Mission 1.3: Black Party Clean Up

Matsuki stops at a random intersection, breathing heavily.
Concentrate, Matsuki. You can panic later, for now you need to keep yourself together she thinks to herself

Well... she says with a slightly shaking voice ...we do know now that this guy is probably "the skull" that this being in the ruins mentioned. What do we do now? Have look at the filters?

Seeing Matsuki stop, Nikolai cautiously approaches, not entirely sure if his presence is welcome amidst what seems to be a bit of a crisis for his companion. He can't say he himself isn't still shaken either, the images of hallucinations from before still swirling somewhere in the back of his mind. But he would be a bad mercenary if he couldn't internalize his problems until he could address them properly, so he pushes the doubt away - plus Matsuki starts speaking, and his mind is soon back at the more tangible things.

"We might as well. If the commotion in the square attracts security's attention, it will only be easier to sneak in - and if we're caught, we can appeal to being sent on a mission. We already have results to show for it, so that's leverage." Wolf looks around, frowns and sighs. "...I have no idea where we are, haven't worked in this sector before. Let's go find an evacuation plan and figure out how to get to the under construction section."

You're right. There'll probably be a lower security presence. Now seems to be the best time to have a look at the filters.
Matsuki follows Wolf's advice and looks for a map of the area...

Matsuki taps her chin while reading the map. Focusing on it helps her calm down a bit. You know what? We could go through the living compartment in the center, grab a few construction worker's clothes, disguise ourselves and then slip into the construction area either to the north or the west. I don't have any preference in that regard. What do you say?

Wolf stares at Matsuki, then wordlessly looks down at his coat and his gauntlets. There is a short pause as he examines his attire, considering. "I suck at disguises, and my scars are too recognizable when people pay attention," he says finally, flexing his fingers and making the claws pop up. "But I am still technically an employed electrician here, and no one ever checks permissions for routine maintenance checks. If I stroll in and say I need to look at the wiring or change a lightbulb, who's going to question it?" Wolf grins. "You can be my assistant, and if there is anyone in the area with the filters, I can always do an obnoxious safety inspector routine while you sweep them. Probably will work better if it's residential area, since mining ones might actually care about who goes there."

Wolf glances at Matsuki, then steps forward so that his coat blocks her from view for the first few moments - giving her an opportunity to slip away if she wants to. He isn't particularly concerned about being discovered himself as he's perfectly ready to bluff and threaten, but offering the option feels like a thing to do in the moment - he might not be a team player, but he knows value of having multiple plans ready to go. Perhaps she's already spotted the filters and can go for them while he's being a distraction, or perhaps she is willing to make it a heist in plain sight and play the role of Nikolai's assistant; either way, they'll adjust on the go.Whatever Matsuki does, Nikolai straightens his coat, pulls out a multimeter from his bag and makes his best expression of an inspector who just discovered multiple safety violations and is ready to tear a new one to whoever is the poor soul in charge. He even makes a show of leaning towards a stack of materials and examining it as if it were an affront to the very notion of workplace regulations.

Wolf! I'll hide. If those workers are brainwashed and attack us I can strike quickly from the shadows. Matsuki whispers
She runs up to a stack of construction materials and leaps behind them

Matsuki bets on Wolf to keep the worker distracted and as swiftly and quietly as a cat she rushes deeper into the construction area, hoping to find a filter somewhere.
She keeps her ears open in case the worker pushes past Wolf

The worker's blatant attempts to lead Nikolai away from the deeper sections of the construction site are quite suspicious, but during his years as a mercenary Wolf always followed the principle of staying laser-focused on his current goal - and their current goal are filters, not whatever mysterious operation is run beyond the scenes. So he allows the man to steer him away, hopefully giving Matsuki more of an opportunity to look around in the process, and continues pressing about the lack of fire safety and proper utilization containers on site.

When the worker pauses in his apologies and asks what he can do for him, Nikolai makes a show of looking through his bag, frowning slightly. "Hmm, I suppose there is something else I'd like to ask. It's not particularly in *my* job description, but some of my colleagues from mental health department mentioned that a lot of personnel in nearby sections has been complaining about insomnia and auditory hallucinations lately. Have you encountered anything similar on this site? Perhaps more workers than usual calling in sick?"

"Depression? Nightmares? Now, we can't have that in a productive work environment," Nikolai makes a show of scribbling into his pretend inspection notes. "Then again, we can hardly ban a club either - recreation is just as important, wouldn't you say? Although it is quite interesting that it seems to be so popular among the people, and yet there is little concrete information on what this club is about. But hey!" He slaps the worker's shoulder. "Not my job, and I'm sure glad for it after all these rumors; don't want to touch all this with a ten foot pole."

Hopefully, if there is some connection between the Visage Conversation Club and this worker, then at least Wolf has convinced him that he - and the station superiors - don't care about the issue more than to meet the requirements. Always important to downplay an investigation.

"Now, what can you tell me about the conditions of work in here? Any specific complaints about ventilation, safety, shift time? Don't worry, it's all anonymous - if there is anything you'd like to change, we'll do our best to accommodate."

Large tubes to a storage room? This could be where the filters are Matsuki thinks. She swiftly and silently walks to the storage room where the tubes go and carefully opens the door.

Dammit Matsuki whispers. She shortly thinks about her options. She doesn't want to kill the guy who's just doing his job. She also doesn't have anything to bind him on her.
Eventually she decides to try to open the filter container as silently as possible.Matsuki leans her rifle to the wall right next to her in order to be able to grab it immediately should the worker awaken. She won't shoot him but threaten to do so.

Nikolai files the information in his mind, remembering what the worker shared for a slim chance that it might be useful later. Disgruntled low salary employees unionizing into an alien-following nightmare club? This sounds straight like something from his past in the Union, the sort of rumours his family would be snickering about at a fancy dinner party. Ugh, what sweet memories it brings. Not to say that the mercenaries were any less likely to believe in such stories... And after the hallucinations at the plaza and the black mold? He certainly believes in *something*.

"No problem - as I said, this is all anonymous." He nods in response to the worker's wink, then looks up at the closest ventilation vent thoughtfully. "Glad to hear the air isn't causing any abnormal problems here. After the whole situation with the last expedition, some of the doctors are concerned about fungi spores and the like - I hope I don't need to remind you to take proper sanitary precautions when dealing with the planetary atmosphere, so I'll spare you the usual lecture. Way your hands, clean your equipment, all that. Also maybe avoid the weird club." He leans closer to the man, conspiratorially lowering his voice. "Between you and me, I am mostly here as a token effort from the superiors, so they probably won't press on it too hard, if at all - but between spending money on better equipment or calling a club the root of all evil, we both know what they'll choose."

Wolf straightens up, looking around to note how far away they are from the direction Matsuki went in at this point. Should he try to go after her? If she is in trouble, maybe he can pull the "I'm the authority, give the perpetrator to me" play. But on the other hand, giving her more time might be a better idea... "Alright, I think I'm done with almost everything here. Although..." He makes a show of glancing up and down the man. "You said that you install electrical systems? I am a little bit of an electrician myself, you know. Want to grab a cup of coffee and discuss how bad electrical equipment on this station is? We can call it an extended interview, so our superiors don't get all bothered." Wolf tries to be suave. Keyword, tries.