing or mind control, in particular ones known to target only females? Because the only other idea I have would be to locate one of these girls and follow her back to whoever is in charge."

[Gilliam]

Nightbird
HP: 1
Condition: Normal

Moonlight
HP: 1 LP: 1
Condition: Normal

"Not remembering their time in the gang is important, even the best form of brainwashing that doesn't involve superpowers should have a difficult time with that. Are there any known criminals or supervillains with an m.o. of brainwashing or mind control, in particular ones known to target only females? Because the only other idea I have would be to locate one of these girls and follow her back to whoever is in charge."

"Mind control, I hadn't thought of that. I wonder..."

Nightbird will make a streetwise check to see if she can recall any villains that use mind control or target girls."

Nightbird Streetwise: 1d20+10 23

Depending on the role, Nightbird will suggest

"I like the idea of finding one of the girls and following her. Shall we stick together or split up to cover more ground?"

[kenseido]

Moonlight and Nightbird

Imogen recalls that Spectre, the telepath who kidnapped Michelle during the Hero Corps fiasco. There are also the Psi-corp members who escaped from the camp when you were forced to rush off and face Bester. There is also Bester, of course, but all accounts put him still in Max Prison under a power dampener.

But Imogen hasn't heard of any supervillains moving back into town. Spectre is still in Europe as far as Imogen knows and all the Psi-corp members are being sought by AEGIS pretty intensely, so they are staying underground. So, it's unlikely it's any of them.

[kenseido]

Amethyst and Gelert

Leland smiles warmly at Michelle's praise. It's no secret that his granddaughter was at the hospital when Lord Steele first arrived and was saved by Gelert when Steele launched missiles at the hospital. And it doesn't hurt his firm's reputation to be involved with charity work like this as well.

"It's a team effort," Leland replies.

He then turns to Gelert. "I was hoping to talk to him after the hearing the other day, but he said he had something annoying to do. And whatever that was, it only seemed to make things worse."

He pauses as the hospital administrator signals that it is time to start the presentation.

"You're on," Leland says to both heroes.

[Psistrike]

Moonlight

"Best to stick together, we have no idea who we are dealing with, it could be an individual or a group behind the girl gang and the memory loss of their time in it. We have learned so little and have too many questions."