If I Was a Master Thief

Scenes taking place outside of London or Muir, but still on the Islands.

If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 4:17 pm

Once she's out of the club Miriam pulls out her smartphone to call an Uber, still wearing a very self-satisfied smirk on her face. She had to admit, the adrenaline rush of sneaking into Erica's office and pulling one over on her was kind of exquisite. Once she's inside the car summoned by the internet she pulls out the map. "Twenty quid tip if you drive a couple circles around downtown. I have to look up some things." she tells the driver without taking her eyes off of the map.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 4:25 pm

The map is of Essex in particular and has lines drawn all over it with an almost draftsman-like precision. A number of lines converge at the approximate location of the university. One line passes over approximately where the club is. There's another intersection offshore from Maldon. Most of the other intersections are in what Miriam would consider unremarkable places or just areas she's not familiar with.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 4:37 pm

"Bloody hell..." she mutters. She'd been hoping that it was a map for keeping track of weirdos to fit the monster-hunting tools in the drawer. She's not entirely sure what to make of this. Focusing on the line that's drawn through the club she tries to figure out if it runs across anything that stands out or intersects anywhere nearby.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 4:43 pm

One end of the line terminates at the intersection at the university. The other end of the line terminates at an intersection outside of Chelmsford.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 4:54 pm

Miriam folds up the map so it shows the area outside of Chelmsford and reaches over the seat to get the driver's attention. "This is where we're going." she says, tapping her finger on the intersecting lines.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 5:05 pm

"That's the middle of nowhere, but it's your money," he says with a shrug, driving them out of town. After driving for a bit, he pulls up to the side of the road next to a farm field with old stone wall fences. "This is as close as I can get."
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 5:15 pm

"Don't you dare drive off." Miriam says as she gets out of the car. "I'll be right back."

Standing at the side of the road she holds up the map and tries to estimate where intersecting lines correlate with in the real world. Surely Erica didn't just mark some empty plot of land the same way the University is. Something had to be out here. She takes a couple wobbly steps towards the stonewall, then sighs and takes off her heels to avoid tripping and breaking her ankle. Hopping the fence she wanders around, following the map and trying not to think about what she might step into in the dark in the middle of a field.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 5:17 pm

Eventually, she finds that the line more or less lines up with a wall-fence deeper in the field and following it, she comes to an intersection of the walls. Oddly enough, the intersection of the walls seems to reflect the intersection of the lines. The stones around the intersection are covered in moss and very old.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 5:21 pm

"Great, she's penciling in old walls on a map. I knew she had a couple screws loose, why'd I wander all the way out here?" she laments as she goes to take a closer look at the wall, maybe brush away some moss, try to find a loose stone or something. If the map was this pointless it wouldn't have been in a locked drawer, right?
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 5:26 pm

The stones actually seem pretty solid, which is strange for such an obviously old wall. The wall itself is a little over waist high. As she moves up the wall, clearing moss, she notes some carvings in the rocks. The rocks with the carvings seem to fan out a bit, with more carved rocks at the top than the bottom. The carvings resemble those blocky "rune" letters that Wanda showed her at the museum in Uppsala. For some reason, the pattern of the rocks with the carving puts her in mind of a tree, but she can't say why.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 5:33 pm

"Bloody hell... it's more of this mumbo-jumbo, of course. Fine..." she mutters and fishes around in her purse until she finds a pen and scribbles down the runes on the backside of the map. Once she's convinced there's nothing else to find here she makes her way back towards the road.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 5:36 pm

The driver's still waiting there and he just glances at her in the mirror as she gets in the car, "Where to now?"
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 5:52 pm

"Not sure. Hang on..." she says as she tries to brush her feet off on the grass on the side of the road as she tosses her shoes into the open car door. She climbs inside and looks at the map again. There's no point to checking out the school intersection now, she can always do that later. The one off-shore seems a little inaccessible right now. And none of this is really getting her any closer to finding the creep who'd dared to mess with Wanda. If he was even still in Chelmsford. But this map clearly had some kind of importance to the merry band of weirdos who hung out at the club. She looks to see if there are any intersections nearby that run over buildings. Maybe if the creepos considered this stuff important they might congregate at the intersections?
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 6:08 pm

It takes her a bit to find one that she's almost positive intersects a building, but it's clear to Colchester. When she points it out to the driver, he stares at it for a moment, scratching his chin, "Looks like that's Severalls Asylum. It's... well, I'll drive you there, but it's at least half an hour from here."
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 6:12 pm

"What could possibly go wrong visiting an asylum at night..." she says as she nods at the driver to go ahead. More than anything, this is filling her with some amount of dread. She's well aware that asylums aren't really the kind of madhouse full of cackling lunatics they're usually portrayed as, but they do house the mentally ill, as she's painfully aware of. And she's not exactly excited about inevitably immersing her own mind in the communal insanity of the institutionalized...
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 6:16 pm

The driver pulls back onto the road and heads off, "Hey, as long as you're paying, I'll drive you wherever. I'm staying in the car though."
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 6:18 pm

"Works for me." Miriam mumbles as she leans back into the seat, settling in for the trip.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 6:26 pm

True to his estimate, after about half an hour, the pull up in front of a building that's seen better days. It looks like it's on its way out or in the process of being shut down. There are a few outbuilding villa-type buildings that are still within the grounds. A guard at the gate stops them and the driver rolls down his window. "Well past visiting hours. You'll have to come back tomorrow," the guard informs them. The driver responds by jerking his head at Miriam, "Tell her that."
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 6:46 pm

"I'm here to talk to Dr..." she pauses for just long enough for the guard's mind to fill in the blank so she can grab it from his thoughts. "Wesker. He's asked me to come in after visiting hours because the matter is a little... sensitive. He didn't want to risk upsetting anybody who might be around."
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 6:50 pm

The guard frowns, but nods, "Okay. I'll let him know you're coming." He goes to double check that no one's around the gate and then back to the guardhouse to open the gate. The gate slowly opens and the driver begins to pull through the opening. "This place gives me the bloody creeps," he says, peering out his windshield.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 6:53 pm

"You and me both..." she says, sounding distracted as she makes sure that the guard does not, in fact, call ahead. She looks at the map again and tries to get a rough idea of where the liens intersect so she doesn't have to spend a minute longer than necessary in this place.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 6:58 pm

It looks like the lines intersect in the center of the main building, but that's mostly a guess. The driver pulls up to the front steps and lets her out. "I'll just wait here," he says and she can hear the click of the door locks as she moves towards the stairs. As she gets to the door, she finds it locked and a confused nurse looks up from her desk in the large main room and hurries over to the door. "Visiting hours are in the afternoon, dear. You'll have to come back."
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 7:08 pm

"Did the guard not call?" she asks with an exasperated sigh. "I'm Dr. Wesker's assistant. I usually work at his practice back in town but he asked me to run some paperwork up to him." she says, holding up the map for just long enough that the nurse can see she's holding a stack of papers of some sort. "I don't want to be here either right now, but if you just buzz me in I'll be out again before you know it."
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 7:13 pm

The nurse seems to consider that and then returns to her desk, pushing something under the desk. The door buzzes and Miriam can hear the latches unclick. The main room is large and looks like it's an area for the patients to congregate, though like the rest of the building it's seen better days. This room runs deep into the building and in the dimmed-for-nighttime lights, she can see a mural of some trees with thick trunks and broad spreading branches, but no leaves. They're actually quite good. "You know where Dr. Wesker's office is?"
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 7:41 pm

"Remind me real quick..." she says. She could try and pluck the information from her head but she really doesn't want to risk letting her mental guard down right now. Even as is she can feel the other minds in the building, most thankfully asleep, but her own anxiety's about letting their thoughts in makes this much harder than being back at the dorms.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 7:44 pm

"Down that hallway, first door on the right past the nurse's station," she says, pointing to the right hallway leading out of the common area.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 7:46 pm

"Great. Thanks." she says curtly and goes to move that direction until she's out of immediate view of the nurse and she heads over to the mural of the tree. She couldn't help but be reminded of that section of old wall for some bloody reason, but it's too much of a coincidence to ignore.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 7:54 pm

Some parts of the mural are older than others and from the looks of it, it's been added to over the years or even patched up as time ravaged it. Unlike the wall, there's no runes in the mural. It just looks like a series of trees. "Well, well," says a voice in a quiet whisper behind her, "Look what the cat dragged in." She can't help but recognize that voice, she's heard it in triplicate often enough.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 8:00 pm

Miriam spins around, heart hammering in her throat. Ever since she blew off Trinity she'd tried to put her out of her mind, figuring the triplets probably weren't too happy about that. The entrance hall of an insane asylum is the last place she'd expect to hear her or try to hash this out.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Trinity » Wed May 17, 2017 10:10 pm

There's no one there, but the presence tingles in the back of her mind. "I can practically smell the guilt from here," says the voice, behind her once again.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 10:23 pm

"Bugger off..." she mutters. "You're just a reaction to all these damaged minds pushing in on me."

She pulls out her smartphone and snaps a couple quick pictures of the mural before taking a couple more steps down the hallway and leaning against the wall to catch her breath. Staying much longer seemed like a terrible idea but she at least had to make it seem like she did what she claimed she was here to do. And she should probably stop talking to herself before someone notices her and thinks she belongs in here with the rest of the crazies.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Trinity » Wed May 17, 2017 10:27 pm

"So you didn't come to visit? I'm hurt, Mnemosyne." The hallway itself is pretty quiet, though she can see the light from the nurses' station down the hallway.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 10:44 pm

"I didn't come then, I'm not coming now. What am I saying, you're not even here. Take a hint and leave me alone!" she hisses, deciding that, screw the nurse and what she might think, she's getting out of here now. The clacking of her heels on the floor hurries up as she makes her way towards the exit. "Thank you, have a nice night!" she hurriedly informs the nurse as she rushes past her for the door, pulling on it before she remembers that she needs to be buzzed out and for just a tiny moment she freaks out. The only thing deciding whether or not she belongs in here is sitting behind that pane of glass right now. One arbitrary decision and she'd be stuck in here and before long she would belong among the crazies.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 10:50 pm

As she glances at the nurse's station, she could swear it's Trinity sitting in the chair. She smiles at Miriam, "That was quick. Give me just a moment."
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 10:55 pm

Miriam closes her eyes tightly for a moment and tries to steady herself with a deep breath. Not actually her. Just this bloody place and dozens of dreaming nutjobs. Just a metaphor of my own subconscious choosing. She's not really here. When she opens her eyes again she's not really much calmer, but tries to muster a smile anyway. "I try to hurry. Place is a bit creepy, innit?"
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 10:59 pm

The nurse shrugs, "You get used to it, I suppose." There's a buzzing noise as the door unlatches.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 11:23 pm

Miriam doesn't even try to hide her relief as she pushes her way out the door without saying anything else to the nurse and stumbles her way to the car. Climbing inside she collapses into the back seat. "Get me out of this creepy place immediately. This is the worst scavenger hunt ever..."
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 11:24 pm

"Back to Chelmsford as soon as possible," the driver says, pulling away from the place.
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Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed May 17, 2017 11:28 pm

Miriam nods absentmindedly. As they're driving she pulls up the pictures she took to actually take her time and look the mural over for anything she might have missed initially.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: If I Was a Master Thief

Postby Narrator » Wed May 17, 2017 11:34 pm

As she inspects the pictures, it becomes apparent that every last section of the mural is hand-painted. No signs of any sort of airbrushing or spray paint at all.
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