The Mysterious Miss Direction - vol. 01

"Splendid. Why don't we toast and enjoy the rest of the evening now that our business is taken care of. I'm sure Avery will send some paperwork your way in the following days but all that bores me to tears. Let's have fun." Harriet snaps her fingers and a server comes by with a tray full of drinks. You each take a glass and toast to the start of a new business relationship. The rest of the night goes by and is surprisingly fun for a party filled with middle aged and older ultra rich history nerds.

At the end of the night Harriet says she will be in touch and Avery thanks you for coming. He has arranged for the same driver to take you home. You walk through your front door a little past midnight.

You sleep in the next morning and are awakened by sunlight pouring through your window. Any particular plans for this bright sunny Saturday?

Of course Holly had plans for such a beautiful Saturday. Apart from changing her bandages and applying the burn salves she'd picked up from the store, she wasn't planning much on worrying about her night life until much alter in the evening. In the least, she might pick up a newspaper and check on her rising fame, or any current events that might lead her to a more pointed approach when next she decided to don the Mask.

Firstly, however, she knew she would never hear the end of it if she didn't call her mother to talk about her "date". Picking up the phone, she is suddenly assailed by questions when her mother picks it up, which is done quickly and makes Holly think that she may have slept beside the phone waiting for such a call.

The one-sided conversation heard from Holly's apartment proceeds like this:

"Hi, Mama. I-"

"No, he didn't really comment on the dress."

"Well, we didn't really-"

"Mama, no its not like that-"

"Well, we were at a party, and-"

"No, there wasn't another girl."

"Can I please just-"

"Yes, I know, Mama..."

"Well, I don't see how it matter that Pat is married."

"The party was fine, it wasn't really a-"

Heavy sigh and long silence.

"Yes, Mama."

"No, Mama."

"No, you do not need to come over."

"Look, I need to go, but I wanted to tell you that I was offered a job."

"NO! Not that kind of job!"

"It was more than a date! I told you we were at a party!"

And so it went for far longer that it really should have as Holly tried to explain the details of her offered position to her distraught and future-son-in-lawless mother. After that was done, she takes a deep breath and goes to take a shower, electing to spend time unwinding at her local coffee shop with her latest novel, Memories of Fire. Though reading a romance novel wasn't high on her list of priorities at this point, she could at least try to lose herself in the words while sipping a latte and doing some people watching.

The exhausting conversation with your mother combined with the scorching heat leaves you a little distract as you walk to the local coffee shop and you forget to check out the paper. Stepping inside the air conditioned building and smelling the freshly ground coffee beans is just what you needed to get the day moving in the right direction though. A few minutes after ordering a very uninterested barista shouts "Latte for Molly." It takes a few moments of no one going forth to claim this drink before you realize this must be your order.

Shoddy customer service aside, the latte is made to perfect as always. You are a little disappointed by how few people are in the shop today and are glad that you brought the novel to keep you occupied. But before you can even crack the book open you spot the headline of today's paper that someone left on the table next to you.

'DEVILMENT INC. BREAKS MATCHSTICK FROM CUSTODY: NEW HERO MISS DIRECTION CALLED OUT'

Snatching the paper up, you quickly read through the front page article. Devilment Inc. came out in full force to free Matchstick late last night before he could be transferred to a more secure holding facility build specifically to contain a villain with his powers. He was being held, highly sedated, in a warehouse near the harbor. Crowfall PD has the warehouse locked down and are are currently investigating how it was leaked that the Task Force was holding him in this location. A rookie cop accidentally slipped that a message was left at the crime scene presenting a challenge to Miss Direction. Spokesmen for the Task Force and the Crowfall PD declined to comment on exactly what was said as they do not want to encourage a potential showdown between the hero and the infamous villain group.

Holly reread the article a few times, trying to commit the details to memory. not that there were many. Its not like the Legacy made a habit of including the addresses of crime scenes in their newspaper, but she knew well enough how to get to the harbor, and its not like she had anything else going on today.

She doesn't want to wait for too long, and let the police get rid of the message, but, to be fair, if Devilment wanted her to get a message, they'd find a way. Finishing her coffee, she puts her book back in her bag, and heads back to her apartment via public transportation for some... supplies. It was on the way to the harbor anyway, so not like she was wasting that much time.

It felt weird, just having the Mask in her purse in broad daylight. She had only ever put it on at night, and somehow, well... it almost felt like sacrilege. But when she began to get closer to the harbor, it became painfully obvious that she wasn't going to be able to just enter the crime scene. So, she was going to have to get creative.

The Mask was good for that.

Finding a dark alley, of which Crowfall has many, she looks around to make sure no one can see her, and slips it on.

It was a sensation that one could never get used to. For one, once the mask was on, she felt the sudden urge to begin laughing like a maniac, but she had quickly learned how to push that down. Behind the mask, a jester's cap had sprung into existence and she now sported her usual leotard, which had since repaired itself from her encounter with Matchstick. Pushing the Mask out of her face and into its usual spot on her head, she smiled and used a nearby fire escape to quickly ascend to the rooftops.

She kept herself as low as she could on the rooftops, only springing between buildings when she was sure no one was watching, or at least, wouldn't see her against the sun. When she got to the harbor, she went from warehouse to warehouse, looking for signs of police presence, and this fabled message left by Devilment, Inc.

It doesn't take long to spot the warehouse with several police cruisers parked out front and the entire thing wrapped up in yellow caution tape. The warehouse is a very large old brick building. It is several hundred feet long and three stories high.

There is half a dozen officers chowing down on donuts and joking around with each other by the front door of the warehouse. Swinging around to the ocean facing side of the building you find a smaller number of policemen guarding the large open entrance where goods would be brought into the warehouse after being unloaded off ships. Another possible option of entrance would be getting up onto the roof and finding a window or skylight to slip in through. Since this warehouse is taller than any of the nearby buildings, this would entail crossing on the ground and somehow climbing up the side of the building. You have noticed patrols of officers around the sides of the building but the warehouse is very large and there should be enough time to leave you an opening.

There is no sign of any message outside. Whatever Devilment Inc. wanted you to see, it must be on the inside of the warehouse.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5
Miss Direction --- 2 HP (Still recovering from the previous battle)

Optional Side Objectives
Sneak into the warehouse without getting spotted --- 2

Miss Direction sat and watched for a moment as she memorized the patrols their timing. While no one was perfect, the cops of Crowfall did have a good rhythm to their walking, and, if she had the averages, could give herself a cushion of at least a few seconds on either side of the few minutes it took the patrols to get to the side of the warehouse she was observing.

She elects that the roof is her best bet, but... how best to get over there?

It should be easy. Arguably, her magic allows her to bend reality in many ways, but only if she makes a show of it. How could she make a show out of it and not be seen at the same time?!

A smile creeps across her face as the idea comes to her. It was so painfully obvious that she wanted to smack herself in the forehead, but decides against it as she uses a nearby fire escape to descend to the ground level.

Standing in the shadows, she stretches quickly, as, despite how limber her powers made her, the aches and pains did sometimes remain after she removed the mask. When she is finished she leans herself forward slightly, pushing her face out past the rest of her body, and, with a dainty finger, boops her own nose.

Suddenly, the world is silent. The calls of nearby sea birds are gone and lapping of the waves does nothing to disturb the peace of it all. Everything looks... muted. Not quite black and white, but as if whatever took the sound away had left with its fair share of color as well. Holly somehow knew this perception was only her own, but her body now existed in this new reality, exhibited by her costume's change in color scheme from its bright and contrasting reds, whites, and blacks to simple stripes of white and black. Her white gloves looked slightly oversized, and if she had to guess, her jester's hat had been inexplicably replaced with a beret (though the mask itself remained).

She now stood in the Mime dimension.

With a silent laugh, she counted on her fingers until she was sure the latest patrol had passed her, and peaked out of the alleyway. There they were, mere feet from her, but not a sound escaped from her to alert them of her presence. Sticking her hands in the pockets that now existed in her leggings, she casually strolled to the wall of the warehouse and, with a casual look to each side to ensure that none of the patrols were near, presses the button of the invisible elevator that now surrounded her and began to ascend to the roof of the warehouse.

She tapped her foot impatiently and checked a watch that wasn't there while the elevator took its time to get to the top. With a shake of her head, she began to realize that a patrol was coming around the corner of the warehouse, just as she was reaching the top. She bounced with even more impatience on the balls of her feet while she waited for the ding that wasn't going to sound that informed her that the doors of the elevator had opened. It wasn't actually there of course, but the Mime Dimension did have rules. Not that she'd been there before, but the Mask seemed to fill in this all-important knowledge for her.

Just as she was sure that the Police would notice, the doors opened and she quickly disappeared onto the room and found a skylight that she could probably slip into. Opening the window, and tying off a "rope", she descends onto one of the catwalks in the upper part of the warehouse...

The exterior of the warehouse did not prepare you for the utter war zone that is the interior. The warehouse is mostly a large open area with offices or break rooms in the corners. The rest of the floor is wide open to store cargo. The warehouse used to have nicely organized lines of highly stacked containers and shipping pallets. All that remains looks like the results of an epic game of giant sized Jenga.

It looks like anything that was wooden has been severely burnt. Much of the warehouse is still moist from the water used to put out fires. A hole in the drywall of the front office indicates that a person sized object was thrown right through it. Even the massive steel shipping containers are wrought with dents and bends. At first it seems like trying to find a message in this horrible mess is an activity that might take all night. But you were right in your assumption that the villains wanted you to find this message. You don't even have to leave the catwalk to read it.

Floating up high near the ceiling you see hundreds of playing cards arranged to form letters and words. Below the cards is a map of Crowfall with 12 red X's on it.

'Dear Miss Direction,

My sincere apologies for missing your dazzling performance the other night. You have brought wonder back to a city that all to often forgets how to have a good time and I cannot thank you enough for it. You've inspired me to shake the dust off my slippers and step my game up. Any chance you'd like to join me? I see a lot of myself in you. I know you aren't like those goody two-shoes who always spoil the shenanigans my friends and I get up to. Matchstick went a little far. I get that. He does that. What can you do? So I don't blame you for putting him in timeout. I hope you'll understand why I needed to bring him back home though. These people don't understand folk like us. They would only make his condition worse. Gah, here I go slipping into the darkness that permeates so much of existence in Crowall.

In your honor, my friends and I will be pulling off three heists Saturday night into Sunday morning! I don't want too many cops showing up to spoil the fun but I know they won't be smart enough to dive down the rabbit hole. They aren't on the same wavelength as you and me.

We'll be hitting three of the twelve locations at very precise times, in a very precise order between the hours of 1 AM and 12 Noon. Now I best start preparing or I will be late, late late, for our very important date. Hope to see you there!

Love,
Bastet'

The 12 locations marked on the map are as follows:

Caterpillar, Inc machine factory.
A bookstore called 'Turn the Page Books'
The Crowfall Knight's stadium
A bakery called 'The Queen's Tarts'
A bar called 'Joe's Tavern'
Zapit Electronic Repair Shop
The Spare Change Arcade
A karaoke bar
A gourmet tea shop called 'Maddy's!'
A video rental store called 'Silver Screen'
A Ford Dealership
WCRW radio station headquarters

---

Dice Pool Limit: 7
Miss Direction: 2 HP

Optional Threat Rating
Decipher Bastet's code --- 4

Miss Direction looks at the scene, pursing her black-painted lips, and tapping them with a gloved finger. She didn't have the presence of mind to be amazed at the lack of black grease paint coming away, it was all consumed by the riddle.

She sighed, dramatically, as it was the only way to get the feeling across in this silent world she found herself in. Well, the best she could do was take notes and collect evidence to figure things out. There was hope that she could figure it out, and, already, she had some ideas that jumped out at her, but she was in no way going to rush this. That was going to lead to mistakes, and, weirdly enough, she didn't want to embarrass herself with silly mistakes in front of this Bastet.

Using her gloved hands, she makes a rectangle with her index fingers and thumbs and looks through it, as though she were looking through a camera. Keeping her eye in place, she moved her hands from the rectangle and mimed as though capturing the shot with an old plunger button on a cord as opposed to a more handheld camera. Like this she went, capturing every bit of the scene with her invisible camera and somehow knowing that the images she captured would show up in her bag once she removed her costume.

The Mime dimension had rules, but they sure were weird ones. Though, maybe that had more to do with her magic than anything else.

When she was done, she left the warehouse, though not before leaving a single playing card behind on the catwalk. She was sure Bastet would get the message, or the police would understand that she had received hers regardless of their efforts.

---

Holly made it back to her apartment in no time. She knew that no one had seen her, and was thoroughly impressed with herself that she hadn't screamed when she returned to the normal world. That much sound assailing someone at once was... jarring. She sat in the middle of her living room, her furniture pushed up against the walls and all of the miraculously developed pictures spread out around her. She'd gone ahead and taken the time to grab a notebook and pen down the message left for her. It was easier to read her own hand-writing over and over than having to decipher it from the cards each time she wanted to look it over.

She'd gone ahead and made some notes, and underlined key words she thought might help her solve it. Firstly, she couldn't decide if "spoil the fun" was really a clue or just a turn of phrase, but she wasn't going to rule anything out yet. Corresponding to the locations provided, which she had arranged into a clock based on the order given, this one could either mean the Arcade or she could really be stretching it and going to the Ford dealership because she was talking about spoilers (again, not throwing away any ideas).

Secondly, she'd have to be blind to not get the Alice in Wonderland references, but that still alluded to two locations: "Turn the Page Books" and "The Queen's Tarts". She was more inclined to believe the second due to the more obvious reference of the Queen.

Thirdly, wavelength could only mean one thing. The radio station. She had to believe that that would be the final heist... she sighed heavily as she decided that the bakery could be the last one, considering she ended her letter with an Alice reference...

She was probably overthinking things...

You muse over the riddle Bastet left for hours but find yourself going around in circles and constantly second guessing everything. The one thing that is clear is the references to Alice in Wonderland. To try and help narrow things down you decide to dig up the old copy your mom used to read to you before bed when you were little. Skimming through the pages offers little help and you certainly don't have time to read through the entire book with the heist window rapidly approaching. Frustrated you toss the book onto the table and it lands with the table of contents displayed.

Holly takes a deep breath as she looks at the table of contents from her vantage point across the room. Picking her way gingerly across the room, trying to not step on any of her photos, she picks the books back up to look closer. She returns to her spot in the center of the chaos, and immediately begins ripping up her notes. Not her deciphering of Bastet's note or anything, but her notes on the clock and she disregards what she wrote down about the references in the note. Obviously, she was grasping at straws.

With a clean sheet of paper, she copies down the table of contents, making sure to keep the numbers alongside them. There was her clock. She went through each location, trying to match the chapter titles to defining features and found only three that matched. Well... four, but matching The Queen's Croquet-Ground with the stadium just felt like too much of a stretch when there were three far more obvious answers.

The only thing that gave her pause was the sheer gap in the beginning of the time-frame and when her first heist began... but, she had her list.

---

Miss Direction spent a bit of time patrolling around, but it seemed as though the criminal underground of Crowfall was holding its breath, hoping to witness what was sure to be a great show.

While her notes had it listed as 5 o'clock in the morning, Miss Direction had her plans to arrive on the scene of the Caterpillar, Inc machine factory at half-past four in the hopes of gleaning information on what they could even be after here... but strangely, something in her felt like showing up too early would spoil the surprise. She had to fight the feeling, and remind herself that she was dealing with hardened criminals, but it persisted, and she found herself arriving Right. On. Time.

You keep your ears open during your patrol for any sign that you picked the wrong start time for the first heist. On occasions where you find an open window and a TV is on, you linger for a bit to make sure there is no breaking news alert. Nothing. Crowfall remains quiet for hours. During your patrol you swing by a couple of the locations deemed unlikely targets and find there is a small police presence at each one. It is not clear if this is because of lack of funding needed to put a heavy guard on so many places or a lack of interest from an police department generally regarded as being corrupt.

You arrive at the Caterpillar factory moments before the clocks strike 5 AM and find that the two officers who were sent to this location have already been taken out. They lie unconscious but still breathing on the sidewalk. The glass doors of the lobby entrance have been shattered but no audible alarm is sounding. Looking around you notice all of the streetlights are out and deduce that they must have cut the power to the factory.

The relative silence of the early morning is abruptly ended by the sputtering and clanking sounds of a large engine turning over deep inside the factory. A moment later another engine roars to life and then another. You watch from outside as the walls of the lobby explode outward. From the hole emerges a massive yellow bulldozer and two smaller bobcat earth-movers. Thieves in dark clothing giddily sit behind the controls, lifting levers and pressing buttons seemingly at random. The giant construction equipment tears apart anything they touch and the vehicles make their way outside to wreak havoc on the streets.

It doesn't look like they mean to make off with these expensive machines. You get the impression that heist #1 is designed more as a distraction rather than something that is going to net the organization a big payday.

The bulldozer sees the two unconscious cops laid out on the streets and smiles wide as he moves toward them, raising the blade in preparation of dropping in upon them.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5
Miss Direction --- 2 HP

Threat Rating
Mooks: Bobcats --- 4
Mini-Boss: Bulldozer --- 1 HP

Optional Side Objectives
(One Round Time Limit) Prevent those cops from being squashed --- 2

Its lucky that was already moving towards the officers when the building began exploding with the emergence of the heavy machinery. She was sure the thieves hadn't yet seen her, and while that might be good for some, for her, it just wouldn't do.

The stark darkness of the early morning is abruptly expelled as giant spotlights begin to wave around, pointed both into the sky (which she hoped might alert nearby police or civilians) and toward the ground just outside of the factory.

"Ladies and Crooks!" the disembodied voice of the announcer called, grabbing the attention of the mooks and momentarily distracting them from their antics. "Back, by popular demand! You asked for her, and she has graciously answered the call!"

From her hiding spot, Miss Direction materializes a shiny black top hat and flings it behind the officers, on the other side of the bulldozer, where it skids to a perfect halt underneath the spotlights, which all arc down to point at it.

"And now! Prepare yourselves for a show of Mystery! Magic! AND MIIIISSSS DIRECTIIOOOOOOOON!" the announcer finishes, filling the dead silence of the night with phantom applause as the hat suddenly bounces from the sidewalk, doing an impressive flip from having no discernible source of momentum as Miss Direction seems to materialize beneath it (when in actuality she just ran very quickly while the spotlights were on the flying hat) and catches it before placing the hat on her now Jester hat-less head.

She takes a bow and produces a large white sheet from nowhere, which she flaps out to cover the officers completely. With a swift pull, they are gone, and are safely propped up in an alley way down the street (though, of course, the mooks don't know that).

"I have to say, I'm somewhat disappointed that you lot got the fun started without me." she tells the thieves with a mock-scolding tone. Her big smile betrays her true feelings. "After all, I am tonight's entertainment."

Not a second passes between you saying the word "entertainment" and being forced to do a back flip over a speeding bobcat that was heading right for you. Now up close to the thieves you get a better look at them and their manic faces. Their eyes are bloodshot and drool drips from their wide unnatural smiles. These guys are definitely on something.

You spin around at the sound of crushing metal and glass shattering. The bulldozer has carried on with his destructive path completely oblivious to your entrance or the fact that his kill was stolen from him. You can hear him laughing as he flattens a car and very nearly tips the bulldozer over in the process.

The bobcats move with a little more speed and grace as they circle around you in wavy unpredictable paths. It is hard to tell exactly which direction they will be going at any moment which makes avoiding them difficult and attacking even more so.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5
Miss Direction --- 2 HP

Threat Rating
Mooks: Bobcats --- 4
Mini-Boss: Bulldozer --- 1 HP

Optional Side Objectives
Prevent those cops from being squashed --- Success

Miss Direction scoffs and brushes an imagined bit of dust from her costume as she straightens back up from her maneuver and takes stock of the situation.

Apparently having made up her mind, she nods, and takes off her hat, her black hair visible for only a moment before the jester's hat returns with a pop and the comedic jingle of tiny bells. She regards the hat for a moment for flinging it idly behind her like a Frisbee, it making a wide, horizontal arc through the air as it picks up speed before clocking the bulldozer operator in the side of the head with the hard brim.

With that out of the way (she hopes, as she listens for more carnage), she decides to focus on bobcats that appeared to be the more pressing issue. With a look of satisfaction, she cracks her knuckles and gets to work. "I hope you boys aren't on hallucinogens, because things are about to get pretty crazy for you," she comments, as she casts her arms out wide as cards spill from her sleeves and begin to pick themselves up and tumble about as a few more Miss Directions appear on the scene. And then a few more. Until a couple dozen identical supers vault and tumble around the wildly swinging arms of the bobcats and work to make their way into the cabs to wrest the controls away.

The bobcats veer back and forth in wild paths as they try to strike at the illusions in front of them while also trying to push away the fake Miss Directions that get close. After a while it starts to look like they've given up on trying to hit anything and instead are trying to take the most wildly chaotic path imaginable purely because it is fun. Their lack of focus is their undoing when one bobcat crashes into the other; sending it toppling end over end. The other one starts smoking and the engine slowly winds down. The thief driving it stumbles out of the cab and falls to the floor. A large gash across his face has drenched his whole face in blood but he doesn't seem to notice as he keep pulling at imaginary levels and running about like he is still in the bobcat.

It is all quite a sight to behold. Enough so that you lose track of the bulldozer for a little while. The blow to the head actually seems to have knocked some sense into its driver. While you were busy with the bobcats he rushed to turn a car into a makeshift 2-ton ball of metal. You'd be pretty impressed with his ingenuity if the ball weren't presently rolling right toward you at 20+ miles per hour.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5
Miss Direction --- 2 HP

Threat Rating
Mooks: Thief --- 1
Mini-Boss: Bulldozer --- 1 HP

Miss Direction shakes her head at the turn of events, and quickly begins to somersault backwards to get out of the way of the ball of metal. When she knows she's sufficiently out of range, she pivots when her feet hit the concrete and breaks into a run instead, now heading toward the bulldozer's cabin.

Getting closer to the bulldozer, she leaps once, putting a foot on the tread and using that to give her enough strength to break through the glass of the cabin door to tackle the man out of the other side. On the way out, as her momentum seemed to be carrying her with the thief towards the concrete, she hooks her foot around a lever and pulls it down, hoping to send the machine turning out of the way of the bobcats and to not crush the idiots pretending to drive them.

Your acrobatic display avoids the dangerous rolling ball of metal. The bulldozer drivers sneers at you and slams the lever in his left hand forward, propelling his vehicle forward at its top speed... which admittedly isn't that fast. It's a bulldozer. You are easily able to work your way up and in one fluid motion eject the driver out of the bulldozer and pull the throttle lever back to the neutral position. The bulldozer slows to a stop in the middle of the parking lot.

When you turn to face the former driver of the bulldozer you are shocked to be looking down the barrel of a .357 magnum revolver. Coming face to face with your impending doom makes your mind go momentarily blank and you aren't able to think of a clever way to counter this new threat using your powers. Luckily, your instincts get in and you dive away; trying to get to cover around the bulldozer. He tracks you with the revolver as best as his dazed mind can and pulls the trigger. The bullet grazes your calf and sends you stumbling to the ground.

Turning your leg over you see a small wound, but nothing too serious. With two heists to go, you hope there won't be any more close calls like that.

---

Miss Direction --- 1 HP

Threat Rating
Mooks: Thieves
Mini-Boss: Bulldozer

Miss Direction huffs as she gets up off of the ground and the now-unconscious thief who had broken her fall. She checked him for injuries, but he simply seems to have gotten the wind knocked out of him and passed out. Or... maybe it was the knot forming on the back of his head, she thinks with a small pit of worry in her stomach.

Not really having the time to be worried about concussions, Miss Direction marches over to see the remaining mook is pantomiming driving the bobcat and she shakes her head, which now hurts slightly as well. She had to take better care of herself if she was going to make it the rest of the night.

She mentally commands her doubles to swarm the man, and the ones who don't get punched wrap their arms around him and restrain him, suddenly becoming a thick band of playing cards that hold him tightly around the torso, preventing him from moving.

She takes the time to make sure the machines are shut off and gathers the thieves up in one spot, binding even the unconscious ones with cards so that they couldn't escape justice once the police showed up.

She oddly felt a bit winded by the fight. Not that it was going to keep her from stopping the others, but she needed to get some help before she went to the next venue. She still wasn't sure that this was the only purpose for the heist here, and heads into the factory. In the least, she might be able to find a first aid kit to fix her bandages and maybe find some painkillers.

You have to be careful walking around the dark factory. Broken glass, concrete, and rebar obstacles are all over the place. This place better hope their Supers Insurance policy is up to date. You do manage to find a pretty well stocked medkit. Thank goodness for OSHA regulations. You take some time to clean your wounds and bandage the cut from the gunshot graze. You still feel rough, but are now a little more prepared to continue through the rest of the night.

You hear more cop cars arriving around the same time that you come across where the thieves entered the factory. An exit door to the alleyway has been cut through with a blowtorch. Not very technical but it was effective. There is a dufflebag left in the alley with their tools and a ventilation mask hooked up to a small gas canister. This must be what was causing them to act so strangely but there is no indication of what it is.

You hear some feet shuffling out towards the lobby and flashlight beams cut through the darkness. "Hello! Crowfall PD. Is anyone in here?"

---

Miss Direction --- 2 HP

She considers for a moment about alerting them to her presence, if only to tell them about what she's found or to inform them of how lucky their officers were that she arrived when she did. She decides that doing so would only hinder her efforts to continue throughout the morning. She hadn't hidden the officers, so she is sure that they will be found and receive the care they need.

Heading out of the back entrance, she books it to a nearby building and uses the fire escape as a convenient series of handles to vault herself up towards the rooftops. She didn't have any time to waste if she wanted to get to Maddy's Tea Shop before similar destruction could be wrought upon it.

Though, she highly doubted that the tea shop would have such powerful equipment nearby.