"Mayhaps!"

Trav looks at her old, beat up phone.

She scrolls through the contact list. She scrolls past the contacts for The Doctor. Those were all to the phone on Sexy's console, and he never carried a cell phone anyway.

The Corsair, however.

The last number she has for him was back during the Callistan Pulse heist. She used to text to her dirty limericks. Even now the Traveller blushes.

So, she texts to that old number the call they used to shoot at each other, during her 1st and 2nd incarnations.

She texts to that old number: Shenanigans?

OOC: Let me know if a Convince roll would be appropriate. I'm testing a suspicion.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:13, Tue 01 May 2018.

Stanley nods and makes his way to the hiding spot Sairen indicated.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:17, Wed 02 May 2018.

As Stanley slips into hiding, Sairen lofts the statuette with a hearty heave.  It crashes through the window with a small but satisfying spray of glass, and the reaction is immediate: Stanley sees a pair of figures cross the view outside.

As the door starts to open, Sairen breaks for cover, out of the foyer down a side hallway, and away from Stanley's hiding spot.  Two lean but but tough-looking men burst through the door with truncheons in hand.

They look around with sharp eyes, but rather startled expressions....

I figured this, given the general thrust of the plan, it made sense for Sairen to make himself the bait and trust to his talent to give him the upper hand, while clearing the way for Stanley to escape.  What Stanley chooses to do with that is up to you.  But you should make a Coordination + Subterfuge -- you get a +2 for Sairen's assistance, plus fortunately their rolls kind of sucked.

You'll be able to tell how you did, so plan out your next action(s) with Talk / Move / Do / Fight.

21:16, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Sairen, rolled 17 using 2d6+10 with rolls of 3,4.  Coordination(5) + Subterfuge(5): Going to ground.
21:14, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Guard 2, rolled 8 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 1,1.  Awareness(4) + Subterfuge(2).
21:13, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Guard 1, rolled 9 using 2d6+5 with rolls of 3,1.  Awareness(3) + Subterfuge(2).
21:12, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Sairen, rolled 21 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 6,6.  Ingenuity(4) + Subterfuge(5) : Distracting the guards.

The reply is far from instantaneous.  When it comes, it's in the form of a serpent in turquoise pixel art that wriggles out of its skin into the words:

That all depends, dear heart, did you come to play?


OOC: Sure, why not.  And just when Charming would have come in handy, too.

I'm fudging timelines a little to let Stanley get some resolution before your call gets to him.

Still struggling bravefully against the puter-ball, Smoke Alarm outlooked over to Traveller and her talkiphone. 'Who're you talky with?'

Things happen quickly once Sairen has thrown the statuette. Sairen himself is out of the room before Stanley has time to say or do anything. The two guards in the room haven't spotted him, thanks to the hiding place and he would like to keep it that way.

Stanley needs to get outside to relative safety before he could try anything else. He feels bad leaving Sairen behind (at least for now), but he could take care of himself. Maybe he could help him out, by opening some of the other windows and doors from the outside.



OOC: I rolled a 16, that is a success.
20:35, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 16 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 5,5.  Coordination(3) + Subterfuge(1)+Sairen's assistance(2).

So, the plan is to move/sneak outside (move action) and then look for and try to open/break another exit (doer phase).

Stanley's impression, as he takes in his surroundings, is that this is a relatively affluent part of the city; not too surprising considering Huang's obvious status.  There are some surprised looks from passersby on the street as Stanley slips out the door, but not a profound disruption of the flow of city life all around.

Stanley circles around Huang's home in the direction where he thinks Sairen is likely to be angling for an exit.  There's not a huge amount of clearance between this building and the next.

OOC: You can make an Ingenuity + Awareness check.  Make it at a Normal difficulty and you can successfully link up with Sairen outside the building, but the pursuers can pick up sight of you.  Make it at a Tricky level (15) and you can introduce some detail that effectively lets the pair of you break contact with the pursuers.  I'm a little stumped for exact detail on what that might be, so feel free to add to the scene if you make it.

Stanley knows it would be safest to just get away from here, but he thinks he might be able to help Sairen. It is hard to guess what Sairen is doing right now or how he plans on getting out.

OOC: Trying my luck... and double one :(.
22:17, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 10 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 1,1.  Awareness (4) + Ingenuity(4).
 

She sighs. "Someone who may be tick tocks behind us. See, my luvvy duvvy was someone who eventually becomes Sairen. But remember how I warned you back at Woodstock not to mess with past-tick-tocks me? We may be running into past-tick-tocks-Sairen, who could be my sweety the Corsair. I just sent her a text with an old cheer - I'd ask her 'Shenanigans?' if we were about to get into a to-do, and she'd cheer back 'SHENANIGANS.' She was so much fun, Smoke, you would have loved her."

"But like when I saw past-tick-tocks-Booby - The Doctor - back at Woodstock, I have to be really careful if it is indeed her."

OOC: See my dialogue to Smoke. Dropping an SP, down to 4.

That's not how the game works. You know that.

Even the Master, that notoroious master of disguise, could never make out the personal love warmth code between the two Time Lords. The 2nd Traveller knew it was Jack Ass instantly.

Shenanigans???

OOC: 13:49, Today: The Traveller rolled 18 using 4d6+7 with rolls of 3,2,2,4.  Corsair Phone Text - 2d6+Presence 3+Convince 2+Friends 2+2d6.

As she sends off the text, she gets a sinking feeling in her gut. This Corsair may be hiding and on the run from the Time War. His or her present could be that where she is the Marshall, either as a renegade villain or as the Mistress of the Vault of Omega.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:09, Mon 07 May 2018.

Smoke Alarm dropped the ball, which immediately hovered away from her. 'Sairen the Catchable? But why didn't you and Sairen – now-Traveller and now-Sairen – say anything about it when you and him met at the Habisphere?' It was getting confuzzling for the Blue Kang to work out. And she had to wonder: if all the people they met turned out to be someone else at another tick-tock... then who was Smoke Alarm going to be?

As Stanley hunts along the side of the building, he can hear that there are growing sounds of activity inside, but it's very hard for him to pick out what of that, if any, gives an indication of Sairen's position and what he's doing.  Nor does there seem to be much in the space between this building and the next that leads him toward any kind of plan -- shrubs and bushes might suffice for hiding, but not for an ingenious escape scheme, and the high wrought-iron fence separating this property from the next is simultaneously an effective barrier and not terribly effective considered as cover.

Down at the far end of the building, two men round the corner.  More of Yen Huang's thugs, by their dress and their size.

Shenanigans?  Pshaw.  HULLABALOO.

You always did cheat a bit. When and where, you rascal?

Stanley was sort of happy that at least two hadn't caught Sairen yet, but that was the only positive thing about this situation that he could think of. He briefly considers running back inside and then decides to hide in a bush.

As Stanley conceals himself in the shrubbery, he's alarmed to realize that his phone is buzzing at him.  While it's not too likely that anyone working for Yen Huang will recognize what the noise is, they would assuredly recognize that it a noise.

The digital snake undulates across Trav's screen again, leaving behind a set of contemporary spatial coordinates.

This could still be a trap.

"Smoke, I think I just found who is behind all of this. I think that they *might* be an old luvvy duvvy of mine. Want to come with?"

Smoke Alarm was shocked by this. 'What? Your luvvy-duvvy is Haidao Gong, the one who gives the say-so to Bao and the pirates and the Benevolent Gentlemans?'  She sounded mean and could be trouble for Traveller. Smoke was worried for her friend. 'Trav, are you sure she's so icehot? If she's done all that, she could be a meaniehead, not the one you rememorise.'

"Yes, beloved blue, you're exactly right. That's why we have to find out. Because if this person *is not* my Luvvy Duvvy, I shall have to thrash him very hard and find out where he knows Time Lord tricks, and, ah em, "shove my booted foot up his ass?" No no that didn't come out right. Sometimes old blondie words want to come out. That's why I need you there, so I can see straight."

She's cleaning her phone and glasses with a chamois. "Really, this would be easier if he weren't my luvvy duvvy. If he is, and if he is from my right-now, it can make things very happy, and much more complicated. Such as my wanting to tumble in bed. She was very,very good at that. I haven't tumbled in bed with someone in a very long time."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:28, Mon 14 May 2018.

'Okay, Trav. I will all-ways be there to outlook for you and help you in a to-do – or out of a to-do, whichever it is.' the Blue Kang pinky-sweared solemnly.

At the talk of tumbling in bed, Smoke had ideas of jumping and rolling and the other athletic pursuits she was so good at. 'Is that a fun game? Mayhaps you could do it with me? I'm good at tumbling!' She did a tumble, diving forward, tucking into a roll, and springing back to her feet in one fluid motion. 'Eyespy!'

It could be very important. It probably was. Maybe Sairen. Stanley checks what it is.

Stanley sees that his phone is showing a picture of the TARDIS -- it's Trav trying to contact him.

OOC: See message #300.

Make sure to bring an open mind.  As I said to the Esquellendan palace guards, there are a few fine points of protocol that might be getting fudged here.

"Sairen is running around trying to escape Yen Huang's building and I am hiding in some bush in the garden." Stanley whispers into his phone. "I'd say it could have gone better. We did find out he is working with a female pirate captain."