Futuristic [DMed RP/Open] This Lonely Silence

[Fenris]

Dan figured they'd gotten lucky when someone opened the first door; they'd really hit the jackpot when it wasn't some drunkard telling them to simply frag off. Still the old lady clad in pink was odd enough to give him pause, leaving Ennis to accept the invitation. The apartment layout was identical, though the choice of furnishing certainly set it apart along with the the scent of Ui tea lingering in the air.

The dark haired man shuffled around a bit before settling on the bed and taking small sips from a steaming mug; partly out of courtesy. “Thank you for being so forthcoming ma'am. With any luck your assistance might move some dangerous people out of the neighborhood.” Daniel hid his expression within the cup; figuring that at the very least her answers would get these three 'dangerous looking' individuals out of her apartment. “If you'd happen to know anything about her recent acquaintances that would be most helpful.” he added fishing for names.

Venom Adhamm MahoganyLeaf snowy raven

 

[Zoltan]

As the gang's feet skidded and pattered across the crude pavement, crushing small bits of glass from broken bottles as they went about their business, Viktor estimated the location of the group until they were almost all in front of the dumpster he crouched with his back against. He propped his foot against the coarse brick wall of the apartment as his back lay shoved against the dumpster and aimed his shotgun towards the wall. Showtime's here. Pushing off of the wall with his foot and firing [Heavy Slug] in tandem, Viktor aimed to knock over and suprise the gang with the dumpster.

Venom Adhamm

 

[Venom Adhamm]

Northern Lights
"Oh... I don't really know anything about the people she brings home with her," the old woman explained.
"She usually doesn't like talking about them once they leave early in the morning. Mmmm... but I'm pretty sure she meets all her... acquaintances... at Chu Wang's Bar[1]. That's the only bar she ever goes to visit. Besides that though... she always brings home someone new, never the same person twice. Oh... but such variety with the people she takes into her bed. Sometimes it's young men, sometimes older men... I think a few times before she even brought a woman with her."

[1]: No relation. It's about five minutes away if you take the Highspeed Local Transit-Line.

Viktor Saronis
Upon firing, you and the dumpster careen into the other wall of the alleyway. The shock of the impact is delivered in large part to your helmet and respiratory tube that runs down your back. Your vision is blurred and breathing becomes rapid and difficult, but you can hear shuffling about and one of the gang members shouting about how he'll need to get a new leg augment. Eventually, you come to, and soon after, you see your own gun being pointed at you by one of the male gang members, who has spiked-up blue hair. Must've grabbed your gun while you were still in shock from the impact.

"Boss! Shoot... it?" the gang member calls out, seeming momentarily confused as to the nature of your species and/or gender due to your attire. You see the teenage boy with the package run behind the gang member, towards the exit of the alleyway.

[95/100 HP]
[80/100 Energy]

Fenris snowy raven MahoganyLeaf Zoltan

 

[Lorsh]

Well, it sounded like they were really messing someone up. Time to be a hero.

Sherri checked what material the doors and walls of the room she was in happened to be made out of, and if it would withstand some bullets. Then, she opened the door, pushing it open with her shoulder as she kept her pistol aimed with two hands. She wanted to scream "Freeze!" but she only managed a tiny, indiscernible croak due to her dry throat. So, she did the next best thing and tried to shoot the nearest punk in the face. She could try to arrest them... but managing two or three or four captives at once would probably be impossible.

If the room she was in happened to be sturdy, she planned on ducking back into it for cover, if need be. If it was flimsy, and she couldn't shoot them all before they pulled guns, she attempted to do a Combat Roll towards the nearest piece of outside cover, assuming there was any.

 

[MahoganyLeaf]

So the one-night stands was used by her as away of gaining comfort and ease from the heartbreak resulted
from the divorce. Which proved to be rather futile as well as deadly in her case.
Oh boy, she must have felt so lonely..and desperate to be willing to go through such measures.
But anyhow, if my theory could be correct, our serial killer should very well have been one of her ''acquaintances'' she had gone home with.
And we know that the murder had very likely taken place sometime around last night. Hopefully there's a slight chance that this old lady here could spit out a little more information regarding that...

"Have you.. by any chance seen or caught a glimpse of the person she had last been with? Or perhaps heard or seen anything unusual from the previous night when the murder took place?"

 

[Venom Adhamm]

Sherri Faulks
The door is wood, the walls are brick. That said, the wood is fairly hard and would probably hold up to some gunshots.

After examining building materials, you commit a violation of the Non-Aggression Principle and shoot without looking at a man dressed in a white t-shirt and black sweatpants. He instantly falls down, dead.

[Semiautomatic Handgun] - [6/7 shots]

You then notice the room itself is wide-open, and mostly empty. In fact, the only thing of note was a director's chair, and a large theatre stage complete with curtains, lighting, and a AR Green Screen[1]. On stage are three men, one dressed like the thug you killed, one tied up with a bag over his head, and another dressed rather oddly. This last one had platinum-colored hair in an undercut style and was wearing an expensive-looking bright red suit jacket, black dress pants, and a white dress shirt. He stares at you as you duck back into the room and slam the door shut.

"Reginald, what was that?" you hear the platinum-haired one say.
"Um... I... I don't know, Konrad. I... is he really dead?" Reginald asks. You hear some footsteps.
"Oh... oh shit, he's dead..." Reginald says in disbelief.
"Damn... damn! I knew we shouldn't have set up in a place full of criminals," Konrad says, "If you, Reginald, joined my hedge fund like I asked, we could actually be in a nice district and not be dealing with... with... with this!"

Footsteps approach the door.
"Girl. You'd better drop that gun right now, and I better hear it drop. You've interrupted our performance and killed one of my cast. Now drop that gun, and calmly walk out here so we can decide what the law will do about you."

[1]: Augmented Reality Green Screen. It works like green screens of the past, except it connects to people's HUDs and can function live. Often used in theatre arts, and in actual movie theaters.

Northern Lights
"No... no I didn't see who it was. But it was strange... Usually I can hear that sweet girl and whoever she's brought home through the walls. But last night, I heard her talking... and then silence. No sound, no noise... nothing. It's never been like that before," the old woman says, setting down her cup of tea.

"Oh... oh it's all my fault... I should've known something was wrong. I should've gone in and checked on her... maybe, maybe then she'd still be alive to visit me, maybe-" her words are stopped by her hiding her face in her hands and beginning to cry.

MahoganyLeaf Fenris Lorsh

 

[Lorsh]

Well, it all seemed pretty obvious that they were actors, in retrospect. Sherri was either too dumb or too cynical to take that into account; she thought they were just crazy... or something. Stupid, stupid.

Now she was gonna lose her job and get arrested for committing murder. Even if she ran, Investigation Incorporated would probably be suspicious about why she abandoned the assignment, and eventually link it with the random murder that occurred in the same area.

Then there was the guilt that she had just shot and killed an innocent person. That wasn't supposed to be the plan, they were supposed to be gangsters, and she was supposed to gat them all and save the day. Being a detective wasn't as simple as she thought it'd be, that's for sure.

"Nuh... No, I... I didn't mean..." Sherri began to shake heavily. She looked down at her pistol, and contemplated offing herself. She was in a pretty nasty predicament right now, and she didn't feel particularly good about her recent actions. She continued to hold onto the gun, but didn't move and didn't offer further response to the people outside.

 

[Venom Adhamm]

Sherri Faulks
"You didn't mean it?" Konrad asks, "Well, that's good! Reginald, did you hear that? She says she didn't mean it. That brings back our favorite little actor, doesn't it? No... no, not quite. Reginald, break down this fucking door."

Silence, only for a moment, before the door suddenly shatters and breaks open. Reginald is standing at the door, his arm held out and his metal hand in a fist. Must have some kind of strength augment, or the door is a lot weaker than it looked. Konrad nudges Reginald out of the way and steps in front of him, holding out a black-gloved hand.
"The gun, sweetheart. Give it to me," he says in a calm, yet menacing tone.

Lorsh

 

[Lorsh]

Sherri gulped, and seemed to just give up at that point. The thought of trying to shoot more unarmed actors crossed her mind, but she couldn't bring herself to save her own skin at this point; her skin didn't even really deserve to be saved. Shakily, she extended her arm and put the gun in Mr. Konrads hand, before simply slumping down against the wall into a sitting position. "I'm sorry...?" she whimpered. Though, that probably wouldn't magically bring that man she killed back to life either. All she had to do now was wait until the cops showed up, after which point she would presumably spend the rest of her life getting violated by ugly bull dykes in prison, or something.

 

[Fenris]

Chu Wangs Bar, being the one of the victims favored establishments might be worth a look if nothing else so Daniel took a mental note. Which was a good thing since it kept him from making inappropriate remarks at the rising number of suspects. On the other hand, Ennis actually made an effort to gather some more valuable insights, asking about the most recent guest.
It shouldn't have been entirely unexpected but Dan was unprepared none the less only managing a, "Ma'am please.. you couldn't have." before shooting the former police detective a helpless look. Also putting his cup aside the dark haired man suggested, "With your information we'll be able to find the bastard soon enough." It wasn't much but Dan didn't exactly consider himself experienced in dealing with these situations.
"Maybe someone at Chu Wang's saw them together?" he added a little softer in the direction of his colleagues.

Venom Adhamm MahoganyLeaf

 

[MahoganyLeaf]

Ennis felt herself concerned but nonetheless unsurprised from seeing the poor old lady abruptly bursting into tears. As the woman began covering her face into her hands, the first idea that popped into the mind of Ennis was to offer her some tissues or anything for her to dry her tears with. She looked around, attempting to spot any boxes of tissues lying around. Instead, she was reminded of the tiny package of tissues which she'd hidden inside the inner pocket of her coat. She fished it out and handed it kindly to the woman. At the same time she had also wanted to offer words of reassurance to the lady but found herself unable to improvise something properly comforting to say. But actions spoke louder than words, or at least, that's what Ennis would've liked to believe. She managed to crack a small smile towards to the old lady, but definitely acknowledged the fact of how awkward it must've looked from an outside perspective.
Her eyes caught the uncomfortable look from her dark-haired fellow and proceeded to give him a silent nod and a reply in return, "It's definitely worth a shot to give the place a little visit later on.."

Turning her attention subsequently back to the old woman, she stated, "He's right, we'll do our very best to deliver justice and hunt down our nasty culprit with the best of our abilities. Just leave the rest to us. You're already done what you could, so please refrain from putting any blame upon yourself."

Fenris Venom Adhamm

 

[Venom Adhamm]

Sherri Faulks
Your gun is taken by Konrad. The magazine is ejected, then the weapon itself is quickly field-stripped in a matter of seconds, the parts dropped nonchalantly to the floor with a sigh. Konrad looks over towards the dead actor you killed, then kneels down to meet your level, smiling warmly at you.
"It's okay dear, it'll be okay," he says soothingly, in a calm and and gently voice as he slowly removes your knit cap and pets your head the way a loving mother might.
"We all make little accidents, and it's important to take each one as a learning experience. For example, from this, you can learn that every action has consequences.

As second of silence passes, and Konrad suddenly grabs a tight hold of your hair and starts to slam your head against the wall behind you as he shouts.
"You think you can just walk your ass in here and kill one of my actors?! With that shitty little gun?! Without any augments?! Without any kind of plan?!" he demands to know as he suddenly yanks on your hair, forcing you on all-fours as he moves to a squatting position.

[70/100 HP]

"And you think you can just put on a little whimpering puppy act and get away with it?!" he questions as he suddenly slams your face into the floor. When he pulls your head up, you see a large red puddle of blood on the ground.

[50/100 HP]

"Your act needs work! I don't fucking buy it!" he shouts, throwing you back into the wall. He stands up and takes a few deep breaths.
"But... it's okay. It's important to realize that... there's no such thing as an unfixable problem. People... we can work through anything if we really set our minds to it," he says, turning to you and smiling.

"So, we're going to work together now to fix this little problem you caused, aren't we?"

Northern Lights
The old woman nods quietly and accepts the packet of tissues[1], taking a few to wipe her tears, blow her nose, then wipe her tears again. In doing so, she doesn't seem to notice Ennis' awkward smile. She adjusts herself slightly in her seat and seems to settle down a bit, handing back Ennis the packet of tissues, which only has a few left.
"Okay... okay..." the old woman says, choking up a bit. She seems to want to say something else, but all that can come out of her mouth is the word 'okay,' over and over again. Might be best to leave her alone so she can recuperate.

[1]: Issue Tissue is the most common brand of tissues. They currently hold a near-monopoly on the tissue industry. Economists believe this became the case because, when the wave of severe depression and loneliness swept over Ieras, Issue Tissue was the only tissue company that provided 4-ply tissue.

Lorsh MahoganyLeaf Fenris

 

[Lorsh]

Sherri yelped as she felt her hair become grabbed hold of by Konrad. She quickly found her nose busted as her face was slammed into wall, leaving a sizable red mark behind. The man's voice became rather hard to understand as the beaten contractor's mind focused heavily on the pain she was experiencing, and not much else.

"Fuckkk... fuck you..." she whimpered. "Okay...," she breathed, wiping her runny red nose with her sleeve. "Whatever you want. I don't wanna... I don't wanna go to jail. And... and also don't kill me..." Impulsively, she gave a weak, uneasy smile that showed red lines between her teeth, courtesy of the noseblood that leaked down into her mouth. Though, she quickly wiped it off her face, considering how much this Konrad fellow didn't like "bad acting."

She didn't know what else to do. She didn't have any augs, so she couldn't really fight her way out of this with her rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty. She just had to hope that they wouldn't beat her up anymore, and gave her a really good deal or something...

She didn't imagine it would happen, honestly. She thought she'll just wind up dead, either really soon, or a maybe little bit later.