17.03.2019 Opportunity Knocks

Opportunity Knocks
Teagan arrives at her appointment.
Players	Evaline, Teagan
Location	Brooke & Burke Intelligence Consultancy
Spheres	Mage

Transcript

The endless chattering of daily business fills the small office like fog. You can't move for it. People everywhere, of all kinds, all dressed in business attire, moving about to and from cubicles. Stacks of xerox'd documents, the smell of lukewarm coffee, the clacking of keyboard, it all coalesces together to form a vibrant white noise of an energetic working environment. A young man sits at the front desk, beside the elevator, meticulously picking at his nails while he watches a video of a cat trying to escape a roll of bubble wrap on his computer. Evaline, currently, is nowhere to be seen, but her ominous office door sits at the far eastern wall, like a portal to hell. No one approaches the door, in fact, they all make a seemingly conscious effort to stay away.

Teagan scans the office meticulously, trying to take note of all the peculiarities in the building. It only takes her a few moments before the gentle lull of business makes her lose her train of thought, causing her to stare blanky ahead at a newspaper cliiping. She shakes her head and carefully slips through the crowd of people in front of her, making sure to not bump into anyone. After being promptly ignored for a few seconds by the man at the front desk she clears her throat. "Err, I had an appointment? Name's Teagan. Williams." She makes an effort to look friendly, but is clearly nervous.

The man sighs and clicks the mouse, and the noise of a cat mewling loudly is cut off, mid swipe at something off camera. He looks up lazily at the new arrival, and says, "Appointment, hm? Let's see here..." He tabs over to some other bespoke timekeeping program, and his eyes scan through the list of names and the consultants they have appointments with... then his eyes sort of bulge, and he looks back up at her. "You have an appointment, with Ms. Capet?" he asks, almost in disbelief, but then clears his throat. Whenever the name is mentioned, it's carried with a reminder to be professional. "Yes, yes of course. Uhm. The door over there..." he points to the door marked 'E. CAPET', a straight path through the cubicles, parted like the red sea. "Knock twice and you'll be called in. As far as I know, Ms. Capet has no other appointments today, so she should be available," he says politely, but then adds with a hint of urgency, "remember to knock, please," as if for his own sake.

Teagan lets out a nervous chuckle after seeing the man's reaction. "Right, knock twice! Cute cat, by the way." she says with a smile and makes her way over to the door the man pointed at. A little bit unsettled by the looks she's receiving from the staff, she hesitates for a moment before giving the door two gentle knocks. She takes a look around, and a wave of relief washes over her face as she realizes the world, has in fact, not come to its end. Trying to look casual, she waits in front of the door, giving the newspaper clippings on the wall the odd glance.

'INDEPENDANT COUNTER INTELLIGENCE STOPS DOMESTIC TERROR ATTACK AGAINST PROSPECT NATIONAL AIRPORT' states one such clipping, dated a year or so ago. The foiled attack did not make huge news, but without blood, there is little to drive paper sales. The body of the article describes how government authorities were tipped off very early to a plan to enact a grave and horrifying attack. The picture in the article shows a photo taken at the home of one of the plotters, with bags of home made explosives and guns. Truly shocking stuff.

Lots of odd glances are given when Teagan raps on the door, though they all duck back down in their cubicles shortly after. "Come in," says a female voice from behind the door, and the lock clunks, though through the fogged glass of the door it's clear that no one is immediately behind it.

Taking one last look around, Teagan scratches the back of her neck before pulling the door open. Or, she would, if it wasn't for the fact that the door didn't open that way. Quickly correcting her mistake, she pushes the door open, readjusts her glasses and steps inside. "H-hey..." she calls out, her voice barely holding.

The office is almost bare except for the essentials. A dark mahogany desk sits in front of a row of floor-to-ceiling windows, covered with vertical blinds. They are all closed about 70% of the way, giving a prison bar style imprint of light and dark over the entire room. It almost seems smoky in here, though it's clear that there is no smoke. The air feels thicker, greasier, like it's been dunked in old engine oil. As Teagan enters the room, the door obviously shuts quickly behind her, instantly cutting off every little bit of sound from the busy office behind her. The only comforting noise is the slow ticking of the grandfather clock against the northern wall, and the sound of her own heart beat.

A female figure stands with her back to Teagan, behind the desk, peering out of the window. Eventually, she turns, hands clasped behind her back, and the face of Evaline smiles politely. Her eyes are ringed with black, possibly from make-up or lack of sleep, or more likely both. "So nice of you to visit me, Teagan. I've been thinking of you since our first encounter at Roasters. I hope you found the place alright?" she asks, taking a step forward and offering a hand to shake across the desk. "Would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee? Water? Or I can send out for something, if you have a particular favourite."

As the door slams shut behind her, she instinctively turns her head back to look at it. She rids herself of her surprised expression as best she can before facing Evaline again. "Yeah... Uh, you sure do know how to make an entrance, huh?" She blinks a couple of times before accepting the handshake. "Just... just water is fine, thank you." she says, her voice is full of concern despite looking at Evaline with a friendly expression. Taking a moment to collect herself, she takes off her glasses and exhales onto the lenses, forming a thin layer of fog which she rubs of with the fabric of her shirt. Putting the glasses back on, her eyes slowly wander around the room before settling back on Evaline. She opens her mouth to speak but stops herself and inhales deeply through her nose. "This. Is. Wild..."

Taking note of her expression, Evaline returns the shake with a smile meant to disarm. She takes a seat at her desk, and motions for Teagan to do the same, on the equally comfortable leather arm chair on the other side. "I'll send through for your drinks," she says, absently moving her left hand, still wearing the same glove from their meeting at the coffee shop, to type on the computer keyboard. It would be a normal action for an extremely dextrous typist to be able to type without looking at their screen, but she only seems to press one key. Minutes later, the man from the front desk arrives with a tray of drinks: two pint glasses of chilled water for the both of them. He wordlessly sets the glasses, fogged with condensation, onto the desk, and turns to leave. "Thank you," she says to him as he shows himself out.

She takes a quick sip, then gives the glass a little wiggle, staring into it as the clear liquid swirls around. Then she looks to Teagan once more, "You seem rather perplexed by something, my friend. Is there something that is on your mind? Caught your attention?" she asks, a single eyebrow piqued. She seems to be testing for something, judging Teagan's reactions to various stimuli, like a mouse running trials in a maze, unaware of the looming scientist above wielding a clipboard. "There are many curiosities that open themselves to us in life. We could be walking along, nary a worry in the world, then suddenly, it's like opening your eyes for the first time. Do you know what I mean?"

Teagan picks up the glass of water from the desk and helps herself to a two big sips. She swallows and breathes out loudly. "Well, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were about to challenge me to a children's card game." She smiles playfully and takes another sip of water. "You know, like in Yu-Gi-Oh? Major shadow realm vibes from this place." She laughs awkwardly at her terrible joke and averts Evaline's gaze for a moment.

As Evaline continues Teagan's expression shifts subtly towards curiosity and confusion. With an eyebrow raised, she answers. "Y-yeah?" her inflection rises towards the end of the word, unsure of what kind of answer she's expected to give.

"Yu-Gi-Oh?" She asks, eyebrow still raised, perhaps even moreso if it were possible. She clears her throat, just kind of letting that hang there in the air for a moment, as the clock ticks on and on and the silence gets thicker and heavier. "I enjoy my quiet. I find it serene, but of course, if you'd prefer..." she yanks on the cable of her keyboard, and it comes unplugged easily. It may surprise Teagan to know, if she were 'in the know' with keyboard and how absolutely positively cool they are, that the one in question is an IBM Model M. A beauty. Pristine. Evaline clutches the bright green PS/2 connector, and slides up the sleeve of her gloved arm. Underneath there are a few ports built into the glove. What the hell? Then she plugs the keyboard into her glove. She types with her ungloved hand, whilst tracing symbols in the air and bending the fingers of her gloved hand into strange gestures.

The lights dim for a moment, then slowly, like someone rising out of a coma, the air in the room seemingly begins to change. It's fresh, smells like pines, and with it comes the sound of bird song and the rustling of leaves. It could, of course, be the work of some very expensive surround speakers, but that wouldn't explain the innate gut feeling that comes with this sudden change. It's so natural. So real. "How about this?"

As the air of the room changes Teagan has a look of awe on her face with eyes wide and mouth agape, however it doesn't stay for long. After a moment, she rolls her eyes and sighs in frustration. "Dammit, I should've known. Why can't there be like, some kind of secret hand shake or something?" She grumbles on for a while until she manages to settle down. "Yep. That does it, for sure. So, you're like, what, some kind of magic computer hacker?" There is a strong sense of disappointment in her tone as she slumps down into her seat, looking defeated.

Evaline steeples her fingers on the desk and beams. There's a crackle of electricity as the studs of her glove touch the bare skin of her fingers, but she doesn't flinch at all. "I had a small inkling, a tiny suspicion, and I knew I had to take a leap. I must first apologise. If you were a sleeper, you'd probably be having a really rough time right now. It's always a risk." She tugs on each finger of the glove until eventually it slips off her hand, and she drops it on the desk. She stretches her now uncovered fingers, then leans back in her chair and folds her arms across her chest. "I guess it could be put like that, in simple terms, yes. I am a dealer of data. I help the world by wiping away the grime that covers the vision of sleepers and offer them clarity. There are many types of people out there who would take advantage of ignorance, even that with the best of intentions, and spin it around on others. I try to stop that. I had hoped, really, that I could extend that same offer to you. If there's anything you need, any information that could help you, mundane or magical, I will try to see it done." She touches a finger to her lips, pondering for a moment, then speaks again: "I won't ask for anything in return other than the promise that you wouldn't use it for nefarious means. Not that I'm implying you would, of course, but just so we're clear."

Teagan bites her lip, listening intently to what Evaline's saying. As the woman in front of her concludes her monologue, Teagan looks to be in a better mood. "Weeeell, I actually do think there's something you could help me with." She stretches in her chair and the bracelets she's wearing make a soft clinging sound as they collide. Letting her hair down, she takes a more casual tone. "Two things, actually. There's this guy on faculty staff, I think he's been stealing my research. Name's Nigel Dennis, he's a real slimy guy." She looks down to the desk and nervously fiddles with her pendant. "And, I could use someone to, kinda, show me the ropes when it comes to this whole mage... thing." Her cheeks are flush as she looks back up to Evaline, smiling widely she adds: "Please?"

Evaline narrows her eyes as Teagan speaks, and slips a hand back into the glove. With an idle wave, the screen of her computer goes black, then comes back, and floods with text. "Nigel Dennis," she repeats. Her eyes close for a moment, and the room seems to almost hum with energy. The fans in the computer kick into overdrive.

It takes not more than a few seconds for the screen to start flooding with endless text. Much too fast to read. It matters little, as Evaline has her eyes closed anyway. Her eyelids flutter as her gloved hand feels around in some other space. "Wait, go back..." she says, "There." She splays her fingers, then makes a fist. Her eyes open. "I've transferred everything I can find on our dear friend Nigel. She draws a business card from her inner blazer pocket with her free hand, and lays it face down on the desk, blank side up. Then she touches the stud on her forefinger to it, like a pen. It begins to burn, and she writes quickly. Finally she slides it over to Teagan. "Come to this address tomorrow. It's my home. We can review the data, and decide what we're going to do about this." The glove comes off again, and she smiles, "We'll also see about helping you with your newfound abilities, of course. I would be glad to tutor you. I can already tell you're full of promise, my friend."

Teagan watches in fascination as the screen starts spitting out countless lines of text. She looks up to ceiling as Evaline starts writing on the card, and is relieved to find that there's no potential fire alarm that could go off. "That was... quick." she says with a laugh as she picks up the business card. She looks a little shocked to see the address at first, but it fades as she realizes who she's dealing with. "Well, I hope you aren't allergic to cats." she murmurs just loud enough for Evaline to hear as she puts the card in her jacket pocket. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." she says, her voice cracking a little as she's unable to conceal her excitement. She considers giving Evaline a hug, but decides that'd probably be a bit too forward. She makes her way out of the room with a wave and a smile, breathing a heavy sigh of relief as she closes the door behind her.

Evaline leans forward in her chair and rests her chin on her hands. "I love cats," she says, smiling. "I'm looking forward to it. I'll see you tomorrow, Teagan." She gives a polite wave as the girl leaves, and once again returns to the peace and silence of her little sanctum.