Day - Something Strange Is Going On [IC]

"Hey. Hey. That's gotta be him," he nudges Wagner -and himself- out of the torpor of the long wait. "Let's stick to plan - I'll wait in the car, you try to get him interested in a drink. We're buying..."

Mar 30, 2022 1:18 pm

Wagner makes sure his target doesn’t see him leaving the car: the last thing he wants is for the janitor to feel hounded.
He lights a cigarette trying to look inconspicuous and tries to gauge the man’s mood, to see if he looks scared, annoyed, rageful… any emotion that can be manipulated into a bit of comfort from a fellow down-on-his-luck, working-class regular joe.

OOC:

I’ll try to read a bad situation to see the best way of approaching the guy

EDIT: ok, partial success, hold 1 for the following question: "what's my best way in?".
In particular, I'm trying to understand his mood to then act accordingly.

Last edited March 30, 2022 1:20 pm

Rolls

read a bad situation - (2d6+2)

(41) + 2 = 7

Narrator

Mar 30, 2022 4:53 pm

Wagner approaches the Janitor, and can hear him talking on his phone. He's not trying to be quiet, and this late at night there aren't many sounds to drown out his raised voice. It's clear he's pretty annoyed at being drug downtown for questioning, wondering if he'll get docked pay.
"Can you come pick me up?"
"I'm at.. " he looks back at the building "I'm at the APD Southeast substation."
"Shit I don't know. It's on Lousiana."
"No they wouldn't let me make a damn call. They think I mighta murdered that guy."
"Look just come pick me up. My car is still at work."
"Cause they hauled me down here in cuffs. Dammit. Just come." he hangs up a bit angrily up as Wagner approaches. He sees Wagner and reaches into his pocket. Wagner's suspicious nature makes him briefly think he might have a gun, then Wagner realizes the guy just came out of a police station.
The janitor fishes a cigarette out of his pocket.
"He man. Got a light? It's been a shit night."

Narrator

Mar 31, 2022 1:40 pm

"This late, it’s usually either a shit night or a great night, isn’t it?" Wagner chuckles as he extends his zippo. He then nods towards the police station "Saw you coming from there. You can’t expect sympathy from The Man. They don’t care there’s another shift coming in a few hours, that you have family waiting to see you. To serve and protect… them. Not us workers."

He leaves this last comment hanging, enjoying his smoke in the silence of the night, waiting for it to get a hold of the janitor. Once the cigarettes are done and the last puff of smoke dissipates, he looks up again.
"Do you need another one?" he offers another cigarette "Or maybe something to drink? I may be retired, but I get all too well what it means to be shat upon by everyone when you’re just trying to do your job."

OOC:

Trying to manipulate him into loosening up and chatting in front of a beverage.

EDIT - Oh, I add a +1 from the previous roll, forgot to do that in the roll

EDIT - oh well, never mind

Last edited March 31, 2022 1:43 pm

Rolls

Manipulate (it all fits together) - (2d6+2)

(12) + 2 = 5

Janitor

Mar 31, 2022 11:53 pm

Wagner and the Janitor share a cigarette, and then another..
"I gotta say, it's been a pretty shit night and I could really use a drink, but my wife is gunna be here soon to pick me up."

Janitor

Apr 11, 2022 8:26 am

Wagner nods "I hear you, I hear you. Nights like these… you want the comfort of your home…" he lets the air settle as he puffs another smoke.

"Man, I remember one night… mind you, this was in the late nineties, maybe 2000, no fancy camera-phone, no surveillance craze yet… cops drilled me for hours after – I swear this is true – a f*cking pack of feral wolves had ravaged the cafeteria of this one Walmart. They thought I had let in some druggie youth or something… " Wagner shakes his head "I’m like "DID YOU SEE THE BITE MARKS ON THE CABINETS? DO THEY LOOK LIKE GRAFFITI?" Nothing, they don’t listen. It’s impossible for wolves to get in, they say. Must’ve been someone on drugs looking to steal something, or do vandalism. They never listen when they should... only when you want privacy."

He sighs, hoping that this story will work as bait for the janitor to reveal a bit of his own experience.

OOC:

sorry for the massive delay, wasn't quite sure if I could keep pushing after failing that roll

Last edited April 11, 2022 8:26 am

Janitor

Apr 13, 2022 3:46 am

"Yah. Those bastards in there. Thought I had something to do with that mess on the 11th floor. I mean you think I'd hang around if I just ripped someone's head off? I called them!"

Janitor

Apr 14, 2022 1:27 pm

"Geez, that bad uh?" Wagner looks impressed "I got a couple of corpses in my time, but nothing quite as gruesome… head ripped off, damn. You see all sort of things that go bump in the night. I guess this was no gang violence, or accidental overdose, uh…" he gives a dark chuckle.
He lets a few moments pass, not wanting to hound the poor janitor. He talks again only when he fears the wife could be close "Say, give an old night owl like yourself a bit of excitement… it’s 2022. We’re all used to horror in our daily lives. I bet you snatched a photo of that mess. Can I peek?" he gives a curious smile.

OOC:

I'll roll +Weird for Often Overlooked to appear as unthreatening as possible even as I ask a genuinely creepy question.

partial success:you’re regarded as unthreatening or unimportant. I choose unthreatening

Last edited April 14, 2022 1:28 pm

Rolls

Often overlooked - (2d6+1)

(15) + 1 = 7

Janitor

Apr 15, 2022 11:22 pm

"You're a weirdo man. But you know I couldn't help but snap a pic. I figured no one would believe me if they cleaned it all up. No way you going to see this shot in the paper tomorrow."
He takes his phone back out of his pocket and brings up a photo. It's pretty poor. His cheap phone doesn't take particularly great photos, but Wagner can see that there is definitely a body on the floor which is most certainly missing its head. The head is nowhere in the photo as far as Wagner can tell.
The janitor glances around and then puts his phone away.
"Told ya man. Head clean off. This ain't no gang shit"

Janitor

Apr 20, 2022 4:35 pm

"Man, always wanted a gig with a Bank or something that powerful" says Wagner "Walmart or Costco, you always figure some asshole comes in trying to steal a TV or something – but a big corporate building like that one? I thought that’s just white collar crime, no thugs."
He shakes his head "Can’t get into those buildings unarmed, how the hell does one climb to the 10th floor with what, a samurai sword? Looks like a Hollywood movie." he tries his best to keep up the "old lunatic talking to himself" act, hoping the janitor will unbutton thinking it’s only small talk.

Last edited April 20, 2022 4:35 pm

Janitor

Apr 20, 2022 7:38 pm

"I dunno man. Cops are saying they broke that window on the 11th and got in that way. That don't make no sense. The front door was locked, we supposed to always keep it all locked up after hours, but if you gunna break a window, why not just break one on the first floor? Cops are stupid man. Guy probably picked the lock. Busted the window to confuse those idiots. That's what I say. One thing's for sure. They must not of liked that guy. Why not just shoot him. Must be sending a message to someone. Gangland style. That's my bet."

Janitor

Apr 20, 2022 7:55 pm

OOC:

from the janitor's picture and what we saw on the news, was the window broken from the inside or outside?

Narrator

Apr 21, 2022 1:00 am

OOC:

The Janitor's pic is just of the body on the floor of the office so hard to tell from that, but you guys didn't see any glass outside when you looked up and saw the window. So you think outside.

Narrator

Apr 22, 2022 6:46 am

"Yeah, hide behind a badge, they think they are smarter than us... bah." Wagner feels he is stretching the janitor's suspicion a bit too much, and decides to get back to the others "Say man, stay strong. Don't let them make you feel bad. They want us scared, begging for "security" when really they just want to take away our freedom. Thanks for the chat. If you're ever up North West, there's a cozy pub between 4th and El Pueblo, I hang around there sometimes. Drink offer still stands. Night owl to night owl. I'll let you get back to the wife. Have a nice night."

OOC:

feel like it's a bout time to get back together

Javier 'Javi' Ramirez

Dr_B

Apr 23, 2022 2:20 pm

Javi sees the two men parting.

"He didn't want a drink, then." he tells Wagner as he sees him walking back to Cucaracha alone.
"Oh, well. You got any tasty details, from the guy?"

Apr 28, 2022 9:57 am

"Victim's head chopped clean off, that's the highlight." says Wagner "Whatever it was, it came through the window, so it flies or climbs. The janitor suspects nothing, he thinks the broken window is a ruse. He snapped a picture." Wagner describes as best he can what he saw in the blurry picture. "Can’t say he was much help honestly, he mostly ruled out another entry option other than the windows or picking the lock. I’m afraid I wasn’t quite able to ask him as much as I wanted, he refused the drink and was picked up by the wife pretty soon."

Javier 'Javi' Ramirez

Dr_B

Apr 28, 2022 10:50 pm

"Jeez..." he comments at the gruesome detail. "What a way to go..." he instinctively touches his throat.

He stays in silence for a long moment.

Then breaks his grim reverie "Anyway, very little we can do here. Don't know 'bout you... but I need to catch some shut-eye... where do I drop you off?"

OOC:

Javi offers to drive Wagner home - or to a place of his choice if he is too paranoid to reveal where he lives.
Suggest to part, then consider what to do in the morning. They can use the cell phone contact to regroup.

Apr 29, 2022 6:08 am