Log started on Tuesday, 11 Apr 2000, 9:06 PM EST by "Greywolf2" at "Holodeck2"

Genoa's Fortunes
In a cubbyhole of a storefront in the large "mall" district known as Edgebrink, down on the first tier, there is a dimly lit store smelling heavily of incense, and filled with gaudy knickknacks, with shelves lined with herbs and grains and mystical-looking symbols dangling on strings and chains. A beaded curtain (those seem popular here) sections off another room where can be seen a table with a crystal ball set atop it, and several cards spread out over a purple tablecloth.

Elsewhere in the same mall, down on the first tier, Duffy and companions come to the shop of Genoa, the Fortune Teller. The old woman sits on a stool behind a cash register just inside the storefront. She has a strange purplish complexion to her skin, and her eyes are a pale sky blue, darker around the rims. Her head is obscured by a shawl and she wears far too much jewelry.

"Now remember, she's Gaian too, so she just might take exception to some things we might say," a dog-man in a starchy-looking trenchcoat murmurs to his companions, a bomber-jacketed scruffy-looking man and a blue-black Devilcat. He stops outside the shop and looks it over. "Ah, here we are. All set, folks?"

In a creaking voice, with a faint Bauhaus (?) accent to it, Madame Genoa bids her visitors, "Ah, welcome. Have you come for your fortunes today?"

Ice appears to become more alert at the sound of Genoa's voice. She steps aside to allow Duffy some space and looks around curiously.

Duffy snuffles a bit at the heavy smells in the air, looking a bit unsteady as he maneuvers into the shop. "Ah-- yes, we are, er, is it Mrs. Genoa? Or Madame Genoa?"

Jimbo stands quietly nearby, looking on. "Man, you can find anything at this mall."

The old woman smiles faintly. "Madame Genoa shall suffice, young man. It is forty Cardinal's Crowns for a reading, or seven Capitol Dollars."

"Ah, right, Madame Genoa. Well, here you go." The dog-man passes across Cardinal's Crowns, perhaps on the superstitious belief that they are somehow more proof against evil magic than Capitol Dollars.

Genoa smiles and nods. "Come, then." She rings up on the register, putting away the money, and then steps up, heading over to push aside the beaded curtain, as she steps inside, and takes her seat on the other side of the table.

The dog-man glances back to Ice, then to the curtain, before following and taking his own seat. "Hey, Jay, coming?"

Jimbo stops staring at the decor, and nods, following along. "You're the one paying, I guess."

The Devilcat rubs her nose and stands on the outside of the beaded curtain, close enough to snoop on the goings-on inside but still in a spot where she can watch the inside of the shop and the streets beyond.

Genoa pulls out a wooden box, and opens it up, removing a set of cards. "What sort of answers might you be seeking? Does it concern work or business? Or love and marriage? Trouble, loss, scandal or quarreling? Or money and material matters?"

"Or," she adds, "have you no idea at all, but desire to let the cards tell you your fate as they see fit?"

Duffy sits down at the table and begins, "First, I have to admit that while I do have questions, they're a bit more about the present than the future, Madame Genoa..." He reaches into his trenchcoat and pulls out the badge. "I'm Detective Sherman Duff, of Dawn Alert. I was hoping you could answer a few questions for myself and my fellow officer, Jay."

Genoa's wrinkles shift in an expression of surprise, and then she sets the cards down. "You have paid for my time, young man. The least I can do is answer your questions to the best of my ability."

The dog-man clears his throat, looking a bit worried. "It might be a bit of a touchy subject, so I hope you'll bear with me, Madame. There's a movement called, I believe, 'Armageddonists', who believe that the end is somehow near-- are you familiar with them?"

Genoa raises her chin a degree or two. "Yes. Yes, I have heard of these prophesies. It is a natural progression of worlds so beset by trouble on every front."

"What do you think of them?" inquires Duffy.

Ice turns to face completely away from the curtain and peels her goggles from her eyes, focusing more fully on the front of the store.

Jimbo blinks slowly at the word "Armageddonists", but doesn't say anything. Instead, he finds a corner of the room to listen and observer from.

Genoa says, "Think of them? There is not much to think of them. We deal with the inevitable each in our own way. It matters not in the end."

Rubbing his chin, the dog-man says, "Well, I meant more, what have you heard about these cultists-- do you know of any of them, that sort of thing, Madame."

Genoa's jaw sets for a moment, and then she says, "No. I do not know any cultists."

The Devilcat snaps her goggles back down. "Jim..."

Jimbo shuffles aside to tilt his head towards Ice. "Yeah?" he whispers, keeping it down so as not to interrupt Duffy's and the madame's conversation.

Duffy frowns a bit, noticing Genoa's apparent reticence. "Hmm. What about a substance, glows blue... Supposed to make you stronger, more powerful, maybe even bulletproof?"

Ice leans against the doorway, some of the beaded strands in the curtains fall across her shoulder. "Bench. Outside."

The blondish officer sidles a bit further, and peeks through the gap in the bead strings..

Genoa turns her head to one side. "Perhaps it would be useful for armor, but what purpose would there be in glowing in the dark? Would that not make you an easier target to hit with bullets?"

"Oh, no. The substance glows blue, not the guy who takes it," Duffy says, bemused. "Have you ever heard of such a substance?"

Jimbo's brows lower, and he leans back again, nodding at Ice. "Do you know if he followed us?"

Genoa reaches over for a box of matches, and strikes a match, lighting some candles to one side of her table.

Duffy narrows his eyes and sniffs at the resulting fragrance. His hands shift to finger under the edge of the table nervously.

Ice shrugs. "Watching," she whispers. "Armored." She thumps her chest.

"Ah, that's bad for my, er, asthma," Duffy lies. "Would you mind? And what do you know about this substance?"

"Oh. So terribly sorry," Genoa croaks, and then leans over to blow the candles out. A puff of smoke winds out from the candles. "And as for this substance, I have never heard of such a thing before. But perhaps I can give you your reading now? Perhaps it is in your future."

Jimbo nods again. He ambles towards Duffy to lay a hand on the canine's shoulder and to whisper to him. "Don't look now, man ... but pinkzilla's outside, armed and armored. I dunno if he's the guy we're looking for, but he's definitely watching the place here. What's the call?"

Duffy shakes his head as he stands. "Madame Genoa, I think you're hiding something. With your permission?" He whispers back to Jimbo, "She knows something, I'm sure of it. You ask her if she knows anything about her friend outside and I'll look around."

Genoa spreads her hands open on the table. "I assure you, I have nothing to hide. I am in the business of answering questions, not hiding answers."

The dog-man begins checking the table and the floor for hidden signal mechanisms, careful not to damage or break anything, but determined nevertheless to sniff out any hidden compartments or devices.

"You sure?" asks Jimbo. "He's watching the place, and it might be bad news. And if it's the guy we're looking for..."

"Standing," Ice murmurs and glances back at the fortune teller. She looks at her, then at the figure outside, her again, and back outside once more.

Duffy rubs his chin as he looks behind some drapery. "It might be bad news for Madame Genoa, indeed, if it's the cultist we're looking for. He's very intent on getting this substance, and if he thinks the Madame has it..." He looks over to Jimbo. "Think we can bring him in?"

The blondish officer pauses to think a moment, then looks around, and whispers again. "If we can leave without raising his suspicions, maybe he'd be worth tailing. I ..." He pauses to glance at Ice, furrowing his brow. "Man, I think that we're going to have more immediate issues in a second."

"Let's take him in then," Duffy suggests. "Apologies, Madame Genoa, but we'll have to finish up our conversation another time."

"Leaving," Ice says and glances back at Madame Genoa again, studying her face.

Jimbo shakes his head. "No need to go gang-busters, Duffy. He's taking off. Huh... I think someone should tail him before we try hauling him around. No sense potentially picking a fight if we can figure out who he is before we have to do anything.

Madame Genoa just sits placidly at the table. "Oh, no apologies required. I realize you have your work to do."

"Hmm. All right. I can probably follow his trail, if we don't let him get too far away," Duffy says as he moves toward the front room. "If he gets into a car though, the going could get difficult."

The Devilcat leans on the doorway again and points to the fortune teller. "Psychic," she murmurs. "Tattled."

Jimbo stares at Ice for a moment, casts a look at Genoa, then back at the Devilcat. "Are you sure? How do you know? ... If this is true, he'll know we're going to follow him. At this point, I think we'd better just do it." He steps back over to the curtain to cautiously peek out it again, looking for the Gaian's retreating form.

Duffy whips his glance around to Madame Genoa incredulously, then looks back at Ice. "That's just a story...," he mutters, but follows Jim nevertheless with a parting stern look back at the fortune teller that seems to suggest, "Don't go anywhere."

The big hulk makes his way down the walkway, at no faster a pace than the occasional window-shopper that goes here or there.

Genoa just gives Duffy a grandmotherly smile, and rests her elbows on the table, fingertips touching and bridging at her chin.

Ice shrugs and rubs one of her ears. "Far. Heard." She pats her holster and moves to the storefront. "Left."

Duffy rubs his chin as he walks outside, grimacing. "Ice, go with Jay, I'll catch up. I'm going to tell headquarters to send some people to watch this place." He walks toward the bench.

"Got it, chief," affirms Jimbo. He moves through the beaded curtain and to the wall corridor outside.

The devilcat nods to Duffy and follows closely behind the human.

The large Gaian is now some distance down. Though he does not look hurried, he evidently has long legs. It would take an obvious run to catch up with him.

By the bench, the dog-man takes the time to fix the scent of the Gaian in his memory before he thumbs a radio. He murmurs his request to Headquarters, "Detective Duff here, need some people to watch Madame Genoa's shop in the Edgebrink. Suspect that she's aiding the Armageddon cultists. Shadow her if she goes anywhere, and if she tries to leave the city or go into the underground, for Durand's sake, stop her and bring her in for questioning."

Nearby, Jimbo spots an escalator leading up to the second tier. Not surprisingly, it's not in order, but it still serves as good old-fashioned stairs, at least.

"Roger that, Detective," says the controller, over the radio. "We'll send someone out that way."

Jimbo scampers over to and up the escalator with an odd gait, and begins bounding down the walkway, trying to avoid bowling any shoppers over as he goes. "'Scuse me.. pardon me ... comin' through, I'm double parked..."

Ice opts to simply charge forward through the gap created by the jogging human in front of her and lets her mass handle the rest.

Duffy thumbs the radio off and then, glancing after the direction Jimbo and Ice and the Gaian went, turns the other way and checks if he can see where the Gaian might have come from. He does not go far, wanting to be able to catch up to the others.

There are many storefronts in either direction. It's not immediately obvious exactly where the Gaian might have come from.

Duffy rubs his chin. "Hmm. Bit of a rat's nest. Have to come back and check it out when I have more time," he muses to himself, then turns about and starts trotting after Jimbo, already familiar with his fellow officers' scents.

The three officers dash on along the upper walkway, which affords them a view of the central "park" area, open to the air, crisscrossed by the occasional bridge. Every once in a while, there is an escalator or a duroglas floor that allows them a glimpse of the lower walkway.

It looks like the big guy is turning down to the right -- the storefronts continue straight on, but there's an "alley" of sorts going off to the right, forming some sort of a service entrance, perhaps, though a few ratty-looking stores have been crammed into the tiers. Pursuit of the Gaian will require going back down to ground level, alas.

"Okay, guys... no offense, but you're both a little conspicuous...," says Watterson, occasionally looking over the railing to be sure their man is still in range. "Once we get close enough to follow him without running, maybe we should trail in kind of a line."

Duffy huffs and puffs as he trots in behind Ice. "Hmm ... Yeah. You go ahead, I'll trail you and Ice can back me up."

Jimbo nods. "'Kay." He makes a beeline for the nearest escalator or stairs.

It's the same thing, really, as Jimbo finds an "up" escalator that serves just as well for "down", since it isn't moving anyway.

Ice adjusts her jacket after she stops jogging. She looks grateful for the opportunity to rest and cool off a bit as well.

A lanky looking guy rides up to Ice and Duffy on a cart. Looks like the same one as earlier. "Hey! Want a ride anywhere in the mall? Only sixty crowns!"

Duffy whispers to Ice as they trail Jay at a distance, "What'd you mean, 'heard'? Did the guy hear us from all the way out--" He tells the cart-man, "Thanks but that's okay. We're just enjoying a little stroll, okay?"

Jimmy shakes his head a few times to try to clear up the mental trickery of running down an unmoving escalator, but manages to reach the bottom without rolling down it. He stands up straight to reacquire his target.

The cart-man just nods and smiles, and drives on past.

"Reacted," Ice replies, pointing to the dog-man. She squats as if sitting, scowls at a storefront across the way and abruptly stands up again.

The dog-man furrows his brows. Coincidence, or ...? Distracted, he asks Ice, "When exactly was that?"

Meanwhile, Jim can see the purplish-skinned fellow walking down an increasingly dark corridor.

The Devilcat rubs her chin in thought. She points to Duffy again. "Genoa. Searched." She shrugs and does the squatting and storming off pantomime again.

The pale man glances back in the direction of his comrades, then flips the collar up on his jacket, and begins making his way down the corridor as quietly as he can manage. He keeps to areas of shadow and a series of stop and go movements, peeping around corners before moving, and listening for changes in footsteps that might indicate discovery.

"No, no, when'd he first arrive?" Duffy clarifies.

The large man makes no change in his pace. The storefronts here are empty and dark, and the man Jimbo is following walks along with the familiarity of one who knows his way and doesn't need to see where he's going. Jimbo, however, is having a little more trouble with that, lacking keen senses ... or a flashlight.

The Devilcat mouths an "oooh" as she understands, but then drops her head and shakes it. "Dunno."

Duffy rubs his chin, then shrugs to Ice. "We'll find out if we catch this gentleman." He shushes as the corridor has gotten decidedly dark around them.

Ice squints down the alley as she follows behind Duffy. She keeps one hand near his shoulder and her eyes on the ground, watchful of any debris he might miss and accidentally step on in the dark.

Duffy touches Ice's hand, then gestures ahead of them, his eyes squinting at something in the shadows where the Gaian is moving. He frowns and looks for Jimbo.

There's a few mumbles to himself as Jimbo feels his way through the dark, kept safely under his breath. He fumbles in his jacket pocket for his flashlight, and flashes it twice down the corridor towards where Duffy and Ice are before continuing onward cautiously into the dark.

"Jay!" Ice rears up and grabs for her pistol. "Behind! More!"

Duffy curses under his breath and reaches into his trenchcoat for his trusty service-issue Bolter, to cover the thugs on his side.

In the flash of the light, Jimbo can make out four bald-headed, purplish-skinned thugs in big bulky trenchcoats, pulling things out of them.

The dog-man blinks away tears at the sudden harsh illumination, from his point of view, and throws himself to the right as he lets loose a burst of three shots across the chest of the closest thug on the right. (Cardinal, let us survive this and I'll go to the very next Mass at Brink's, I promise!)

"Dark." At the shout, James abandons his attempts at stealth and swaps his flashlight to his left hand, holding it out to his side and aiming it at the face of the Gaian they'd been following. "Hey, what're you guys..!"

At the sound of Duffy's gunfire, the Devilcat answers with a burst of her own at the closest shape in the darkness.

Lead flies, shattering glass and slamming into bodies, as the nearest thugs to the right of Duffy and Ice get hit by bullets ... but one of the thugs to the right -- and closest to Jimbo, incidentally -- pulls out a Bolter and pumps a spread in the direction of Duffy...

Duffy feels something slam into his chest ... twice ... as his bulletproof vest protects him from two slugs, but a third rips through his right leg. He's still conscious, but he falls to the ground from the impact of the shots.

Jimbo feels a few bullets whiz past him ... and the bald guy he was pursuing just breaks out into an all-out run down the corridor, fleeing the scene.

The dog-man swears mentally as Jimbo starts moving. Flat on the ground, he struggles to bring his gun back to aim on the closer thug, still standing, and squeeze off those shots before the thug's inevitable weapon fire comes back. Alas, pain shoots through his body, and he is unable to focus enough to squeeze off the trigger immediately.

Meanwhile, Jimbo lunges for the thug that shot Duffy, and body-slams him into the wall. Alas, the "wall" is a glass window...

Ice hisses at her partner falls, and hops to the side to provide a bit of cover for him. She aims at one of the thugs on the far left but her weapon only makes a grinding click in response.

There's a shattering of glass as Jimbo and the thug he hit go crashing through the storefront window, knocking over some mannequins and tearing through a curtain.

Meanwhile, the thug that shot at Jimbo earlier fires again, and blows the head off of a mannequin, shattering some more glass in the process. The other two thugs shot earlier slump to the ground, falling a bit more slowly than Duffy.

"Arrumph!" grunts Jimbo, as the momentum carries him and his target into the shop. He quickly grabs for his foe's right wrist in an attempt to set up an arm lock and get his opponent between himself and the gunfire. He winces as plastic and styrofoam bits of mannequin head flutter around him, and tries to remain low in the scuffling.

A muzzy thought passes through Duffy's mind-- (I didn't shoot... The Cardinal must have heard! Praise Durand!) His gaze falls across the remaining thug on the left. As his eyes slowly begin to adjust, he prays that the thug has no lock on his position, so that the dog-man can calibrate his aim carefully on the weapon hand to put him out of action without killing him.

The Devilcat streaks across the alley towards the last thug left standing. Light glints off a blade in her hand that neatly slashes the attacker's throat wide open.

The thug lets out a choked gurgle, spraying a few more bullets from his Bolter, but hitting nothing except for glass and concrete.

The thug under Jimbo, meanwhile, struggles with him, and almost gets the upper hand ... but with a surge of adrenaline, Jimbo manages to keep his opponent from getting to his feet.

*** GM Note: Jimbo burned 1 hero point here to keep from getting tossed like a rag doll.

Duffy barks as he sees a slash of metal across his vision, "We need one alive to question, Ice!" He groans as the thug collapses. Just one left. And he's in no condition for heroics. Unless... He starts trying to drag himself to a vantage where he can aim in at the last remaining thug, his teeth gritted against the pain throbbing in his right leg.

*** GM Note: Jimbo burns another point to avoid getting tossed like a rag doll.

As the quarry rushes down the corridor, escaping into the darkness, Ice grabs the Bolter dropped by the "smiling" thug, and Jimbo wrestles around some more with the thug, amidst all the broken glass. Duffy, meanwhile, manages to drag himself up next to one of the dead thugs, getting closer to the storefront.

"Mmph! Rrgh!" The human officer desperately tries to keep his situation under control as the heavy he fights nearly throws him for a loop again. "A little help over here?" Once more, he struggles to maneuver his opponent.

The sounds from inside the store do not encourage Duffy. He continues to struggle on, trying to make sure his right leg is propped up by his left so it doesn't trail through the dirt, so he can get a clear line of sight on Jimbo and the last thug.

A shot rings out as Ice fires after the fleeing Gaian with the Bolter she retrieved. There's a cry of pain, then the thud of someone falling to the ground.

The crashing of clothing displays and sounds of glass tinkling and crunching under boots dies down, and Jimbo can be heard to grunt. There's suddenly a moist popping noise, and the sound of a Bolter clattering to the floor. "Okay, that should do it. Duffy, are you okay?"

Ice can be heard dashing off further down the corridor. There's a loud *whomp*.

A pause, and then a weary voice replies, "Yeah, Jay... Any of our buddies alive for questioning? Let's cuff 'em and book 'em. And give me a hand so I can get this leg fixed, I want to see where our friend was going ... once we get backup here."

Footsteps echo up from the alley until Ice finally returns with a limp shape slung over her shoulder. "Caught," she says and sets the man down. "Alive."

*** GM NOTE: 3 points per PC. +1 point to Ice for disads: "hard to communicate with". +1 point to Jimbo for disads: "heroic". -2 points to Jimbo (spent during combat). +1 point to Duffy and Jimbo for "angst bonus". Total -- Ice: 4; Jimbo: 3; Duffy: 4

*** GM NOTE: Totals to date -- Duffy: 14; Ice: 4; Jimbo: 10; Jamie: 3; Jet: 5; Taro: 6

Log stopped on Wednesday, 12 Apr 2000, 12:24 AM EST by "Greywolf2" at "Holodeck2"