Participants:
| Scene Title | Torchwood Talks Trouble |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | After encountering some weirdness on Ellis Island, Scrivner and Vette take their findings to Simone and Marius then discuss their strategy. |
Four Story Brownstone - New York City
//This four story building has plenty of character, strong bricks and old wood. Inside, it's well appointed in antiques from the 1920's, which suits the hard wood trim and simple print wallpaper. The first floor has a foyer, library, and sitting room with a wrought iron spiral stair leading to the upper levels.
The second floor is taken up by the kitchen and formal dining room, with a dumb waiter running from the kitchen down to the sitting room as well to the upper floors. The kitchen appliances are all modern, in contrast to the nostalgic decor. The dining room can seat a dozen people in a formal setting.
The master suite is on the third floor, consisting of master bedroom, walk-in closet, and large bathroom. The fourth floor holds two guest bedrooms along with a bathroom.//
Sometime last night, Vette called Simone and left a message that she and Rufus needed to see her straight away. The business was fairly urgent, though /what/ it was about, that wasn't said over the phone. Presumably Simone has called back and said it was okay to come in, and at the appointed time, Rufus Scrivner pulls up in the street and parks his little black Escort. He turns off the engine and he steps out, wearing a business suit of charcoal grey and a light blue tie. He's carrying his sword in its case - as he always does - and a laptop bag over his shoulder, because he doesn't trust someone to refrain from breaking into his car the second he turns his back. And later, he has an appointment. So. The man opens the door for Vette and offers his elbow in escort, then walks up to the front door and knocks.
For once Vette isn't dressed in dance clothes. She's put on her one set of nice casuals—newer blue jeans and knee high brown suede boots only slightly stained from their time in the second hand store, a knee length tailored white shirt, amber beads and a little brown vest. She isn't going dancing after all, nor to work, and she feels like looking nicer next to Rufus, even if its only for the day. A white bandana holds back her falls of red hair. She slips her arm through Rufus' and waits for Simone to answer the door.
Simone answers the door dressed and ready. She's wearing black leather pants, riding boots, and a black turtleneck. Hair pulled back, she greets them both with a warm smile. "Sorry I missed you last night, but I had a meeting at the police station. Won't you come inside?"
"Thank you," Rufus says, as he ushers the lady inside first and follows her, casting a quick glance over his shoulder before he steps across the threshold. "The police station? Is everything all right, Doctor?" He closes the door behind himself for Simone and then he gently pulls his arm free of Vette.
Vette has one hand in her pocket on top of some kind of — lumpy thing—but she ignores it to frown faintly at Simone. The look on her face mirrors Rufus' question but she sees no need to echo it; instead she merely listens for the answer.
Simone returns the question with a smile, her gaze going briefly to the lump in Vette's pocket. "Everything is fine, actually. I learned something that will require our assistance, but we can discuss that later. Would either of you like coffee? Tea?"
His eyes narrow just a touch, speculatively, but Rufus decides not to pursue it. "Very well. Tea, if you please," he says, reaching out to touch Vette's elbow gently and guide her towards a chair. He walks towards the sitting room himself, and he murmurs to the lady beside him, "Would you care to tell her what happened?"
Vette sits down and looks up at Simone, trying to gather her thoughts. "Do you want the chronological version," she asks quietly, "or do you want the cut-to-the chase version?" Some people like their information in different ways, after all. She's focused intently on the other two, but her hand is still tucked into the pocket of her jeans, awkwardly now that she's sitting down.
Simone moves over to the dumb-waiter in the sitting room, where tea service is already waiting in anticipation. With scones. (Yes, she knows Rufus well by this point.) "How about you start with why you're got your hand in your pocket, and work backwards from there?" she offers. And then she brings the tray over, to start preparations.
Rufus glances down at the tea tray, and the faintest of smiles touches his lips. Ah, he can always rely upon the Scone Fixer to give him just what he needs. He comes to stand beside Vette's chair, unwilling to seat himself while Simone is still up and about on her feet. "Thank you, Doctor," he says quietly, once she sets about preparations.
Vette ignores the food to bring out what appears to be a foot, made of stone. Or a plaster cast of a footprint made out of granite. She sets it on the table. "I took this in the hopes you could identify it," she replies. "We found the tracks out on Ellis Island, leading into the sea. The more fascinating part of this is what the tracks led /from/."
Simone makes a cup for Rufus and then herself, settling as Vette sets down the casting of the footprint. Brows knit and she half-turns to get a better look at it, sipping her tea. "Okay, you have my attention, now. Tell me more."
The inverse of the foot print makes it look as though the creature /could/ have been reptilian, with the claw split into three toes and sharp imprints of talons digging deep. It might take some more careful study to identify. Taking his cup of tea, Rufus finally seats himself and gets as comfortable as he can, scowling at the claw mark.
"There was a building," Vette says quietly. "A building that most people did not see to the point that they walked straight through it. Further investigation showed it to be set up like an immigration processing station, just like what Ellis Island was originally used for. We got in there and found arrival dates in Englishone two days from nowand then this other language. I think if you can get that thing identified at some point we'll have the beginnings of a rosetta stone to get that language studied and eventually translated. We could find no discernable method of getting rid of it and can only surmise that this is some form or fashion offor lack of a better termdimensional rift, or portal to one of the other Worlds."
Simone's attention is focused on the clawed footprint first off. But then as Vette talks about arrival dates and an immigration station, she blinks and tilts her head. "So you found this footprint near some sort of dimensional portal to another world? Yes, I would very much like to see this for myself. I'm not a language expert, but I'm a fast learner."
"We can certainly take you back to Ellis Island for a look about, if you'd like," Rufus calmly says. "Perhaps we should bring Marius Forest as well? It wouldn't hurt to have another pair of eyes and another weapon by our side when we do it." He drums his fingers against his tea cup, glancing at Vette again.
"We have to go back anyway," Vette points out. "Something's coming through in 2 days. Wellnow it's tomorrow. We don't know if it's going to be harmful or what. I think if we all put our minds to it, Simone, we can probably work on that languageI think this thing is going to require a lot of study and monitoring on our parts.'
Marius has arrived.
Simone nods firmly. "Agreed. And I think we'd best not just keep this to ourselves, either. I met a police detective last night who also has a divine parent. Having contacts in the NYPD might be useful if this thing starts to get out of control."
"Oh? Is that why you were at the station then? Here I was beginning to wonder which side of the law you were working for," Rufus says with a little smile behind his tea cup. "Who is this man then?" He's sitting quite comfortably in an armchair within Simone's living room, sipping tea and nibbling scones.
"Not to mention if he comes with us we might avoid getting arrested. I'm given to wonder if the 'terrorist attacks' had something to do with that rift too," Vette murmurs. She picks up a scone herself now, turns it left and right as if trying to figure it out.
Marius knocks on the front door, finding it slightly ajar he pushes it open, "Simone? You home….everything ok?"
Simone chuckles softly, leaving the footprint casting on the coffee table. Hearing the familiar voice in the foyer, she calls out. "Yes, Marius. I'm in the sitting room with Vette and Rufus. Come on back!"
Looking up from where he sits, Rufus briefly sets down his cup. "Good day, Forest," he says, his tone polite. Again the man glances at Vette, and he leans back to cross his legs comfortably at the knee. "We were just discussing dimensional rifts and monsters and detectives, oh my."
Marius raises an eyebrow, "Deminsional Rifts? We have deminsional rifts now?
"Apparently," Vette replies, finally just taking a bite out of the scone and glancing back at Rufus. She frowns at it faintly, then shrugs, deciding she likes it even if she's not sure what the deal with it is, and takes another bite.
Simone sets her cup on the saucer, arching a brow back at Marius. She gestures to the odd footprint casting, then asks. "Would you like tea, Marius? I'm going to check out the writing they found as well."
"On Ellis Island," Rufus says quietly, "we found tracks of an animal that looked like that cast. We trailed them back to a building, one which seems to stand halfway in this world and halfway in another. Normal humans were unable to see it and, in fact, walked right through it. Vette and I entered, and we found a… time table of sorts. A schedule which we assume were impending arrivals, and the next one is scheduled for tomorrow. We believe, based on what we found, that a door is going to open and let through another wave of … creatures."
Marius frowns, "Do we know what kinda of creatures? What kind of creature made the foot print?
"No, that's why I made a cast and brought it to Simone," Vette replies, shaking her head. "I thought if Simone could identify it than between us we could begin working out the language."
Simone gives a light shrug, then. "I'll need some time to examine it, do cross-referencing, that sort of thing. But I -really- think that taking a look at that time table could be most instructive." she replies. "And it, um, wouldn't hurt for everyone to arm-up. Just in case."
Scrivner faintly snorts into his teacup at Simone's suggestion. "Indeed not," he grimly states in agreement. "Which does bring me around to a question I had last night. Do either of you know anyone who might be more knowledgeable or experienced about these sorts of matters. I hear and read stories all the bloody time, but I don't actually know anyone, and a time rift does seem like a rather dangerous threat to me."
Marius says, "There is a gal named Erika, works near the warehouse district, don't get along with her well. Dee is an expert in ancient artifacts, Anne has a lot of research books, and then there is the group at the fire house."
Vette doesn't know anybody at all, so she just looks over at Simone to see who she knows. Well, she does know people but, primarily, they are all sitting in this room.
Simone replies with a knowing smile. "Well I've got Dee's number handy, actually. But I'm not acquainted with the others you mentioned. Do we want to enlist their assistance, then?"
"I've no objections to making the acquaintance of another of our sort," Rufus says, after he's finished off his cup of tea and his scone. He lightly brushes off crumbs with a napkin, and he sets down his cup and saucer. "Not if the remainder of you do not. What is this group at the fire house like, Forest?"
Marius says, "I havn't seen Alice for a while, and Erica is kinda a…well lets just say we have creative differences, though she is brillant."
Marius says, "Pauline is the one I know best, big gal, strong in a fight, but they are very organized, half a dozen of them have the old fire house from the Ghost Busters movie." He shrugs, "There are a few others to, like Rain, and Jolie and Leandra, but I am not sure how much knowledge they have."
Simone purses her lips, pausing with her teacup raised. "Well if we have a parade of nasties come through this rift in two days, we're going to need some help. That, or I'm buying a machinegun." She smiles sweetly and takes a sip. "I think we should bring a few friends into this, Marius."
"I think it's good to bring in help," Vette says, very very slowly, "but how freely do we really want to spread this information around? I'm not saying all these people aren't trustworthyI'm sure they arebut the more people we show this thing to the more likely it is going to get to someone who might want to exploit it rather than deal with what comes out of it, protect it, and try to close it. Maybe we should pick a few focused people and go from there."
"We are working within a very limited timeframe," Rufus muses. "Perhaps pick two or three individuals whom you think would be best suited to dealing with this sort of threat, and we'll go over tomorrow? Tempting though it is to bring out every one of our sort that we can manage." He glances at Vette, briefly nodding.
Marius nods, "a lot will defend on availibility and who we can get a hold of.
Simone nods slowly. "Okay, then. So first of all we need to get a look at this time table, and also to show it to a couple of experts. Same with the footprint. That's the easy part. After that, we need to figure out just what's coming through and how we're going to deal with it."
"And figure out how to watch it long term if we have to," Vette murmurs. "I think multiple things are coming through. The prints didn't match the um—lizard-poodle that led us to go looking at Ellis Island in the first place."
"Too much to be done, not enough time in which to do it. If you two want to gather up your contacts, perhaps tell them of what's happened, I can return to the island later this evening and keep a vigil. If anything comes through or anyone goes in, I will see it," Rufus calmly says.
Marius hmmmms, "Like I said I know a lot of people, not sure how many of them we can count on though.
Simone considers. "Well I had a rather nice chat with Dee the other day. I'd like to involve her, at the very least. Rufus, you have everyone's number programmed on speed-dial, I trust? Other than watch the portal, there's not much else we can do without knowledge."
"What about this other lead you mentioned, Simone?" Vette asks, very quietly. "That other thing you wanted to follow up on before we started talking about the rift?"
"Why yes, Mummy, I do have your numbers on my phone," Rufus says, glancing at the lady with the faintest of amused smirks on his lips. He drums his fingers across his knee, amusement fading, as he glances at Vette then back at Simone.
Marius nods, "Why is it most of the Scions I meet are all cute girls?
Simone gives a soft laugh, though whether it's at Rufus or Marius is left ambiguous. She answers Vette's question instead. "It's quite minor in comparison to a dimensional invasion, Vette. Someone I know is being blackmailed, but the interesting part is that the blackmailer is a Medusa. My intention was to steal back what is being held and then eliminate the Medusa."
Vette…shoots Marius a /look/ as if wondering what /that/ has to do with anything, then looks back at Simone. "Medusae and harpies and dimensional rifts, oh my. There's still that harpy's nest too. What was stolen anyway?"
Rufus' very pale eyes flicker over to Marius, and his eyebrows arch. "Poetic justice, perhaps, Marius?" He's struggling not to smirk again, though he's giving the other man another speculative look, expression unreadable. He clears his throat, then turns his attention back to the ladies. "Forest has a pet medusa," he muses nonchalantly. "Perhaps that thing could be of use to you?"
Marius says, "Do we know what she is blackmailing him with? And I sure hope this isn't the one I let go….""
Simone looks from one to the other, silent for a moment. "This doesn't leave the room, of course." she begins. "She took his badge and a tape that supposedly shows him negligent while people were left to die. Her threat was that if he didn't leave her alone, she'd turn them both in to his superiors. And to make matters worse, she left them with a -friend- of hers for safe-keeping. As insurance."
Vette is very quiet for a moment. Then she says, "Wait a second. If there is a tape that shows him negligent while people were left to die, then—he was negligent. While people were left to die. This didn't just spring up out of thin air."
Marius nods, "So it sounds like, while she is bad for blackmailing him, at the same time, he is a bit…of a problem too
Rufus glances back at Marius, and exhaling a deep breath, he leans forward to pour himself a fresh cup of tea with a little dash of milk. As he looks back at Simone, he solemnly says, "I find myself in agreement with Miss Adams, Simone. Unless the tape was /fabricated,/ in some form or fashion, then I'm of the opinion your friend has committed a misdeed for which he must answer."
Simone shakes her head at the speculation, setting her cup onto the saucer. "Look. He was there when that woman beat up those three boys, only it turned out after the fact that she's killed each one with a single punch. I don't know the complete circumstances, but there's more to the situation than the tape shows. I'm personally withholding judgement until I see it for myself."
"And what was he doing at the time?" Vette asks, tilting her head. "Because if the tape wasn't fabricated, Simone, then /we/ have to turn it into his superiors. It may be that they find his actions understandable, but it's not really for us to say that. It's really for them to say that, and if we help him hide something he really did wrong then we are as guilty as he."
"I haven't heard this story," Rufus says with a frown, upon hearing about a woman and three boys. And here he shuts up so he can listen, since he doesn't know the circumstances either.
Marius sighs softly, "Well one way or the other we need to sit down with the Medusae, whatever we are going to do with the tape afterwards.
Simone smiles softly to Vette, arching a brow, then glancing to Marius. "I'm going to have to break somewhere between three to five laws in order to get the tape. I do not intend to sit and discuss it over tea. It will be dangerous and there is a better than average chance of bloodshed in the process. After all that, I am -not- simply going to pass the tape over to his superiors without applying my own judgement to the matter."
"Sit /down/ with it?" Vette asks Marius, her incredulity shining through in her face. "Mr. Forest—you can't just go collecting every medusae in town. To quote Obi Wan Kenobi, they're /evil/." She leans her head back and pinches her nose with her thumb and forefinger. She doesn't seem to even know what to say to Simone's revelation.
Marius chuckles softly, "Well we need information from it, and you catch more flies with honey then you do with vinegar
Rufus' shoulders tense, and he looks as if he's gritting this teeth. "This… is where we ought to stop discussing the matter, Doctor. I sympathise with your friend's situation, but if he were truly above the board and forthright regarding his work, I do not see why he should be afraid of a blackmailer. Justice /can/ be done. I can certainly recommend an excellent lawyer for him if someone attempts to press charges against him or even review his case myself, though it's not my area of expertise. Please be careful." He glances over at Vette, then back at Marius. For a second, he looks… like he's about to just /laugh./ His lips twitch, his eyes glitter, but in the end he manages to swallow it down.
Simone purses her lips, nodding to Rufus. "Understood, Rufus. I won't speak of it further." she replies. Turning to Marius, she seems less concerned about the prospect of an interview than Vette, but she's still curious. "I think you need to tell us more about your… relationship with this creature, Marius. How far do you trust her?"
Vette purses her lips and finally just drains her tea, putting the cup down. She glances at Rufus and sighs faintly, but she offers nothing more to the conversation.
Marius blinks at Simone, "Trust her? Do I look like an idiot? I have agreed to bribe her not to eat humans any more, and for information, that is it. I am not sure if it will work, but I figured it was worth trying."
Rufus' eyes are still glittering as he mildly says, "Well, you don't /look/ like one. Have you heard at all from the creature since you released her? I'm afraid I don't know very much about medusae, other than their liking for eyes. How intelligent are these creatures?"
Simone replies to Rufus' last question. "Most of them were once human, Rufus. They need to eat the eyes of attractive people, because it keeps their -own- looks up. Without it, they'd be nothing more than scaley, snake-haired monsters. But they can be quite intelligent."
Vette steeples her fingers, still listening quietly and not contributing much; her eyes moving between the other three. She leans over and pours herself another cup of tea, simply nodding at appropriate intervals to show she's still listening.
Marius hmmms softly, and shrugs, "So where does this leave us?
"Women who've sold their souls to be beautiful. How charming," Rufus lightly says. He has finished his own second cup of tea and leans forward to set it down on the coffee table. "Well, Forest, unless anyone else has something of import to discuss, I should be off to my last appointment of the day, and then I'll be at Ellis Island, watching tourists and a rift in the space-time continuum."
Simone shakes her head slowly. "Talk with your medusa-friend, Marius. And let us know how it turns out. But Ellis Island should certainly take priority, in my mind."
Vette nods her head and says, "I don't have anything more to add." And she falls silent again before adding, "Thanks for the tea and snacks as usual, Simone."
Marius nods "I will go and see what she knows, do we know anything about who this medusae is that is holding your friends tape?
"Indeed." Rufus Scrivner stands up and brushes off his suit jacket and his trousers. He sweeps up his laptop bag from the floor and slings the strap over his shoulder. "Thank you very kindly for tea, Doctor. It was, as usual, excellent and enjoyable. Miss Adams, shall we? Forest, it was good to see you again. Do try to stay out of trouble."
Simone nods to Vette and Rufus as they prepare to depart. "You're very welcome, you two. And thanks for the footprint, if you don't mind my examining it a while." Turning to Marius, she replies. "I think I can get an address, but I'll have to check. The conversation didn't get that far."
"No, keep it," Vette says, a slight smile creasing over her lips. "I'm sure you can do more with it than I can." She takes Rufus' arm and will go back out with him.
Any additional notes fall to the bottom.
