The Offices of Thalia Trimble, Private Eye - vol 1

Ivanovich grimaces at the sound of the horn right next to his head. His hands instinctively move to cover his ears before his training kicks in and he moves the gun back into position. This gives you all the time you need to put your plan into motion. He catches sight of the baton flying through the air, and dodges. By the time you pull the trigger on the sonic whatsis, Ivanovich has completely lost track of where you are.

The sonic blast drops him to his knees and you see his pistol fall to the floor several feet outside of his reach. Ivanovich reaches toward his belt to retrieve something and you pull the trigger again. He groans in pain and falls onto his back with his eyes closed.

You take another step forward and fire again. His hand keeps moving toward his belt so you fire again. The monster fights through the pain and finally reaches his target. The flashbang device built into his belt bucket lights up the area. Everything goes black and your ears ring.

One, two, three strikes across your chest and face. You drop the sonic whatsis in the confusion and desperately get your arms up to try and protect yourself. You feel yourself lifted into the air and are powerless to stop Ivanovich from slamming you back down onto the hood of your car.

Your vision slowly starts to fade back in just in time to see Ivanovich climbing onto the hood. He stands over you and prepares to drive his boot right through your chest.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5

Current HP
Thalia: 1
Radinka: ?

Threat Rating:
Boss: Christov Ivanovich --- 2
Mooks: Tweaked out Scientists --- ???

Now would be a really great time for a smartass one-liner, but if Ivanovich is in the same shape she's in, he wouldn't be able to hear it. And anyway, none comes to mind, and she doesn't really have time to ponder it.

As he raises his boot, her right hand finds another surprise she'd retrieved from her trunk, a palm-sized canister, in the pocket of her jacket. Withdrawing her hand, she raises it quickly and, aiming toward his face, squeezes it quickly. A stream of aerated foam jets out and toward Ivanovich's eyes and face, with Thalia flicking her wrist as needed to make sure plenty of it gets into his eyes. Another of Jamal's brainchildren, the substance is a form of Silly String infused with pepper spray, the foam clinging to the skin and tissue in a way that the spray alone cannot. They'd each tried hard to come up with a cool name for the product, but the best they'd come up with was Serious String, which both agreed was unacceptable.

In retrospect, maybe they'd have done a better job if they'd not also spent much of that night taste-testing Jamal's homebrewed beer line.

As Ivanovich reacts to the blinding of the foam and the searing pain of the pepper within it, Thalia slides off the hood of the car between his legs and delivers a tai chi punch to the back of his left knee before retrieving her sonic whatsis and firing it at him again.

The punch drops Ivanovich to his knees; one of which splinters your windshield. The cracks ripple outward as he claws at the Serious String covering his face. By the time you pull the trigger on the sonic whatsis, spiderweb cracks have spread across half the windshield. The sonic blasts pushes Ivanovich forward and the windshield finally gives in. He collapses through it and falls out of view under the dashboard.

Before you can close the gap to hit him again, the engine starts to rev. He still isn’t visible and you theorize he must be working the pedals with his hands while blind. Not a great combination. Invaovich slams the car into gear and it goes... backwards.

The tires spin on dirt until they gain traction and then the car takes off in reverse at a rapidly increasing speed. It shimmies back and forth as his body inadvertently moves the steering wheel. Finally the car comes to a sudden stop when it slams into the front of the bus.

Ivanovich crawls out of the car. Blood gushes from his nose and mixes with globs of mucus that the Serious String have caused to flow from his sinuses. He’s a mess. It is clear he has some amount of vision back as he works his way from the car and disappears through the open door of the bus.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5

Current HP
Thalia: 1
Radinka: ?

Threat Rating:
Boss: Christov Ivanovich --- 1
Mooks: Tweaked out Scientists --- ???

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Thalia yells as the Russian lug backs her car into the bus. "I can't even imagine the hit my insurance rate is going to take after this!"

She runs closer to the bus as Ivanovich climbs in, her left hand diving into the neckline of her shirt and digging into her bra. She tosses the flashbang device through the open door of the bus and turns away with her hands over her ears and eyes closed until she dimly hears the loud noise. Then she faces the bus again and jogs backward away from it, adjusting the dials on the sonic whatsis. Jamal had made a safety adjustment to the device to ensure that the user experiences less "kick" on the high force setting, but she glances behind her to make sure there's nothing to impale herself on if she does get knocked back. It's clear.

Having set the gun to knock the bus over - on its side would be fine, but multiple turns would be great - she aims at the bus (but not her damn car, please) and fires.

The sonic blast rips through the air and slams into the bus. Every window shatters, metal crumbles inward, and the bus slowly tilts onto two wheel. The front bumper catches on your trunk and starts to take your car along with it. Slowly it tilts with the bus but, thankfully, your trunk slides loose and the bus alone falls over onto its side. Unfortunately, your right rear tire pops when your car lands back on the ground.

You can hear groans from inside the bus. Ivanovich is somehow still conscious through all the punishment you have dished out.

Wood cracks and then explodes to your left as a tweaked out scientist is thrown clear through one of the plywood boards covering a window. A moment later Radinka pokes her head out. She has a cut on her forward and looks out of breath, but she has a smile on her face. She takes a look around.

"Damn, Thalia. Guess I didn’t need to check in after all." Someone yanks her back by her hair. There are two loud smacks and a yelp of pain before her face appears in the window again. "Bad news. Carson and the girl are MIA. They were already gone by the time I got in here. These guys won’t relent long enough for me to search." A few shots are fired and you both duck for cover. Radinka returns fire. "If they’re running, we need to wrap this up or we’ll never be able to catch up."

She vanishes back into the shadows of the bar. You hear her pistol fire more suppressed shots that are followed by more yells of pain. From here you can spot at least seven or eight downed scientists. Blurs of motion indicate that Radinka still has plenty more to contend with.

Ivanovich stirs from inside the bus. His blood covered hand reaches out from the back emergency exit. He has shards of glass wedged between the fingers like the claws of a lion. He must be delirious if he thinks he's going to be able to get close enough to use those while you still have the sonic whatsis. He locks eyes with you and charges.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5

Current HP
Thalia: 1
Radinka: 2

Threat Rating:
Boss: Christov Ivanovich --- 1
Mooks: Tweaked out Scientists --- 9

Thalia gapes in outrage as her car takes yet more punishment, even when literally nobody is trying. There's no way it's going to be ruled anything but a total loss. Jamal is going to give her so much guff about having to help her trick out yet another vehicle.

She shakes her head in astonishment as Ivanovich's groan proves that he is - somehow - still relatively functional. If only her car were as durable as this ape. She's adjusting the settings on the sonic whatsis again in prep for finishing him off when Radinka pops out for a nice chatty interlude. The fact that Carson and Isabel are gone doesn't really surprise Thalia a lot. She wonders if they left on foot or if Carson had a car stashed around back. Idly, she wonders what kind he drives and how big the trunk is.

Then Ivanovich is charging, and she just sighs and raises the sonic weapon once again.

As she fires, Ivanovich's foot picks that moment to land on none other than one of her car's hubcaps, newly set free to explore its destiny. The Russian staggers, causing him to take her shot to the shoulder instead of solidly to the solar plexus, as she'd intended. The blow spins him around, and her next shot goes directly into his back, sending him face-first into the pavement. He doesn't move.

Striding toward him, or rather toward her car (she wants to grab some things from the trunk), she says as she's passing the inert body on the ground, "Looks like I'll be walking out of here alive after all, comra--"

Premature gloating - don't let it happen to you. Incredibly, Ivanovich's hand snakes out and clasps her ankle in a viselike grip, yanking it toward him. Fortunately, thanks to her tai chi training, Thalia is able to land on the pavement injury-free, thrusting her other foot at his face. Somehow, though, Ivanovich has gotten to his hands and knees, so her kick only glances across his now pizza-like face.

From this position, the best he can manage is a snarling backhanded strike, which does catch her squarely on the face. She uses its momentum to turn a sideward roll several times, stopping well out of his reach with a two-handed grip on the sonic whatsis. There's no missing him from this distance, and she pulls the trigger, sending him... well, sending him hard against the door of her beleaguered car, actually. But this time, he is well and truly unconscious.

"Das vadanya, tiny," she mutters, climbing back to her feet and hurrying to the trunk to grab a few things before approaching the Bar of the Mad Scientists.

With Ivanovich dealt with and your inventory refreshed, you walk up to one of the windows and get to really study the scene inside the bar before entering the fray. It is chaotic.

Bodies litter the floor. Mechanical equipment lies in ruin all over the place. To make matters worse, you feel dizzy watching Radinka fight the remaining scientists. It looks like you are watching a movie on fast forward. Everyone is moving and reacting at least 50% faster than they should be. No doubt the desired effect of the gas Carson Chang is pumping into this place. Perhaps this is how they planned to build the prototype as quickly as possible?

Some of the men still bother with guns, but they might be at a disadvantage as Radinka literally appears to be dodging bullets. Meanwhile, her rubber bullets don’t miss. She has adapted to the combat in fast forward very well and moves about the floor like a ballerina of destruction.

Everyone seems oblivious to your presence as they all remain focused on Radinka. It is unclear how long it will take for the drug to catch you up to their speed, or what exactly the side effects will be. The extra ventilation from the broken plywood and bus being knocked over should lessen your intake of the gas if you stay on this side of the bar, or decide to fight from outside.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5

Current HP
Thalia: 0
Radinka: 2

Threat Rating:
Boss: Christov Ivanovich --- DEFEATED
Mooks: Tweaked out Scientists --- 6

Shaking her head at the insanity inside the bar, Thalia uses the wrist device Radinka had given her to send a signal and waits for her to notice it. It takes a bit, but when the agent glances at her wrist and then looks around, probably for Thalia, Thalia waves her arms at the window to get her attention. She holds up a respirator, the heavy-duty kind worn by medical personnel working with airborne contagions, or by ordinary citizens in Portland, Oregon. She points at the mask, then at Radinka, then holds her hand up in a "stop" gesture. The gist of the message: Put this on, then wait for what happens next.

Thalia chucks the mask through the window, smiling as Radinka catches it while simultaneously kicking a tweaker in the gut. Then Thalia tosses three canisters through the window, each in a different area of the bar. One by one, the canisters begin to expel thick, charcoal gray smoke. It takes frighteningly little time for the place to fill up.

Some of the scientists, their respiration already hopped up by whatever the bus had been pumping in, probably will collapse from smoke inhalation. For those who don't and come coughing and choking through the door, they stumble over the tripwire Thalia has installed about six inches from the bottom of the doorway.

As they hit the open air, followed by the open pavement, she shoots them with the sonic whatsis from the cover of the other side of her ruined car.

The sonic whatsis starts beeping, signaling the battery has expired. It doesn’t matter. You and Radinka have done the impossible. Ivanovich? No problem. A bar full of scientists hopped up on god knows what? Sleeping like babies. Now to find Isabel and take care of Carson.

Radinka grabs a pair of binoculars from the car and starts scouting the surrounding area while you do a lap of the bar. Parked out back you find the car you remember Ivanovich driving the night you saved Arthur. No sign of Carson’s vehicle, but there is also only one set of tire tracks left in the dusty brush behind the bar. Perhaps Carson road with Ivanovich or maybe on the bus.

When you return to the front parking lot Radinka is shaking her head. "No signs of anyone. They are either still here or long gone."

The smoke and the gas have cleared, making it safe to venture into the bar. It doesn’t take long to find what you’re looking for. Ivanovich was being very literal when he said "Put the girl down." Behind the bar you find a secret hatch. It might be a safe room or a storage usage way back in prohibition days. Either way, it is a safe bet that Isabel and Carson are down there.

Radinka checks her clip. "I got 2 non-lethal rounds left. Grabbed a few standard clips from the car, or what’s left of it. How do you want to do this? Bra still padded with flashbangs?"

"Just one now. I used the other on Comrade Primate. Also, my sonic gun's out of juice. I have my standard pistol, which I'd rather not use if I can help it. Also a unique type of pepper spray foam that works wonders - remind me to tell you about it."

She chews on her lower lip, thinking. "Let's leave the flashbang entry for a last resort. I don't trust Carson not to have something set up to kill Isabel if we storm the place. Let me try talking him down first. Not like that flashbang is going to spoil if we don't use it immediately."

Thalia removes the flashbang from her bra cup, reveling silently for a moment at the relief of both sides being even again, and hands it to Radinka. She also turns off the low power alarm on the sonic whatis so that it doesn't give away that it's currently in paperweight mode. Hey, it's not like Carson knows that, right?

She looks at Radinka and waits for her to nod, then she opens the hatch. When nothing happens immediately, she leans over and peers into what at first seems like unbroken gloom but eventually resolves into a weakly-lit room with a number of old crates in various states of decrepitude. There's an unpleasant reek of mildew, and she can actually see a couple of small puddles of standing water. From the look and smell of things, this is not a room Carson's chemically-enhanced assembly line operation has been putting to practical use. It seems clear that the plan was for him to retreat with Izzy in case of trouble and wait for the all-clear from Christov.

Best-laid plans, and all that.

"Carson, it's Thalia. It's all over up here. Your tweakers are taking a well-deserved, if involuntary, nap, and Ivanovich is down for the count. My associates and I are in control now. So let's talk about the way forward, okay? I don't want anyone else to get hurt. Why don't you send Isabel up here, and then we can talk some more?"

In the furthest and darkest corner of the room you can occasionally catch a glimpse of Carson. He’s pacing back and forth and seemingly off in his own world. It isn’t even clear that he hears the words you are saying.

The smashed remains of the chair that Isabel was strapped to are directly below you. While there is a ladder, it looks like she went down the hard way. Your eyes follow the drying trail of water left from when she must have been dragged through a puddle. Most of her body is blocked by a crate, but you can see her legs poking around the corner. No longer twitching; they are disconcertingly still.

"I’d like to speak to Arthur." Carson asks. His voice is no longer laced in a chemically induced state of calm. It sounds like he is on the verge of tears and struggling to get the words out.

Carson steps forward into the light allowing you to see the gun in his right hand. In his left is a hypodermic needle. You follow his gaze to the top of the crate blocking your view of Isabel. There is a small bag there and the remnants of another needle that has already been used.

Thalia really doesn't like the looks of this - Isabel's stillness, the used needle.

The unused needle.

"I can arrange for you to speak to Arthur, Carson, but not until I get Isabel out of here, safe and sound." She keeps her voice conversational and compassionate. She glances at Radinka; what she's saying is meant to describe the situation for her as much as to keep Arthur engaged and calm.

"I'm a little concerned that she doesn't seem to be moving. I'm thinking she needs medical attention. Looks like she took a spill getting down there."

She pauses. "Tell me about the needles, Carson. I see one's already been used. What's in them?"

Carson rolls his head from side to side as he thinks over what you said. "It's nothing," he says while looking at the needle in his hand. He steps toward Isabel and nudges her with his foot several times. She starts to squirm on the floor and you can hear her struggling to vocalize under the tape covering her mouth. "It keeps people quiet. That's all. It's not the only way of keeping people quiet." His right hand moves and the muffled scream confirms your suspicion that the barrel is now pointed at Isabel. "It is less permanent then other options."

He looks up at you. "Did you get Martha too? Doesn't matter. She won't talk. Ivanovich won't talk. Now I won't talk. Just have to keep Izzy and Arthur quiet." His eyes are glassed over and it looks like he is having trouble focusing on you. Below him, Isabel quietly starts to wiggle away from him, one inch at a time. Duct tape and pieces of the chair are still attached to her lower legs, limiting her movement. It is a safe bet her hands are bound as well, but they are still not visible with the crate in the way.

"Step back, Carson," Thalia says firmly. She'd been fingering her old-fashioned, bullet-shooting pistol in her pocket since she'd caught sight of the needles, the spent sonic whatsis clearly no longer useful even as a prop. Now she aims the gun at Carson's chest. "Step back, away from Isabel. I'm not going to let you stick her with that needle, understand?"

If he doesn't comply, she flicks her eyes over to meet Radinka's. She glances at the flashbang and says quietly, without moving her lips, "On three."

The hand not holding the gun is not visible through the hatch. Thalia flicks her wrist as she continues to speak to Carson, holding up a finger, then flicks again: One...two...

"Not kidding around, Carson. I'll give you a count of three, and then I'm shooting. One..."

She flicks her wrist and holds up the third finger. ...three.

Thalia holds firm as Radinka tosses the flashbang through the hatch, only then closing her eyes and holding her ears a split second before the device goes off. Then she's shoving her legs down the hatch, scaling the ladder down as quickly as she can, her top priority to get that needle out of Carson's hands and secure him before he can do any more harm to his hostage.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5

Current HP
Thalia: 0
Radinka: 2

Threat Rating:
Keep Isabel Safe: 2
Keep Carson from Harming Himself: 2

As you issue the warning you watch Carson slowly move his thumb to the plunger of the needle; erasing any doubt that you were making the wrong call. When the flashbang goes off it feels like the world slips into slow motion.

You slide down the latter and Radinka jumps directly to the dirty floor below. There is no need for coordination. Each of you knows exactly what to do. Carson tries to bring up his pistol as fast as possible but Radinka is already on the move, with you only a half second back. He fires wildly and bullets embed themselves in the floor and wall. On the ground, Isabel screams through the tape covering her mouth and desperately tries to put some space between herself and this madman.

Radinka side steps to the right, putting her flush with the wall just as Carson gets the gun trained in her direction. The shot goes wide. His eyes tell all. He knows it's over. He turns the gun on himself. Radinka is on him before he can take another shot.

You catch up as she twists his arm to point the gun at the ceiling. This causes Carson to drop to a knee, and puts Isabel within arm’s reach of that needle. You position yourself between her and the needle and snap your leg out to kick it from his hand.

Carson makes one last desperate attack. The unexpected move catches Radinka off guard and Carson is able to drive his teeth into her neck like some wannabe vampire. You square up and deliver a punch right through his nose. It sends him flying across the room into the wall. He slides down to a seated position. Defeated.

---

Current HP
Thalia: 0
Radinka: 1

Threat Rating:
Keep Isabel Safe: SUCCESS!!!
Keep Carson from Harming Himself: SUCCESS!!!

Subduing Carson takes a lot more steps than she'd been expecting. The other flashbang had disabled a hulking bruiser like Ivanovich long enough for her to change positions and gain an advantage. This one should have put a septuagenarian chemist on his ass.

But he ends up there eventually. Shaking out her hand - she'd put a bit more force into that punch than she'd like - she glances at Radinka, looking at the bite on her neck. "You okay?"

"Sure," the Russian growls in a voice husky with anger. She's wiping at the bite with a cloth that presumably came from a pocket. "Guess we should be glad he didn't bark."

Thalia raises an eyebrow. Maybe Carson had transmitted some sort of neurotoxin when he'd bitten Radinka.

"Because his bark would be worse than his-- Jeez, Thalia! This is an expression from your first language."

"It's been a long day, all right? Keep an eye on him."

Thalia moves to kneel beside Isabel, carefully removing the tape from her mouth, trying to be gentle. "I won't be like those clowns in the movies and ask if you're all right. How badly are you hurt?"

While Isabel responds, Thalia reaches behind her neck and down her shirt to grasp the stiletto taped along her spine and extracts it. "I want to use this to cut through the tape on your hands and legs. Is that all right?" With the trauma Isabel has just endured, Thalia wants to make sure the young woman realizes she still has agency. If she says no to the knife, Thalia will simply find another, less frightening way to remove her bonds.

Isabel looks down at her feet. Her left ankle is visibly swollen. She won't be able to put her full weight on it for some time. "I’m not sure if it is broken but at least that is the worst of it. I think I am going to need some help getting back up to the surface," she says while looking at the ladder.

She nods her head when you ask permission to cut through the bonds. The relief on her face is clear when she is freed. "I take it that you already dealt with that Russian monster? And Arthur is safe as well? Geez, do I feel dumb for not putting more trust in your abilities." There is a pause and Isabel’s head drops. "I’m going to jail, aren't’ I?" There is a mixture of emotions in this question. Worry, fear, and a pinch of relief that this nightmare might finally be over.

"It’s only a matter of time before someone drives by and reports the scene outside," Radinka cuts in. "What do you want to do, Thalia? Are we bringing in the proper authorities at this point or do you have something else in mind?"