Logs

Logs Home

2001 December 11

2001 December 11

2002 January 04

2002 January 04

2002 January 28

2002 March 11

2002 March 11

2002 January 03

2002 January 16

2002 January 16

2002 March 09

2002 April 29

2002 February 13

2002 February 13

2002 February 14

2002 February 25

2002 March 07

2002 March 12

2002 March 14

2002 April 29

2002 April 29

2002 April 29

2002 July 10

2002 July 13

2002 July 13

2002 July 15

2002 September 18

2002 September 18

2002 September 18

Cosmic Guardians

Cosmic Guardians Home

Player Information

Mechanics

Game Logs

Realms

Realms Home

Dishonored

Goblin Town

Neverneverwhere

The Whole of the Law

Waking Dreams

When The Bough Breaks


One-Shot

Retired

Birthright

Burning Man

Cosmic Guardians

DNAnimals/Tamashii

Fukusei Crystals

Heartwood

Hunter

Idlewild

Indigo

Inizii

Morning Rain

NachtMusik

Oloth

Paradon

Scarred Lands

Shattered Stars

Starfall

Weston


Style Test

Reality Fault

Home

Player

Character

Referee

Programmer

Administrator

Operations


Search RealityFault:

General Info

Glossary

Realms

Events

Credits

Help Files

Help Files (old)


Reality Fault

Realms: Guardians Logs

The First Mission - Part 7

Cosmic Guardians:The Double-Edged Sword

Part 7: The Professor

As the two walk into the Technology Building, seeking out the map of the floor plan, they abruptly discover that Roland Dash does not appear to have an office in the building. The map does not reveal any more detail than that, however. Nikki frowns. "Uhm...maybe he's got an office in another building? We could ask someone."

Reynard nods. "Damn... eighteen minutes. Ok, you look for his office. I'm going to head to his classroom and be ready to stall him; I don't know how useful I'd be to you, if you can just slip through the door." Nikki nods and glances around for a secretarial office or a knowledgeable student or teacher. There don't appear to be any students in the halls, but there is an older man in a shirt and tie that looks like he might be a teacher walking towards the two, carring a briefcase.

Reynard gives Nikki a slight wave, before darting off down the hall, heading for Dr. Dash's class. Nikki waves. "Excuse me sir. Do you know where I can find Mister Dash's office?" The man blinks, not expecting to be addressed, and then smiles kindly when he sees Nikki. "Professor Dash's office? I'm afraid it's nowhere near here, honey. He's a little eccentric in that his office is down at the prototyping lab." He looks thoughtful a moment. "He does have a desk over in the common area up on the second floor, however. Students don't usually go down to his office to meet him, or to drop off papers and such. Was that what you had in mind, miss?"

Nikki nods. "Well... Yes. I needed to discuss a program with him. I guess I can wait at his desk. It'll probably be a long discussion, though, and I thought his office would be a better place."

The man seems to consider the situation. "Well, likely you'd be able to schedule a conversation with him there, if you wanted...he usually heads down to the lab around 4pm and stays there till well in the night, if not till early in the morning. But I doubt he'd like you to just show up..."

Nikki nods thoughtfully. "Well...thank you." She glances at the wall for a clock as she walks towards the stairs to the second level.

Reynard, meanwhile, is hanging out on the third floor, outside the classroom where Professor Dash is teaching, as Nikki goes up to the second floor. Reynard glances at his watch. He idly hopes Nikki works quickly; the class is about to let out. Indeed, there is not much time, as only a few moment later, the class is let out. Students come out in a wave, chatting amongst themselves. More than one girl gives Reynard admiring looks as they go past. Smiling to himself, Reynard pushes in when the main surge passes, and looks around for the professor.

Roland Dash appears to be in his late 20's, a surprise considering his stature in the college. He's a fairly casual fellow; unlike the Professor Noah, he dresses casually in a t-shirt and slacks. The t-shirt reads - User Error: Replace user and press any key to continue. His hair is a dark auburn, short cropped, and he wears loafers with black socks. He seems to be organizing some papers in preparation to leave. He looks up as Reynard enters the room, assessing the fellow. He seems a little tense. "Yes? Can I help you?"

Reynard smiles charmingly at the professor. "Yes, hello. I was looking to speak to you, about one of your students, professor?" He inquires, glancing around the room in an absently curious manner, though actually scrutinizing here and there on a monitor to see what might be abound. But the monitors are all blank: apparently the students turn them off after leaving. Roland Dash seems interested in the bounty hunter's words, despite his unease. "Really? Who?"

"Eric Pippen, sir." Hands easily find their way into his pockets. "I was wondering, professor, if you happen to frequent about the internet circut?"

Roland seems confused at the supposed change in subject. "Not as much as I used to be." he admits. "I'm a bit taken up with my recent projects...why?"

The hunter shrugs. "Well, there was this fellow bragging, as children oft do on the playground," He keeps eye contact with the teacher, watching his expression. "He had hacked into a school in Wyoming. Set off the fire alarms, sprinklers, destroyed their grading network. Eric Pippen went to this highschool. As does his brother. Who is currently failing."

"Eric?! You've got to be kidding me! He's one of the most dedicated, brightest students..." Roland seems astounded at the possibility. "You have proof of this?"

Reynard shakes his head. "Not concrete; circumstancial at best. I was just simply wondering if you could assist me; tell me about the student, perhaps? What he's doing in here. There are a few connections between him and the problem you see; just looking for information, my good man."

Dash seems to find the need to sit, his eyes a little wild. "Well...Eric is, just...incredible. Not as bright as I was at his age, but then, who could be...his help has been invaluable since I asked for his help on the Munifican project. And he has perfect grades here...well, at least in all his computer classes. I never looked into his whole record. And he's so chipper and devoted..."

Reynard nods his head, leaning against one of the computer desks. "Right. Well, there's a little more that you must understand. It turns out that the hacker who bounced about in this school's system... Well, it was a gibson. A very... powerful one." Reyanrd spreads his hands. "Since he's been working with you, I thought that he may have snitched a few ideas, and tampered with a gibson. Thus, I was hoping you could tell me what you've been working on? Or what he has, rather."

Roland eyes Reynard a little warily now. "The Munifican project...well, while it's not top secret it's not actually public knowledge, sir. I think I'd need a little more than just circumstancial evidence before I start discussing those kinds of details with you, sir." He then starts to look suspicious. "Who did you say you were representing? Are you a policeman?"

Reynard clears his throat. "I didn't say who I was representing, but if you must know, I was hired by the vice principal. This hacker did extensive damage, not to mention nuking the school's recorded grades. This, you must understand, is no small offense. I was hired to come here and investigate, and, if enough evidence proved, to bring Eric back to Wyoming for a court hearing."

Roland's suspicion does not seem to wane. "Can I see some identification, please?" Reynard easily removes his wallet, and shows his bounty hunter liscence.

The professor eyes it for several seconds, as if trying to find something wrong with it. Finally, he leans back. "Bounty hunter, hmm? Tell me, have you been hired by many vice-principals to investigate crimes against a school? Why isn't the Wyoming police handling this case?"

Reynard shrugs his shoulders. "I actually had something to do in Phoenix, and luck dropped this into my lap." A slight smirk as he reguards the professor. "And as for the police...It's out of their jurisdiction. The county police can't quite convict, or suppoena outside of their state lines. He's only a suspect, and thus can't be extradited."

The teacher purses his lips. He's no longer as suspicious, but he yet seems reluctant. "Do you have any sort of proof besides what you've told me that Eric might be involved in this? Were they able to trace the signal here? And how do they know it was a powerful gibson? Certainly, it could just be a homemade one, or a standard one that could be modified...such things happen all the time. We teach them how to do that here, in fact.

Reynard mms... "Well, not so much a 'powerful' one, but a capable one. The school's tech teacher had put up some fancy security, and the gibson pranced through them like spiderweb. I'm not too computer literate, sir, so I can't give the neccessary specifics. The bragging fellow on the circuit, however, suggested that he knew Eric's brother. Now, Eric's brother is not computer savvy, and the principal, knowing his brother well... assured that the boy didn't 'hang around' with the general hacker types. There was a few more bits of evidence, but I'm not at liberty to give those out, at the moment."

Roland now looks worried. "Eric is certainly bright enough, even for a first year student...he could have possibly made a custom Gibson...Gibson work is, in fact, what the Munifican project is all about. But hacking...." he shakes his head. "I would not think it of him. And yet, you say there was someone on the net bragging...not a wise move, but one wonders if that would not be a red herring. It's foolish to give yourself away like that...but then, I don't know the hacker mind." he sighs. "I'm not certain I can be much help, Mr. McCarter. I can't discount the possibility, but I cannot provide evidence either...and I seriously doubt this would have anything to do with Munifican. All work is done in the lab, even the things not on computer. All notes and such are left in the lab as well. Besides, if he had been doing this inside the lab, someone surely would have noticed..."

Reynard nods his head. "Certainly, professor. Simply, that he could've remembered what he learned inside, and implemented them elsewhere. In any case, I thank you for your time; I seem to have kept you. I still have some asking around to do, and by the looks, given what his other teachers have suggested, this may not be the man, but I'd like to speak to him, myself, eventually. I appreciate your cooperation, Mr. Dash."

Dash nods, seeming to have withdrawn inside himself slightly. "Ah...do you have a...a card or something? I don't like the idea of sneaking around Eric's back ,but if I find something..."

Reynard says, "I don't have a card, but, I do have a voice mail. I check it periodicly during the day." He offers a slip of paper with the number down. "This should sufice, Professor. Thank you again." Dash nods, looking thoughtful as he stares at the scrap of paper.


Meanwhile, as Reynard started chatting up the Professor, Nikki finds the commonroom with ease: it appears to be situated close to the stairwell, with one doorless entryway connecting the square room to the parallel hallways. There are a slew of small desks with name plates, as well as a table in the center of the room. Luckily, there only appears to be one teacher present in the room, and he seems to be occupied with something at his desk. The young ghost glances at the common room and then steps back into the stairwell, looking around to make sure she's alone before fading out of view. She smiles a little to herself and walks back into the room and over towards the desk, glancing at the teacher once to make sure he isn't one of those rare folks that can see her when she's like this. Then again, if the teacher is one of those with Fortean sight, he's certainly not in a position to use it. He seems engrossed in the papers he's writing on....possibly correcting and grading student exams or suchlike.

Nikki sits down at Dash's desk and takes a quick glance at the papers that are visible on the surface, expecting that they're likely just student papers or programs. A quick scan reveals the papers are indeed student papers that were left on his desk. There also appears to be an envelope, unmarked. At first look, the envelope appears sealed, but then Nikki notes one end is jagged, as if opened with a letter opener. She glances up at the room and then concentrates, using one of her supernaturally granted powers to make her fingers solid: a trick she often uses while typing. She then carefully picks up the letter with her 'fingertips' and shakes out the contents.

Out flutters a goldish piece of paper. It appears to be a check made out by the US Treasury, like the kinds that are made out for Tax refunds. It's got Roland Dash's name on it, and it's made out in the amount of ten thousand dollars.

Nikki blinks and grins. "He been busy." She considers taking it as evidence, but thinks that her outfit doesn't have the same legal requirements that the government does. Unfortunately, putting it back in is not as easy as shaking it out when you only have solid hands. She tries several times to put the check back in the envelope and growls a little as the check falls to the ground. She glances up at the teacher. Fortunately, this fiddling around with envelopes and checks makes very little noise. The teacher is still engrossed in what he is doing.

Nikki leaves the check for a minute, hoping to regain her dexterity after a few minutes. She carefully tests the drawers, making sure she can pull them open without noise.

Luck, at first, does not seem to be with Nikki. The desk drawer squeeks as she pulls it open. Nikki winces at the squeak and glances at the teacher. To Nikki's relief, the teacher doesn't even look up. Now able to look inside, the top drawer seems to be mostly empty. There's a couple boxes of mechanical pencils, a spare digital pen for the Digi-Board that has taken the place of normal chalkboards in most schools, and various office supplies. She shrugs, and pushes it closed, a little more slowly than when she opened it. No sqeak, this time.

Nikki sighs and glancing at the clock. The clock reveals that the class got out at least one minute ago: depending on how good Reynard is, her time is limited. Grabbing the top right drawer, she slides it open without a sound. It seems to have several CDs in jewel cases in it. Most of them appear to be labelled, but are nothing more than lesson plans for certain classes. Nikki almost gives up on the drawer, but then, out of the corner of her eye, she spots something when looking into the back of the drawer. It's white, sort of rectangular, and it's hanging from the roof of the drawer, pressed flat against it.

Nikki hmms and reaches back to try and pry it from the hiding place. The card, since that's what it appears to be, doesn't seem to want to come loose. It's not certain if that's because whatever's keeping it in place is strong, or because she can't put enough force on it in her position. Nikki sighs and moves inside the desk to at least get a look at it.

Now in a better position, it appears to have an optical strip, like common day keycards have. There is nothing on the card that would indicate what it's for, however, or whether it's for an opening mechanism, or for another type of card reader. It's clearly not a student ID, as that would have very recognizable markings, since she now knows what a Student ID looks like. Nikki hmms thoughtfully and climbs out, glancing at the clock again. She's pretty sure she should quit while she's ahead and carefully pushes the drawer closed. The drawer closes without protest. Sadly, it looks as if the other drawer is locked, so it would not open easily anyway, even if she had the time. Quickly she picks up the dropped check, and, compensating for the fact her whole body isn't solid, manages to slip the check back into place. Nikki glances at the teacher as she puts the envelop back on the top of the desk, and then heads back to the stairwell. The students that departed the classes that ended recently have already departed the stairwell, so she is able to rematerialize with no problems.

Nikki goes back down to the first floor to wait. , wading through some student in the call coming out of another class...and Reynard joins her but thirty seconds later. Nikki waves to Reynard, motioning him over.

Reynard waves back as he moves to sidle up beside her, accompanying her out the front entrance. "Find anything?"

Nikki nods and grins. "He's got a check from the U.S. Treasury for ten thousand...and there's an access card stuck up above the inside of the top right drawer of his desk in the common area."

Reynard nods his head, considering. "Hm. Well, the check doesn't tell us a lot. I don't believe the goverment, even as crooked as it is, would be paying a man to cause havoc, such as the NYSE. The access card, though, may have something." A frown. "I truly wished you could have tailed him."

Nikki blinks. "Well...this teacher said that he goes to the lab every day at four." Reynard gives a nod. "Then, I suggest we find the lab, and meet back with Sasha. Why don't you creep into the lab and watch him work. I'll... do something."Nikki nods carefully and then grins up at Reynard. "Where's the lab, then?"

Reynard looks wry. "I... don't know. Rather big flaw, that." Nikki nods. "Maybe tailing him is the thing to do, then...but it's gonna be a couple hours before he goes there."Reynard nods. "Right. Though, nothing hurts in peeking in first. Let's go find it, at the very least." Nikki blinks. "We're just going to wander around campus looking for the prototyping lab without even knowing what building it might be in?"

Just then, a white van pulls into the lot, followed close behind by someone that looks like Lupis on his cycle. He seems to talk to the person driving the van a moment, and then drives over to the far end of the lot, parking his bike close to the Admin building as possible. The van, however, pulls up in front of the two outside. "I found Our wayard lad." Sasha calls from inside the van.

Nikki glances over at Lupis and then leans against the van door. "Where was he, then?" Reynard adds, "And where's his entorage of women?"

Sasha manages a weak smile. "I'll elaborate later. Made any progress?"

Nikki glances at Reynard. "Ray's learned a lot." Reynard beams. "More circumstancial, but perhaps useful, in and of itself." Sasha reaches over and opens the side door. "Get in, and tell me all about it." Nikki climbs in ahead of Reynard and slides across to the far end of the bench seat.

Reynard grins faintly. "Quick little Nikkita." He offers, and slides in himself. Nikki feels her pocket and lets out a groan. "Dammit..." She pushes on Reynard's shoulder. "Move it, big guy..."

Reynard arches a brow. "Didn't thing ghosts had to go..." But, he gracefully slides out, to let the woman pass. Nikki snorts. "No...I dropped something on the stairs. Hopefully it's still there...I'll be right back..."

While Nikki is gone, Reynard takes the time to tell Sasha about what he found. She nods thoughtfully. "This Dash fellow sounds cagier than the other one you talked to...even if he's not the hacker, you probably shouldn't confront him unless you have to..." Reynard nods his head. "He seemed... either not guilty, or very, very good at acting. Perhaps that suspicion was rightly so, perhaps not." He snickers. "By the sounds of it, the boy I chose might very well be the hacker!"

Sasha nods thoughtfully. "Lupis is going in to get his ID right now...we should wait on him before we make our next move. Or do you already have a plan?" Reynard thumbs up. "Already done. I had suggested we find the lab, and then have Nikki tail Dash, unseen, to see what he does/says that may lead to further suggestions." Sasha seems to approve. "A cogent plan."

Nikki, meanwhile arrives back at the van just then, climbing back up and into the seat next to Reynard. She was pretty quick, but isn't even having to catch her breath. Not that she would have to , being dead. In her hand, she holds her Student ID, which she lost when she went intangible earlier. "Damn. It's annoying not to have my stuff turn intangible with me..."

[Previous Log] [Index] [Next Log]





Last modified: 2001-Oct-30 19:35:28

All material on this site is
Copyright © 2001-2024 Reality Fault
unless specifically indicated on each document.
All Rights Reserved.
Administrated by Reality Fault Webmaster