Go check on Jess with George and Sandra and see if there is any way to save her. Make sure you do not act like a jerk while doing so and pay attention to any suspicious noises while doing that so you can prepare for any traps they laid out

The three of you head to the bathroom. There is a small window on the far side, looking out over the street. Three toilet cubicles/stalls stand along the left wall; two shower cubicles are on either side of the window. On the right wall you see a sink and a mirror. Jess lies on her front with her right arm outstretched towards the sink. A towel lies beside her. You can hear one of the showers running.

"George - you check the toilet stalls; I'll check the showers. Sandra, you're a med student so take a look at Jess."

All of the cubicles are empty. You guess Jess ran a shower but collapsed before she could take it. You switch it off so you can hear any potential footsteps outside the bathroom.

Sandra is checking Jess's pulse and listening for her breathing.
"She's alive - I don't know what kind of drug she's been given but her pulse is very weak and she's got bradycardia - an abnormally slow heart rate. I suppose barbiturates could have had this effect but I'd have expected her to fall unconscious quicker. She could still die from respiratory failure depending on the dose. There's not a lot we can do apart from keep her under observation."
"We don't have time for that."
"Well what do you suggest?"

Focus: 10/12
Inventory: Camera, bread, sunglasses, $275, manifest, licence, phrasebook, handcuffs, wrench, mask, small knife

Sit Jess up against the wall so she isn't lying in the middle of the room. See if Jess was reaching for something around the sink before she collapsed and check if the mirror is loose like the one in your room. See if you can open the window for some fresh air. Do all this stuff without acting like a jerk to anyone.

You grab Jess under her arms and start to pick her up.

"What are you doing?" asks Sandra.
"I want to see if she's lying on something."
"Well don't - we should avoid moving her unless it's really necessary."
"It is necessary. I'll put her back in the recovery position when I'm done."

You can't see anything that Jess might have been reaching for when she lost consciousness. The sink is a little larger than the ones in the other rooms, but otherwise you see nothing interesting about it. You grab the mirror by its sides and lift it off the hook. Nothing.

Sandra taps you on the shoulder. "Tom, we really need to make a decision. What are we going to do with Jess?"

Focus: 10/12

We watch her a little longer, I don't like just leaving someone to get eaten if i can help it. Check where George is and see if he found anything.

George is standing beside you. He didn't find anything either.

"Sandra, how long will it take for Jess to wake up... if she wakes up, I mean."
"Probably hours, and she's going to feel pretty terrible for a while after. I'm not going to make the decision of whether we should leave her here or not, though obviously I think we should try to take her with us if we can."

George speaks up.
"Jess is a friend. We can't leave her here."
"So?" you reply "You don't seem to care so much about Ryan. Shouldn't we check his room as well?"

The others seem to be looking to you for leadership.

Focus: 11/12

Take Jess with us, asking Sandra how to safely carry her without making her condition worse. Keep fighting the impulse to be a jerk while you are doing this.

You figure you'd better do the noble thing and bring Jess along.

"Ok, here's what we're going to do. George, you carry Jess. Do whatever Sandra tells you. I'll go on ahead and see if the coast is clear."

While Sandra and George work out how to move Jess safely, you sneak to the stairs and check if the receptionist is still downstairs. The chair is empty but the television is on. It's probable that he could come back soon.
You take this moment to look down and examine the desk. A drawer is half open - a piece of paper which looks like it has been used recently sits on top of the pile of papers in the drawer. All the doors leading off the reception are closed, but you expect your "DM" key will open them.

Focus: Available

Put the mask on and, as quickly as possible without being noticed, grab the paper from the desk and search the rooms for anything you can use or take a picture of (make sure not to miss anything in your hurry). If any of the staff see you knock them out with your wrench and hide them in one of the rooms and then lock it (if it seems like you won't be able to take the person on use the knife too). Take the rest of the keys so they aren't able to unlock most of the doors. Once you do that, take off the mask and go back to Sandra.

I feel this is going to end very violently. >_<

I'm wondering if it'd be a good idea to head back to Sandra's room and check on the guy we handcuffed/killed/whatever state of consciousness he's in right now.

Can our next action please not use that bloody wrench? seewhatididthere?

I'm using the wrench to incapacitate any potential enemies. You want to use the knife instead?

You didn't incapacitate the last guy, you pretty much killed him.

Acting as swiftly and silently as possible, you put on the mask and race down the stairs and step behind the reception desk, pausing to grab all the keys from the hooks. You pull open the drawer and take the piece of paper, folding it up and stuffing it in your pocket. After a quick search of the desk you don’t see anything else unusual except for an intercom and a red button attached to wires which snake along the wall and up into the ceiling, but you don’t have time to play with those.

Taking out your DM key, you open the door to the dining room you ate in earlier. It is unlocked. The receptionist is sitting with his back to you, picking at the leftovers from the meal. You whip out the wrench and dash up behind him, swinging it at the side of his head.

“Hey Carlos, have some of these olives – best I’ve tasted... what th...”

The wrench connects with a thud, and the man slumps sideways in his chair. You pat down his pockets and find some knuckle-dusters. Around his neck is a curious medallion on a gold cord. In your hurry you tear it off and put it in your inventory. You head back to the reception.

There is one other door apart from the front door, so you take out the DM keycard and swipe it in the slot. It opens with a click and you find yourself in a large room at the back of the house. A set of double-doors leads out into the yard. Through the windows you can see two men loading something long and bulky into the back of one of the trucks. Another man stands guard on the other side of the door with what looks like a compact sub-machinegun. The room you are currently standing in looks like it is used to pack and unpack the crates you saw in the yard earlier. A few open crates stand here and there, along with various large archaeological artefacts. They look extremely valuable and most of them have a bird motif. One statue in particular catches your eye – a stylised eagle with blue, yellow and red feathers, spreading its wings as if to take flight. Your training tells you that the majority of the artefacts in the room are grave goods or devotional items, possibly both.

A label on one of the empty crates catches your eye, it says:


This apparent shipping of artefacts to New York does not seem to agree with what Sean told you earlier about turning the ruins MOA had found into a museum. Also, the manifest mentioned at least 100 tons of goods being shipped. It sounds a lot like plundering of national treasures.

Turning off the flash on your camera, you take a few pictures of the room. There doesn’t seem to be much else of interest – cleaning supplies and a door which you don’t think you could reach without the armed guard seeing you.

Inventory: Camera, bread, sunglasses, $275, manifest, licence, phrasebook, handcuffs, wrench, mask, small knife, knuckle-dusters, medallion, unidentified piece of paper.

Focus: Available

Trait Change:
Brutalised --------> Ruthless
Tom's experiences have channeled his predisposition to random and gratuitous acts of violence into a more rational form. If, realistically, he sees violence or coercion as the best way of solving a situation, then he'll go ahead and use it. Unfortunately, he has a tendency to view them as the best way of solving the situation most of the time.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 5 2011, 1:03 am by CaptainWill.

I FUCKING TOLD YOU GUYS!

yet you didn't provide a better course of action. "Told you" isn't helpful.

Ruthless isn't necessarily a bad thing. Probably better than brutalised.

I was busy last night...

Whatever you call it it sounds mean.

EDIT: Is it too late to compare your mask with the eagle in the crate? See if they're similar?

Although the statue in the crate is of an eagle and the mask you wear on your face is a skull, you do notice some similarities. On the forehead of the mask is a bird in the same posture as the statue, and the art style is similar. However the mask is clearly a copy and bears signs of modern manufacturing processes.

You are currently in the packing room of the house. The reception is behind you and the receptionist is unconscious in the dining room.