[IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Case 1-Nora de Santos)

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EternalPhoenix
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[IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Case 1-Nora de Santos)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Wednesday, January 2, 2019. Morning. New York City. Greenwich Village. NPC Brownstone.

A new year. A new start. And some new junior associates at NPC Investigations. Well, several, actually. Today, however, was slightly special. Every employee had been requested to be here, and most had showed. So the lobby was a bit crowded. The Brownstone’s layout was relatively simple. Technically it was two buildings merged together. So the lobby and reception area was more spacious than one might expect. Behind it was more of a waiting or sitting area, as the sun shone in through skylights. However, there were three floors total. They had just been removed except for load bearing posts in the center area and a railed walkway across the second floor’s gap. On the left, the café was on the first floor, the partner’s offices were on the second, and the third house their personal living spaces. Though the only one who lived here full time was Penny Nihara. Carla Perkins and Edwin Christian has their own residences elsewhere. On the right the library took up the first floor and part of the second. The rest of the second was devoted to laboratory and workshop space. Well soundproofed without the doors open. Third floor right was similar apartments as across the way, but not for anyone in particular. Guest rooms, basically.

The new employees knew this because they’d had a basic tour before the New Year range in, during the hiring process. But back to today. The three partners stood on the walkway in front of everyone assembled. The three Senior Associates (Sonya Harmon, Harmony Perez, and James Scott) were among the Juniors, helping Sofia corral everyone. Those who’d been Junior Associates since last year (or two years ago, really) had been through this before, and so knew what to expect. Specifically, the loud ring of Carla snapping her fingers to get everyone’s attention.

“All right listen up. For those of you who haven’t met me yet, I’m Carla Perkins. I hope everybody had a good Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever holiday you celebrate, and I wish you a happy and healthy New Year. Those of you who were with us out there the other month with the Icons…we appreciate it. See James Scott later for a small bonus check from Edwin. Let’s make this year better than the last. And the one before that, too.”

Edwin was next to speak. “For those of you who are new, I’m Edwin Christian. The masculinity is probably a dead giveaway, but I’m saying it anyway.” He smiled, as he was making a bit of a joke. “Some of you heard this last year, but again I’m saying anyway because some of you didn’t listen very well. If you need anything, do not be afraid to ask. You are an employee here. You have access to all of our internal resources. I do not mean just the library, lab, and workshop. I also mean your fellow employees. Get to know each other’s names and areas of expertise in case you need their help. Don’t get put into the hospital or the grave out of pride. Penny? Anything?"

Penny Nihara was not a loud speaker. She did not name herself, as anyone could easily figure out who she was merely by process of elimination at this point. “For the new employees, welcome to NPC Investigations. You may speak with James at your leisure for pending cases. There are several that need attention. If there is nothing else?” Both Carla and Edwin shook their heads. “Then let’s get to work. I look forward to good results from all of you.”

With that, the three filed off the walkway to their offices. Some Junior Associates departed the building, having other things to do today. Jobs, cases, etc. Others, however, went to speak with James Scott, who began holding court in the rear waiting area with a stack of folders. Harmony Perez walked to the library, and Sonya Harmon began idly chatting with her sister Sofia.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

Post by Commander Titan »

Cecil listened to the opening speeches, feeling slightly nervous the entire time. He couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in his choice of outfit. He'd bought new clothes since being unfrozen, of course. But he still trended towards the looks popular in his own time - his old time, he had to remind himself - so he'd stood out the entire walk over in his heavy coat over his suit and vest, and practically nobody wore a hat in his style any more.

Work had always been his great antidote, so he began to make his way towards James Scott, in the hopes of finding a way to make himself useful.

(Hope this is acceptable to get things started, happy to have any in-character conversations. Otherwise Cecil will wait for an opening to ask Scott for an assignment, if one isn't already forthcoming.)
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

Post by Miracle »

Have you ever been to a convention? It felt like that. Some were dressed up, others were not. To be fair, the name tags were a nice touch. Ricardo, Teresa... "Immortia". Seven wasn't knocking the digs. She was part of this illustrious group of people. Heroes and normals alike.

Her attire had the pomp of someone who could go out into a world where you could witness the Apocalypse every other Thursday. A big white sash around her waist hid a small firearm under it, the sash doubled as a cloak when she wasn't on the clock. The undercover vest wasn't hidden, and was quite stylish designed to match her slacks.

Marching orders was to go talk to that guy over there. And she wanted to pay bills. A smaller group had gathered here. Not one to not socialize, she had to keep quiet while James was giving out assignments. She leaned into - checking the name tag - Cecil's direction, "pssst," she tried to whisper, but it was not as such sounding like loud whispering, "do you know how we're group in this? It would be nice to know before hand."
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

Post by jmucchiello »

The girl with the pixie cut bluish hair and horn-rimmed glasses was chewing gum which attracted the eye to her bright red lipstick. Her outfit was a retro-1950s pink-trimmed, black skirt (w/o poodle), a tight kelly green sweater, and oxford shoes with a chunky heel. Her name tag simply read "Ann", although an observant person would notice it changed to "Anne" once the founders were finished speaking. While her posture implied she was not paying any attention, perhaps bored even, she was appraising everyone in the room. She was standing in the doorway to the library. You could learn a lot about someone based on what books they display in a library.
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Princess Fedora

Aparecida lounged near the back of the room, her trademark fedora pulled low over her eyes. She listened to the speech with one ear, while listening to a running commentary from a rat perched on her shoulder. So far, it was pretty mundane commentary, especially filtered through the particular interests of the rodent. She'd been given detailed information about who ate lunch in their offices, particularly the messier eaters, but her informants seldom stuck around to, say, pick up anything about bank account numbers. And, of course, they cared very little about human assignations, so, fortunately or not, she seldom got any real dirt on dirty deeds done in spare offices. Actually, the whole question of the animal motivations made her head ache sometimes... when she talked to them, they seemed intelligent and self-aware, if perhaps a bit more simple-minded than the average human, which... she didn't think they were doing when she wasn't talking to them. She was honestly not certain whether whatever her power was made them sapient, or if no one ever stopped to talk to them, so no one was aware of this aspect of their nature.

It was times like that this that she was glad that her power seemed largely limited to small, cute, creatures. If she'd learned that cows were aware of their nature, being raised to feed the masses, it might make steaks less than an enjoyable experience. As the three partners wrapped up their speech, Aparecida pushed herself off of the wall with easy grace, making the walk across the room, noting how her presence kept turning heads. And doesn't that make being inconspicuous a bitch, she mused to herself. With enough effort, she could dim the effect, but it tended to leak in other ways when she did that, and she didn't want to set off "NPC Investigations: the Musical" by accident, so she bore the increased attention in stride as she walked up to James. Taking care to patiently take her turn without seeming to require any concessions or privileges, she waited in line until she was before him. There, she flashed a pearly grin, hat still tipped low, and spoke in the faint Chicago accent she'd affected while in character.
"Princess Fedora, reporting for duty," she said, giving a slight roll of her eyes to indicate she understood how ridiculous her life had become, and that she was in on the joke, "Hoping to be of service, soon. You probably got everything on file for me, but I've got some advantages when it comes to subtle surveillance, courtesy of my informants." She nodded her head to one side, and Rizzo scurried out of hiding from under her hair. "These guys get everywhere, you know? Speaking of which, let me know if I need to talk to any of them if you're having a problem. They don't wanna be exterminated any more than you and me, you know?"
OOC wrote:Figured I'd throw her right in the fray.
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

Post by Miracle »

People arrived left and right. The view was nice, that was for certain. Everyone here was some kind of beautiful. It was hard not to notice. Maybe they kept Ugly Steve locked up in the basement for certain assignments. Not that she was complaining.

She almost scoffed at the Fedora name (people still wear those?), but the scoff never got out of her brain when she saw the little rat on Princess' shoulder. She did a complete 180 from Cecil. He could have been giving her the most succinct answer known to man, but... cute thing.

"Ooh," she looked at the tiny animal, her voice awed and much louder than that whisper, "aren't you looking fine and dandy today?" She knew her weaknesses and tried to work on them. That said, if this were a less formal affair, she would have been so much ore animated.

She almost forgot who the rat was sitting on. Then again, Princess Fedora (that was such a name) was one of the better looking people in here. And that was saying something. "Hello, forgive me. I'm Seven." She paused. "My name, not age."
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

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Cecil Mortlake
Miracle wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 6:42 am Marching orders was to go talk to that guy over there. And she wanted to pay bills. A smaller group had gathered here. Not one to not socialize, she had to keep quiet while James was giving out assignments. She leaned into - checking the name tag - Cecil's direction, "pssst," she tried to whisper, but it was not as such sounding like loud whispering, "do you know how we're group in this? It would be nice to know before hand."
"Sadly, I am at a loss, Ms. Seven," responded Cecil, and then took in the new arrival, rats and all.

"Cecil Mortlake," he said, adding his own name to the fray. "May I ask if the little creature has a name?"
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Princess Fedora

Aparecida let herself get pulled into the conversation.
"I call him Rizzo," she says, "Cause of I like the Muppets, but if he has a name of his own, he doesn't share it with me. Animal brains and all," she says, scratching the rest under the chin as it saturated to her.
"Princess Fedora, blame a cute kid who saw a princess in a common thug and named me after the heart, so I'm stuck with it," she says, with no rancor in her tone, "Kinda glad to be out of that game, for all that I was good at it and it paid the bills. Always knew that sooner or later, things'd go south and," she makes a death rattle sound while drawing one finger across her throat. Inwardly, she fixed herself for healing, but something told her these people were good to talk to.

"Anyhow, these guys say they can also get the Mouse off my back. If they can do that, it'll be well worth it. What brought you guys in?"
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

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Cecil Mortlake

"Muppets, yes, yes..." Cecil nodded sagely, while making a mental note to look up the reference later.

"Children often see the best in others. The world has yet to weighed them down with the cynicism of age, if they are lucky," he mused.

Cecil shifted his stance, equipment quietly clattering in various overcoat pockets.

"As for why I am taking part...well... I am was at something of a loss for any other option that seemed appropriate. Back, before my life took quite a turn, I was a detective once. I hope that maybe I can find my place in this time by being one again. And," he paused, before putting up a wry smile, "the promise of a regular salary was tempting as well."
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

Post by Miracle »

Seven Singh

Clearly distracted by the small animal, words went in and out of Seven's ears. Though she was not so unmindful of where she was. Work. Keeping the ogling to a minimum (at least in her mind), she caught up on the conversation. Which was small talk at the moment.

"Yeah, some of us," she faux cleared her throat, "are just lucky to be here." She mused, "I think it's about helping people. I could have been anywhere, but I chose this occupation." She shrugged, "we'll see."
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

Post by jmucchiello »

Anne "Blank" Ominus

Seems no one is interested in coming to her. So she goes to the crowd of new folks. "Hello. I'm Anne. Are you new as well? I suppose we're supposed to talk to Mr. Scott."
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

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Princess Fedora

Aparecida turned her head to the other individual who had joined them. Should I be suspicious that I'm suddenly so popular? Unless... She mentally flexed a muscle to see if she felt the metaphorical feeling of a cramp, but there was nothing. With a slightly crooked smile on her face, she asks a question of the group.

"This will probably sound strange, but none of you had any sudden choreography or music flood your head just now?" she says cautiously. Probably nothing... just people being friendly. To Anne's comment, she motions at where James, who was apparently still explaining something about dental benefits to a fellow who was sprouting more teeth than the Osmond family in his jawline.
"He's busy so far, but yeah, I think we're all kind of queued up to talk to him.
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

James Scott had already finished speaking with that toothy fellow (his name was Marcus, and he had some shark DNA, hence the teeth), and was wrapping up with Ricardo Alvarez by the time Fedora had finished speaking. “That’s a strange one, Rick. I’ll look into it and if there’s something, I’ll hand it out as a full case. Tell your Captain the usual rates apply, though. For both my time and whatever junior picks it up.”

Rick, for his part, shrugged. “They have the budget.”

James smiled. “That they do. I’ll see you later.” Rick nodded and went on his way. “Now, you four. Cecil, Fedora, Seven, and Anne.” He held up a file folder. “I’ve got one case left. Missing girl. Nora de Santos, age 15. Her parents haven’t seen her since New Year’s Eve, and they would like us to look into it before they involve the police. The pay is our standard rate. If you want it, take the folder. Their address is inside. They can tell you more. If you don't want this one, check in later." He indicated Sofia, the receptionist, who was answering a phone call. "New cases can come in at any time. Any questions?”
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

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Cecil Mortlake

The cases with children are always the hardest. But also, often, the most time-sensitive, the most desperately in need.

Cecil looked at the others that James had named, then back at the man, and the pro-offered folder. He reached for it.

"Shall we review en route?"
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Re: [IC] NPC Investigations-Tales From The Junior Associates (Prologue)

Post by jmucchiello »

"We should prepare questions for the parents before we arrive. Do they have enemies? Who are the girl's friends? Even if it is in the folder, we should ask where/when she was last seen? With whom? etc." Anne says.
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