Anna shrugged:"If i'm to go on witness reports some guy blew up a bus, and someone walked away from the fire as he healed from being a charred skeleton back to full health and escaped, supposedly naked". She leaned forward a little and tilted her head:"Want to comment on that, Vadim? Off the record. Inquiring minds want to know".

She glanced at Richard following the trail of evidence to its conclusion, then Ai and Sandra busying themselves before looking back to Vadim. She smiled almost apologetically:"Common man, this isn't the first weird story I ran across .. ".

Ai diligently went to work on gathering samples from the crime scene. She kept an eye on the dark alley, even though it had been hours since the bus first caught fire.

Vadim laughed when he heard the witness reports.  He'd considered when he'd heard it the first time back at base but with her doing the delivery he couldn't help it and it caused him to cough repeatedly before he brought up his handkerchief to his lips.  It took a moment to calm down but he still smiled, "I have no doubt as this world is full of strange stories."

"Off the record and knowing how people see things and don't comprehend it right I can tell you what my training without solid evidence either way would say..." he quirked his mouth, "People don't burn down to a skeleton then reconstitute themselves like Wolverine in those comic book movies.  Even if I've read some serious academic journals about the advancements they have made in nanotechnology."

He shook his head, "If someone walked off that bus they were likely wearing a full nomex suit meaning they either were the bomber or an accomplice.  Those fibers burn slowly and turn to a white ash.  If the charge was shaped it would allow them to avoid the concussion and fragments that would have killed anyone else on the spot.  That could explain witnesses thinking they saw a skeleton in the flames come back to life so to speak and why at the end they would see a naked man leaving the area...with the nomex burning away completely."

Vadim shrugged his shoulders, "But I did my masters in physics and my undergrad in chemistry so that's what my science is telling me...that's the only way someone might have even been able to walk away something like that unless it was staged with someone both wanting to kill a bunch of innocent people and then make people think someone emerged burning down to bones, regenerating and leaving the scene.  The question then would be why?"

It might stretch a few areas but was at least in the realm of plausibility when it came to ideas.  The burning down to just the skeleton though would be tough to recover from even for reality deviants and he'd only think a HITMark could walk away from that...let alone then regenerate completely.  Especially with witnesses in broad daylight.  Still he wanted to get Anna comfortable with him because he might be able to use her in the future if she often touched the stranger stories around town.

"What if someone does have the ability to regenerate at an insane rate?", Anna asked. "I run across a dozen strange stories a week and even when dismissing the vast amount of them as fantasy and sensationalism i'm still left with patterns and similarities. Rapid healing and near-invulnerability are relatively commonplace in these reported incidents .. people shrugging off bullets, healing rapidly". She shrugged it off before continuing. "Anyway .. ". She took an Ipad from her briefcase and scrolled through some pages:"Do you think this: (she showed a photo of a burned man on a wet street) and this: (photo of another burn victim) has something to do with today?".

[Both of these cases are known to Vadim if he read the report, as being the reason why the Hub was having the church under surveillance.]

"Both were members of the Church of the Morning Dawn like the victims here today, one supposedly a victim of spontaneous combustion. The other was, as witnesses described it, attacked by living flames that deliberately chased and attacked the woman".
She pauzed for a moment:"The police wrote off the incidents as accidents. But this .." she pointed at the bus:" .. is not an accident. You said so. And the FBI is involved?".

"Occam's razor, Vadim. Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. In this case, what's more likely? That some individuals can walk away from tremendous physical damage or that someone faked being able to do so?".

After giving Sandra enough time to do whatever data collection she intended on doing, Richard pulled a small pocket flashlight from his suit jacket and clicked it on, illuminating the alleyway beyond.  The other hand went to his earpiece, subvocalizing to both team and station frequencies: "+Control, we can confirm that the hit on the bus was deliberately done as a hit on the Church of the Morningstar.  Based on the specifics I'm seeing, this was a planned and personal attack.  The cameras picked up accurate information: the RD disintegrated into a fireball, burst through the bus to kill everyone on board, and re-integrated in the nude to make an escape.  I'm standing at the alleyway the trail ends and am about to take a look to see if there's any other information to pick up here.+"

Unless Mr. Light recommended otherwise, he took the moment to signal to the other two agents and went to investigate further.

"Actually I didn't say it wasn't an accident," replied Vadim with a small smile, "Though what you've told me leads me to consider it not being an accident."

His words weren't patronizing though just simple fact and his hypothesis were only that if it hadn't been an accident.  He did nod though to let her know that he wasn't dismissing her and her ideas...that would just make her dig deeper than they wanted, "Now with multiple cases of Church of the Morning Dawn members passing I'm sure that the Bureau will look into possible connections."

He quirked his mouth a bit at the Occam's razor and replied, "Lemme give you a third hypothesis for your Occam's razor in this specific event.  What if it was a horrible explosion that killed people and nothing else?  And that witnesses seeing someone burning and regrowing and running away was actually just some naked man that was running and people saw him through the flames and they thought he had come from the bus?"

Vadim shrugged, "So what has more assumptions among those three?  My first was based on if there was someone in the explosion and is pretty elaborate.  Yours makes the assumption that either a freak evolutionary leap happened or some sort of program utilizing tech or genetics that you only see in the movies is hidden from everyone...but according to your dozens of stories that reach a level of more sensibility means these type of people are all over the place...and somehow no one anywhere knows about it.  That gets to what I just told you where it simply was a mix of optical illusion and stress on the witnesses in seeing a horrific explosion and loss of life?  I'm not discounting the possibility that you are right Anna.  Evolution is astounding and sometimes surprising...just that I need a lot more hard facts before I can get behind a large number of invulnerable or regenerating people that are either hiding themselves or being hidden."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:26, Mon 05 Dec 2016.

"Fair enough", Anna smiled and shrugged.
She considered Vadim's answer for a moment while observing Richard heading for the alley.

"Go ahead. And though it is a few hours since the attack be careful. This is something we're not familiar with", mister Light replied to Richard's report. As Richard gestured Sandra and Ai the young doctor gestured back that she was still working on collecting samples.

Vadim did tilt his head a little when Richard seemed to not be looking his way and spoke a little quieter, "We have rules and regulations to follow.  Leads we follow and others that we can't because witnesses and others don't want to talk to us for any number of reasons you could guess and understand.  I'm not saying if we find something that defies explanation I can officially pass things along to you that we can't follow but if there was a quiet way to get in touch..."


Vadim saw Anna as an opportunity and as an interesting possibility.  He knew that he wasn't going to give her information that would compromise the whole...and he was going to add this conversation into his notes in his report so they knew he wasn't betraying them either.  No...she was a useful potential contact for hidden deviant activity that they might not notice.  Not to mention while he was at it he could net himself a needed outlet that he couldn't necessarily find at the Hub.

Anna considered for a moment, looked at Vadim and smiled:"Anna Porter, LA Times. You can buy me coffee some time". She winked and turned to walk away.

"+Naturally.+"  Richard nodded briefly in answer to the two scientists -- of course they were still doing field work -- and, steeling his nerves with a long breath in, long breath out, began a trip down the alleyway.  If their burning man had passed through this way, there would almost certainly be some evidence.

Training took the guess-work out of such investigation.  He swept the area with his flashlight, seeking to identify if there was anything that might be trouble...

06:07, Today: Richard Jackson rolled 2 successes using 2d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 6.  perc+alertness scan alley threats.
- If there's anything that might be dangerous or hostile down there, then ignore the following Enlightenment rolls - he's not about to engage in shenanigans if there's the chance he might be attacked.  Otherwise, as before, renewing/extending the effect of Tracks Left Behind to get a good psychohistoric reading of the area.

06:04, Today: Richard Jackson rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 6.  perc-investigation forensics the alleyway.
- Should reduce the target number by 2, from 5 to 3...

06:05, Today: Richard Jackson failed (no successes) using 2d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 3.  arete time 2 mind 2 retrocog alley 1.
- Failure increases future TNs by 1...

06:05, Today: Richard Jackson rolled 1 success using 2d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 4.  arete time 2 mind 2 retrocog alley 2.

06:05, Today: Richard Jackson rolled 2 successes using 2d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 4.  arete time 2 mind 2 retrocog alley 3.
-- Holding at 3 successes.

Vadim chuckled and then coughed a few times when it caught in his throat both from his old injuries and new ones sustained so recently.  Once under control he added to her departing backside, "I'll keep that in mind Anna."

Now that she was safely away from the fire fighter and everyone else seemed to be leaving her to her work, Sandra set down the hard plastic kit containing her high tech gear disguised as mundane sensors, testing, and diagnostic equipment as before. With a handheld remote interface, she activated the array and linked it to the HUD in her glasses.

Sandra pressed another key to speak into the comms. ++I'm conducting a trans-dimensional and multi-temporal scan now. This won't take long. I'm getting clean data++

11:09, Today: Sandra Reyes rolled 3 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 4 with rolls of 4,8,6.  Scan for Anomalies (Correspondence 1, DS 1, Time 1).

The alley way was dark. The only light came streaking down from the street Richard left behind, his own enlgonated shadow occluding streelights from exposing the environment. Several garbage containers and more than a few half opened garbage bags were lining the alley walls. Turning on the flashlight of his mobile phone offered Richard a little more detail.


The alley made a turn left into a small basketball court surrounded on all sides by walls and exited on the street parallel to the street the incident had taken place in. At this time of the day there wasn't any activity, though from counting the lit windows Richard concluded several of the neighbors were still awake.


As Richard was checking out a parked car someone walked out, a bulky black man in striped purple-yellow boxers and a lightbrown wife beater. He walked up slowly but deliberately and wasn't looking friendly:"Hey man, watcha doin' lookin' at my car man? Did you do that earlier, huh? Came to check out the damage you did huh?". He pointed at the rear light with his lefthand. Or rather the beerbottle in his lefthand.

Sandra went to work on gathering intel through her sophisticated quantum-sensitive apparati. There were some strange readings ..
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:53, Mon 12 Dec 2016.

There was plenty learned; it was a satisfactory use of his time.  Now, to address the emergent issue.

"Shit, he got you too?"  Richard straightened from where he'd been squatting, putting on a vexed scowl.  "Some asshole crunched into my car a block little ways back," he said, putting on his best commiseration growl.  "I didn't get a good look at the fucker.  Did you see him?  Or the car?"


17:15, Today: Richard Jackson rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 6.  manip+empathy to convince the guy to open up.

Sandra furrowed her brow as she studied the data. ++There are strange readings. I'm going to scan the area again to confirm them.++

She walked a little closer to the bus and keyed her remote interface again.

++I don't think I've seen this before. Around the time of the explosion there's a spike in activity. But right after that is... nothing. It lasts for about 1.3 seconds, then things return to "normal"++

Sandra's hand went to scratch her head, but when her glove touched the hood of her hazmat suit, she scowled at herself. ++It's like a dimensional vaccuum. Which should be impossible. There's always at least background activity going on++

The man lowered the beerbottle he'd leveled at Richard just as a blonde heavy-set woman in a pink bathgown and fluffy pink rabbit slippers walked out:"Goddamn it, Jerome. Get back in the house!".
Jerome cringed looking back, then looked back at Richard before heading back in the house:"Saw the car, red convertible, got a partial plate, TH45".
From inside the house the woman once more hollered:"Damn it Jerome, get in here! Tom's dancing in his underwear!". Jerome slipped inside like a beaten dog.

Ai stooped down, carefully collecting bits and pieces as she walked about the scene, examining the details carefully for a few moments.

"+ I've managed to find some seemingly legitimate samples. I'm afraid that I don't have the proper equipment to analyze them here, but back at headquarters, I'm certain that I can learn more.+"

"I'll get the bastard for us both," Richard promised Jerome, nodding grimly to the man as he slunk away.  Only after the man has returned back inside and Richard is already several steps away does he permit himself a subtle smirk and touch his earbud again.

"+Our perp escaped into an alleyway, put on clothing he had prepared beforehand, and escaped by motor vehicle.  I have a description of the car: red convertible, partial plate TH45.  I think we've got what we can from this site.  Vadim, how's our reporter acquaintance?+"

Jerome slinked back into the house as his girlfriend inside turned on the tv's volume and bellowed along with the music: " .. that old time rock and roll".

"When you are done at the scene come back to HQ for evidence analysis. We'll continue from there", mister Light chimed over the comlink.

Vadim watched Anna mingle in the crowds gathered, still conducting interviews.

(when you are finished here we'll return to the VIGIL HQ thread to pick the story up there)
This message was last edited by the player at 08:10, Tue 20 Dec 2016.

I think we're all set, then -- if everyone's okay with that, we'll have Vadim answer the question off-camera when he's available/back and in the meantime return to the HQ.

Richard nodded after a moment, satisfied.  "+Let's load up, agents.  We'll analyze the data back at base.+"

Thus speaking, he picked his way back to the site of the burning man, joined Vadim and the other agents, and made their way back to VIGIL HQ.

Exit to: Amalgam Thread: VIGIL HQ -->

"+ Roger that, heading to the van now.+" She stated as she secured the samples. With a smile and a light sigh, she seemed to take a moment to smooth any perceived wrinkles in her clothing before walking back as indicated.

|Exit To Amalgam Thread: HQ|

When the agents returned to the van Vadim finally answered Richard, "She's still curious and if she actually has seen as many strange cases not adding up as she says she has a link to a lot of unregistered activity.  I think she could make a good low level asset long term.  Give her some more appropriate leads into tech that we've already approved and help it go more mainstream through her reports and use her to help track deviants that otherwise would keep off our radar cause they are new or good at keeping their tracks covered from our style of information tracking."  As soon as Sandra made it into the van he drove them back to HQ.

--> To Amalgam thread--HQ
This message was last edited by the player at 00:55, Fri 23 Dec 2016.

Sandra was still busy rechecking her data when the call to return to HQ came. After a moment, the order registered in her consciousness. With a start she hurriedly saved her accumulated data to storage. ++Roger heading back to the van++

The dimensional vacuum intrigued her, and she wanted nothing more at that moment than to bring in a full compliment of specialists and analysis equipment. But she would have to content herself on pouring over what she had gathered so far.