Q & A with Bobby (Jake, Wed. 4/4/07)

[Detritus]

Shortly after 8 pm, you meet with the Prince and Sarah outside a bedroom door on the third floor of the mansion near Tulane U. Before anyone can knock, Dee Dee sticks her head out the door, then exits the room when she sees others in the hallway.

"He is well?" Rebekka asks the Sheriff.

"Well enough as can be expected," replies Dee Dee. "He barely knows anything about us. Nothing, really, except of the necessity of the Masquerade."

"That is troubling, but immaterial for the moment," says the Prince. Rebekka turns to you and asks, "Will you be wanting a second questioner with you during your interview?

[Chimaera]

"Better to have that option, I think, yes."

[Detritus]

"Sheriff, you'll be Jake's supporting partner. It will have to be Jake as the lead questioner, however, since it's his technical know-how."

"Fine by me, my Prince. I figure I'd be more effective just by supplying the occasional sneer at this point, anyways."

"Sarah," the Prince says, "you'll remain on call in the hallway here in case they need anything."

"As you wish, Majesty."

"Before I leave," Rebekka says to you, "there's also the matter of tonight's delivery. If you feel you'll need any backup, now is the time to arrange it. Many of us will be otherwise engaged later in the evening."

[Chimaera]

"The delivery should be straightforward. It'd look off if I showed up without any backup, but one or two tough-looking types should be sufficient. Oh, plus, the cash."

[Detritus]

"You can see the Seneschal about the cash," Rebekka says, and then turns to Dee Dee.

"I'll go, but I don't look all that tough without a little Presence boost. What about Zack? What has he gotten up to?"

"No doubt he was contacting his regnant last night," the Prince replies. "He would do for this job, though. Give him the Summons, Sheriff, and if he does not arrive by the time the Justicar and I are about to leave for the jazz hall, we will make alternative arrangements."

"Will that do?" the Prince asks you.

[Chimaera]

"Zack is perfect. Good call. I think that's everything, then. So, let's go juice this lemon, shall we?"

[Detritus]

"Very good," the Prince replies. "There will be a briefing on the site selection for the Garou ritual in the dining room that will end at 8:30. The Seneschal will be available after that to transfer the funds to you. I will also make sure that Anneke is aware that she should send someone to you after the transaction is completed to help distribute the items that are safe to use within city limits."

"I'll want to touch base with her before we leave," says Dee Dee.

"Please do. Sarah, you will be part of the 8:30 briefing. Head over when the questioning is finished."

"Yes, my Prince." Sarah takes up a station next to the door after Rebekka turns and leaves. Dee Dee heads into the room without further preamble.

The room itself has a fairly standard layout. A closet at the far left corner of the room juts into the room by three feet or so. A single bed is in the far right corner of the room, and Bobby is lying atop it. A long, narrow table with folding legs stands between bed and closet. A single folding chair sits between bed and table, and two folding chairs between table and closet.

"Good morning, sunshine," Dee Dee says in a stage voice. "Or, you know, good evening." The Sheriff takes the near chair on the closet side of the table, turns it backwards, and sits down.

Bobby's eyes pop open and the sound of Dee Dee's voice. He turns, and appears as if he's about to get off the bed, but a look from the Sheriff stops him short.

"Can I go now?" he asks, seated on the edge of the bed.

[Chimaera]

"Nope, I'm afraid not. The small matter of those questions that need to be answered. So, what were you doing with the Prince's computer?"

[Detritus]

"What, that? I was Mr. J's sysadmin."

[Chimaera]

"So, you monitored his system here from your place? At his request?"

[Detritus]

"What are you talking about?" Bobby asks in reply, seeming confused. "Why would I do that?"

[Chimaera]

(OOC: This would a good time for Psychology and Detect Lies rolls. Let me know if you need me to generate another list of rolls. Also, Empathy, if relevant. I want to get a sense of how full of crap -- or not -- this guy is. For now, I'm going to play along as if I buy what he's selling, regardless. But I'd like to know if I actually do buy his line.)

"Well, here's the thing Bobby. I was assigned to check out Mr. J's system and the result of that was determining that his system here is being monitored by a computer at your place. I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent, rational explanation for that. Maybe Mr. J has some redundant fail-safe measures set up there, possibly without you knowing. Why don't you explain the whole set-up in more detail, including the specific duties and expectations Mr. J had of you, as well as the technical details of his IT set-up?"

[Detritus]

For free, I'll give you that Bobby's confusion and soon-to-be-increasing agitation seem genuine, to the best of your ability to determine.

"I don't understand," Bobby replies, becoming a bit agitated in his perplexity.

"Mr. J. wanted his machine to be secure. I told him a Linux box was his best bet, but the dude had no idea what I was talking about. So I set it up. He made the same threat that this Prince Rebekka did. Told me I didn't have any rights in Kindred society, that no one even knew about me. Told me he made me, and could snuff me out, just like that, if he wanted. No way I left a back door in there, that would have defeated the whole purpose, and it would have been my ass if he ever found out."

"Don't look at me," the Sheriff's voice says in your head after Bobby finishes. "Just stare the kid down for a bit. You're sure that your trace leads back to his haven? His aura doesn't come off the way a liar's aura normally does."

[Chimaera]

"I want to believe you, Bobby. But I ran a trace on Mr. J's box here and guess where it led me? There is a logger on Mr. J's system that dumps out to your network. That's why I wanted to chat with you before. I wanted to get a look at your set-up and figure out what's what. And from what you're saying, Mr. J didn't exactly have leet skillzorz. Something's not adding up."

[Assuming I can reply to the Sherrif]

"There's always a the possibility of error, but I combined hacking and vampire hoohah in what I think was a mutually informative manner. Now, it's possible that his network has been compromised and someone is sock-puppeting his set-up. Or perhaps the late prince had hidden-depths. For what it's worth, I think Bobby's telling the truth too."

[Detritus]

Yes, you can reply to the Sheriff telepathically. We'll say the telepathic exchange occurs after your last statement to Bobby.

Bobby can only manage to stammer incoherently as his eyes bulge slightly after Jake's last statement.

"What if it wasn't the kid's computer that was hacked, but the kid himself? If another elder wanted to get the dirt on the old Prince, that'd be the way they'd have gone about it, most likely."

[Chimaera]

Bobby can only manage to stammer incoherently as his eyes bulge slightly after Jake's last statement.

"There's no help for it. I'm going to have to audit your network. I suggest you take some time to collect yourself, then start sketching out the network configuration and start noting down all the relevant log-ins and passwords I'll need."

"What if it wasn't the kid's computer that was hacked, but the kid himself? If another elder wanted to get the dirt on the old Prince, that'd be the way they'd have gone about it, most likely."

"Right. I imagine you're better equipped to determine if that's the case than I am. Can you see if he's been subjected to any compulsions?"

[Detritus]

Dee Dee nods her head after you ask your telepathic question, then says, "I think that's a good idea. Art time." The Sheriff gets up and has Sarah fetch a pad of paper and a pencil.

"Can I go after I give up all my network info?"

"We're gonna see about that, kiddo," the Sheriff replies. "We might have a couple more things to check, first. But you're ready to cooperate, right?" A vicious smile appears on the Sheriff's lips for a moment, and Bobby drops his eyes and nods without saying a word.

When Sarah returns, she hands Bobby pad and pencil, then takes out a set of cubes from a pocket, four milky white, four nearly black, and places them on the floor around the table in pairs of one light and one dark cube each.

"What's she doing?" Bobby asks nervously.

"Protecting you from the Prince's hit wench rubbing you out for asking too many goddamn questions," Dee Dee replies in annoyance. "You've got a test to take. I suggest you think very hard and give as complete an answer as you can. Partial credit could be very, very important for you."

Bobby watches Sarah work, splitting his wary attention between her and Dee Dee. One by one, each pair of cubes forms into a silvery oblong shape. Once all four pairs are thus joined, Sarah forms a perimeter that takes in both the table and the chair Bobby is seated in. She raises her arms and a shimmering rectangular solid surrounds Bobby, after which she puts a hand to her mouth and blows Bobby a kiss.

"Is the volume turned down inside there?"

"Yep." After Sarah's reply, Dee Dee points emphatically at the pad of paper.

"Based on how the interview's gone down so far," she says, "there's a decent chance he's been compromised. I can check, and maybe you could, too," she says, indicating Sarah, "but it might not be easy to tell who did it. Mr. Johnson and Samantha are two likely candidates, though, and there might be a third."

The Sheriff turns to you and asks, "You ever see your sire use Dominate on anyone? Did she ever exhibit any magical ability such as the Tremere possess, that you saw?"

[Chimaera]

"Never. She rarely seemed to need such extraordinary measures to get people to do what she wanted. I wouldn't put it past her, but I can't say whether she has that ability or not."

[Detritus]

"It'd be pretty unusual for a Toreador to learn Thaumaturgy, anyways," says Sarah, "and that would be necessary for one brood mate to use Dominate on another, at least for someone whose aura scans as clean. I mean, I get the feeling that the Councilor and the Justicar have known each other for a long time, and that they've worked together closely at least a few times in the past. Have you ever seen your sire use Thaumaturgy?"

"No, I guess I've never seen the G-woman use Thaumaturgy, now that you say it. I hope someone thought to check her aura. I'll ask around."

The Sheriff looks towards Bobby for a moment, though her eyes don't quite seem to focus on him.

"How long has it been since you'd last seen your sire before last night?" she asks you. "Was there ever a time when the contact between you two dropped off sharply?"

((The only guideline for the last paragraph is that it's been a minimum of two months. It could be longer than that, at your discretion.))

[Chimaera]

"I haven't seen her in eight weeks -- I realized I was being fed a line of bullshit and stingily fed at that. Once I realized that I was being kept isolated from an actual society and community, I cut out pretty quick. I spent some time sorting some stuff out and doing a bit of digging to figure out at least some of what was being kept from me, then reached out and connected with the Camarilla. In that time, I was pretty motivated to stay out of her sights. But in that time I didn't see her, nor have any indication that she was looking for me."

[Detritus]

"I haven't seen her in eight weeks -- I realized I was being fed a line of bullshit and stingily fed at that. Once I realized that I was being kept isolated from an actual society and community, I cut out pretty quick. I spent some time sorting some stuff out and doing a bit of digging to figure out at least some of what was being kept from me, then reached out and connected with the Camarilla. In that time, I was pretty motivated to stay out of her sights. But in that time I didn't see her, nor have any indication that she was looking for me."
"Yeah, OK," Dee Dee replies. She looks from you to Bobby a couple times, then puts her hand to her forehead.

"Him I gotta check," she says, lowering her hand. "Even if your sire isn't a possibility in compromising young Bobby there, she might be in touch with Licks who could've hacked his brain. Eight weeks is long enough to get up to plenty of mischief, if we assume she's been in New Orleans since the last time you saw her." The Sheriff pauses, seeming to choose her words, and wipes her forehead again while she thinks.

"There is someone in this room she could have hacked without Thaumaturgy, though. Most likely the reason you've never seen her use any of the heavy-handed methods of mind control is that she doesn't know how. But maybe, just maybe, it's because she's really good at it and made you forget you ever saw her do it. I'll leave it up to you whether you want a checkup or not. You'll know almost for sure after we're done, but it can be kind of invasive, mentally."

[Chimaera]

"Invasive, huh? Well, you're not going out of your way to make it sound pleasant. I appreciate the choice, but you'd best go ahead and give me a check-up. I don't like the idea of A-bomb having her fingers in my head."

[Detritus]

"Invasive, huh? Well, you're not going out of your way to make it sound pleasant. I appreciate the choice, but you'd best go ahead and give me a check-up. I don't like the idea of A-bomb having her fingers in my head."
"Having an elder mucking around in your head isn't particularly pleasant. Once they're in there, most aren't going to let go on their own, and usually they're at least decent at covering their tracks. There isn't an easy way to sugar-coat that, but I think the diagnosis is a lot better than the disease. The cure..." the Sheriff trails off and shrugs, "hopefully you won't need a cure.

"I think we can drop this," she says to Sarah, pointing at the ward. "It'd be best if we explained what's about to happen, and give Bobby a chance to see it done once before it's his turn."

"Sure thing," Sarah replies. She lowers downward-turned palms from shoulders to waist, and the ward simple ceases to be. "You're on," she says while she gathers her little cubes. Bobby tracks her progress warily, but Sarah either doesn't notice or affects not to.

"Just pull up a chair and try to relax," Dee Dee tells you.

[Chimaera]

"Why is it whenever someone tells you to relax, you just know you're about to get cornholed?"

He sighs and takes his assigned position.

"Okay, do what you need to do."

He tries to relax...

[Detritus]

The Sheriff smiles.

"I've been told my bedside manner leaves a little to be desired," she says. "We'll see what we can do about that." She then turns to Bobby.

"We've talked about your answers, and I believe Jake here when he says he's found enough evidence to connect you to snooping around on the old Prince's machine. But, you may still be answering truthfully, as you see it, because someone's come in and tinkered with your noggin some."

"Charming," Sarah murmurs, grinning. Dee Dee just shrugs.

"Yeah, well, my sire's the courtier. And Bonnie. I just go wherever the Justicar points. But I have learned a trick or two in my time, so let's see how I am at teaching, and how good of a listener young Bobby here is, too.

"Since you don't seem to have had much education in the ways of the Kindred, Bobby, here are some things worth knowing. If you know generally about Disciplines, there's one delightful one that's called Dominate. It's more or less like the hypnotic gaze of movie vampires. Vampires of lower generation can use it on those of higher generation.

"You know a little about Auspex, so you know about Aura Reading. I know a little bit about it, too. That's the only thing keeping your skin whole right now, that your aura scanned out like you believed you were telling the truth, and that Jake here seemed to have the impression that you weren't lying, either.

"But there's still the matter of this evidence Jake has found, so I figure we're down to two possibilities. Either you're a really good actor, or there's been some tampering. If it's tampering, we'll figure out what we can do to neutralize it. If it's acting, then Caine help you. Either way, I aim to find out in short order."

Bobby starts to reply when Dee Dee holds up a finger.

"You were doing a pretty good job of listening, there, so don't blow it here at the end. Like I said, I'm going to find out one way or the other, but you're going to get to watch while I check Jake here first. In his case, it's more of a just making sure sort of situation, but the procedure will be similar whether you're free from tampering or not. Pay attention."

Dee Dee turns back to you and asks, "All relaxed now?" with another little smile.

[Chimaera]

"Wu-sah. My mind is a tranquil pool of bliss. Do your thing."

[Detritus]

"Just look into my eyes, pick one memory of your sire, and I'll do the rest," Dee Dee says to you through the telepathic link after she pulls up another chair and sits. The Sheriff's gaze holds yours, and then her blue irises seem to shimmer, and you feel yourself falling into a trance. She somehow mentally latches on the memory you've recalled, after which a series of memories comes to you unbidden. With detachment you note that Dee Dee falls into a light trance of her own. She's motionless save for a flurry of saccades that seem perfectly synchronized with each new memory she brings to the forefront of your awareness.

"Processing... processing... fascinating," Sarah says, and the grin that surely is on her face echoes in her words, though you're unable to turn your head to verify this. Minutes pass as Dee Dee assiduously dredges up every memory of your sire for study in a whirlwind of gently forced recall. The Sheriff finally closes her eyes and leans back in her chair, breaking the spell.

"You're clean," she says after opening her eyes, her voice a bit labored. "There was a fuck-ton of memories to sift through. Every encounter with your sire, I wouldn't doubt." The Sheriff squints at you for an instant, a calculating look undoubtedly backed up by the wheels turning in her head, before she turns to give you Bobby's diagram of his setup.

"Have a look at that while I rummage through Bobby here." She's barely into the fishing expedition when you determine that the sketch you're looking at is complete rubbish, the sort of thing that an expert might use to snow an IT illiterate. Less than 30 seconds pass your realization when the Sheriff breaks contact with Bobby.

"Drake," is her terse pronouncement. "That Thaumaturgy trick of lowering someone's generation, is it something that a mage can do on someone else?" she asks Sarah.

"No," she replies after a brief hesitation, "it's not." Dee Dee acknowledges the answer with a tight-jawed nod.

"How does that look?" the Sheriff asks you, pointing to Bobby's sketch.

[Chimaera]

"It's bullshit. It looks like the sort of argle-bargle the cognoscenti use to gull or intimidate the lay-folk."

[Detritus]

"So what's the meaning of that?" Dee Dee asks Bobby, pointing at the worthless diagram you're holding.

"What? I did what you asked."

"The hell you did." The Sheriff motions for you to set the diagram back down if front of Bobby. "Did you really think this was going to fool anyone who knows what they're doing?"

"But this isn't what I wrote down!" Bobby replies, perplexed.

"I'm pretty sure it was," Sarah says. "I watched you do it."

"Motherfucker, she got you good," Dee Dee says in exasperation, then shakes her head and sighs explosively. "I'm gonna have to kick this upstairs, I think. Good news, kiddo, you've just upgraded from a seamstress to a brain surgeon. You're going to get some face time with the Justicar." A sickly look appears on Bobby's face, and it's clear that Dee Dee has already explained a little bit on the topic of what Justicars are all about.

"I think we can officially issue a search warrant for young Bobby's haven."

"Wait, what?" Bobby interjects. The Sheriff simply stares him down until he subsides.

"Will that do any good?" Sarah asks. "We just let this Annie chick go after her presentation last night."

"Maybe you should take that up with your Councilor. I'm given to understand that she sequestered the building in question somehow.

"Which reminds me," the Sheriff says to you, "you're going to have to see the Councilor before you can get into the building, you and anyone else that goes with you. The delivery takes precedence over anything else, but once that's over with, you should see to Bobby's setup there." Dee Dee whips out her cell phone to check the time.

"We should probably see the Seneschal about the cash for the delivery right about now. Keep an eye on him, Sarah. Make it one of his own eyes if he starts acting up."

Sarah nods and makes a pinching motion vaguely in the direction of Bobby's face, who shrinks away from her hand.

((Make any reply you see fit, and then we'll call this thread a wrap.))

[Detritus]

((Make any reply you see fit, and then we'll call this thread a wrap.))
((Actually, we'll move ahead as follows...))

"Let's find the Councilor first," Dee Dee says. "We aren't going anywhere without Zack, anyways."

The Sheriff beckons for you to follow her, and she makes for what will turn out to be the master bedroom. The Prince and Councilor Meerlinda are in the room, standing near the bed and facing towards the door, as are Gwynnis and Rosalyn, both of whom are lying on the bed. The Malkavian women (Dru and Brooke) who arrived last night are also in the room, near the door, and there is also an unfamiliar woman facing the four on or near the bed. Everyone turns towards the door when Dee Dee leads you into the room.

EDIT -- Here (http://forum.criticalfumble.net/showthread.php?t=24647) is where Jake has temporarily landed.