The Arundel Information Caper (RP)

Emma sits on the comfy chair behind the desk and tries her luck on the computer, her focus flickering between the screen and Benji: "Well; they saw all four of us at the chapel when they left, so they know two of us are missing and supposedly still down there in the crypts" she motions her head at the purse "I'm a nobody, and they recognized me. They’ll have no trouble identifying the others either. It won't take them long to figure it out." she stopped as she gave it some more thought "I don't think they’ll have many questions for us, because even if they do, I can't imagine there's much I could tell them that would be of any use"

Jacob remembered he wanted to follow Benji and Emma. He remembered wanting to help. He did remember he was probably the only one able to talk their way out of this mess. But the dagger's voice was stronger. "Let them go," it whispered, "it's the only way you can take me without their notice"

So now he found himself alone, with the dagger securely stored in the inner pocket of his jacket, wondering what happened. And, all of a sudden, he just realized Crowley had not been there for a while...

There was no way Emma was going to be able to guess the password. But given how most people struggled to remember the increasingly complex password requirements these days, she suspected there was a good chance the Administrator had written it down somewhere. After a few moments of searching, she found it—scrawled on a notepad tucked away in the desk's drawer. Without thinking twice, she keyed it in.

The night was already a disaster. Eliot missing. Caught sneaking around the castle. She was already deep into this, so she might as well make it worth her while. Whatever lay behind that login screen could be her ticket to something valuable. Information, leverage, or perhaps something even more useful she could use to her advantage.

Jacob was more afraid of Crowley wandering without supervision than he was about Benji and Emma, so he decided to move down the tunnel to find him.

"Got it!" Emma smirked as she shamelessly pulled the thumb drive from her purse and plugged it into the computer. She wasted no time, first copying the personal files folder, then quickly taking screenshots of any passwords she could get her hands on, starting with the Administrator's email. As the files began to download, she turned her attention back at Benji

"I don’t think they plan to kill us" she said, with the emphasis on 'plan'. Things could still go pear-shaped if they didn't manage the conversation correctly "If they did, they wouldn’t have brought us here, to this nice office, of all places. I expect threats, some cajoling, to make us to do their bidding. Perhaps they’ll want us to track down whatever Jacob and Hali took from the cryptt, or find some other way to repay them for whatever mess we've caused."

With a satisfied smirk, Emma pulled the thumb drive from the port and slipped it back into her purse. She stood up from the chair, smoothing her dress, and moved to the bookcase across the room, her fingers brushing through her blonde hair. She wasn’t sure what kind of man the Administrator was, but she was hopeful he was more susceptible to a pretty face and a well-placed glimpse of cleavage than the soulless Servitors. She straightened her posture, trying to make herself as presentable as possible, and turned her attention to the door, awaiting for him to arrive.

"Yes, probably a good idea not to be caught here,"Jacob agreed."Is this the stash you were looking for, Crowley? We only have a few seconds until the Servitors find us, so there's no time to play games now..." he warned his colleague and rival.

"Always so helpful..." Jacob mutters, and starts looking for another exit. Unless they can find one very quickly, he'll have to talk his way out of the situation.

Emma gave the plucky Administrator a quick glance when he entered the room, trying to get his measure. He appeared to be congenial, and it was easy to dismiss him as being harmless. But she knew better by now to judge a man by his appearance. His demeanor could all be a deliberate way to lure people into a false sense of security.

The man sat behind the table, so Emma took her seat as well, crossing her long legs one over another, nodding at the man when he asked them to start speaking: "Please pardon my ignorance. I was supposed to meet with Mr. Parry, but he never showed up to the party tonight, and no one knows where he might be - " She namedropped Elliot's name on purpose, to make sure the man knew she was under his protection, whatever weight it still carried after his disappearance. More importantly, she wanted him to know she truly was out of her element, and had a genuine reason to fear for her safety. "- so could you please tell me who you are, and what are your responsibilities around here? Are the Servitors working for you? Did you make them?"

Emma noticed the Administrator’s eyes lingering on her legs, and the way he blushed when he awkwardly mentioned watching her earlier. While she found him a bit icky, she couldn’t deny the reason she’d chosen to wear the scandalous low-cut red dress tonight. It was for the attention. She relished it. But stooping so low as to use her sexuality to wriggle out of this mess?

No. She wasn't that desperate.

As for Lady Halifax, Emma had no qualms about throwing her under the proverbial bus after the manipulative bitch roped her into this shady caper of hers. The only thing holding her back was a sense of loyalty to Benji, and the nagging fear that if she spoke up, Lady Halifax, or whoever this ‘Jacob’ was, would come back to hurt her. She decided to keep he mouth shut. Let’s see how the Administrator reacted. Would he use his leverage to get the answers he wanted, or would he back down? For the time being, all she said was: "I’m sorry, Mr. Uskglass. I want to help you" she stressed the word ‘you,’ locking eyes with him "but I don’t know what the consequences might be for me."