I, square bracket recruit's name square bracket...

[throughthedark]

Who: Private Rupert Giles and anyone along his beat
Where: The mansion and surrounding area
When: During the event
Rating: I can't see it going over PG-13
Summary: There's a new kid at the W.P.D. precinct. Will he be able to handle the pressures of the job? Will he honor his vow to uphold law and order? Will he catch the perps? And, more importantly, will he be able to deliver the appropriate witty one-liners?
The Story:


((ooc: This post is limited to Giles acting out police type shenanigans. Those who I've already planned a scene with can tag in here, unless you've got a separate log going for your stuff and want me to tag you instead. Just PM me. If anyone else has any ideas on how to assist in Giles' inquiries, you've also come to the right post. Hope this is okay!))

"In the criminal justice system..."

"Who on Earth keeps saying that?"

Giles doesn't know why these people keep insisting that he's a cop, and a "rookie new guy", at that. They gave him a blue jacket and an appropriately sized vest, both printed with "W.P.D". They gave him a pair of sunglasses, which did not seem to be standard police issue, but which they complained about his conduct if he did not wear.

"Who keeps saying what, kid? Better watch it. More than a few good men have cracked like eggs on this job. You're already up on report."

"I'm on report for asking why we're pursuing a robbery a when we ourselves are from homicide. And collecting evidence besides. I'm sure that can't be legal."

"Take it from me - keep your head down, kid. Don't make waves."

"They", in turn, seemed to be little more than homunculus or golems, or incredibly well designed puppets. One of them, claiming to be his "partner", followed him around the place, talking about cases.

Giles was utterly baffled. And annoyed. He'd thought the last event would see the end of him followed all over the place. Mostly, though this was even more incomprehensible than the mess with the shadows. He knew this had something to do with Alice's earlier inquiry - "If you could be anyone else, who would you be?", but he didn't want to be some ridiculous misunderstanding of a policeman. Giles had never gotten on with police, for obvious reasons.

Rather than the mansion, he seemed to be walking down a busy city street - New York, but Giles didn't know that, having never been to New York. He was also eating a doughnut, because people seemed to be giving him marginally less funny looks when he did. At seemingly random intervals, his "partner" would declare that people were suspects or people of interest in an investigation, and demand that he take them in for questioning.

He got lectured, mandatory discussions with a homunculus psychiatrist, guns pointed at him, and generally knocked around by the worrying real NPCs when he resisted the flow of things. On the other hand, when he tried to play along, his partner was killed in a drive-by. Giles made an effort at putting on a good show of remorse, and was thankfully not assigned a new one from the hordes of NPCs.

That doesn't mean he might not find himself teaming up with you for a case. Got to catch the bad guys, right? And that definitely doesn't mean he's at all familiar with how he's supposed to behave - mostly, Giles takes his cues and stumbles along over the course of the event, waiting for it all be over. Feed him a cue, and you'll have his undying gratitude. 
 

Comments

[selfrespecting]

It isn't that she wants a look around the crime scene, but it's not as if they have any choice. It seems that she and Giles are the only two people here who are actually real, since surely someone else would have shown up by now if they'd fallen into this fake world with them. The whole idea of someone so young being an investigator makes her wonder how the act doesn't break down around that, but she's not going to draw attention to it.

That comment called over from afar causes Martha to bristle, even though this is all imaginary. Even if she isn't who they're expecting her to be, it still grates at her that she's being accused of being some kind of burden.

Feathers ruffled, she ducks under the crime scene tape and moves toward the corpse first. That's an area she's more familiar with, rather than archaeology and all that, so it seems like a good place to start.

"My name's Martha, by the way," she says over her shoulder in Giles' direction as she walks toward the body. "Kind of an odd way to first meet, isn't it? But we'll just have to get through this."

[throughthedark]

It probably says a lot about Giles that the sight of the dead body doesn't even faze him. It's a corpse with its skull caved in. Fairly straightforward, to him, and thank god for that. This day is bad enough as it is.

Still, he looks up just long enough to offer Martha an apologetic smile. "It certainly is. But, um, I imagine that's not uncommon, here. You're right - we'll just have to manage. I suppose solving this case might be a good start."

He casts a look around the room. There are, indeed, places marked where objects had been stolen, in a fashion he's sure aren't actually used in real life. But this isn't real life - this is a play.

"You really don't know anything about archaeology? I suppose it doesn't matter - I don't recognize anything here, either. Perhaps this place made the artwork up as well as the people."

[selfrespecting]

Even if everyone else is playing this straight, there are definitely some giveaways that this isn't actually real. It's the way the scene is set, small touches that make it clear that it wouldn't actually be like this in the real world. It's all too polished, too much like what you'd expect.

But right, they solve this and get out of here and maybe they can focus on actually engaging in those pleasantries that people usually fall into during a first meeting. She's curious to know why someone so young got picked for a role like this, for instance. Then again, it could be completely random.

Martha kneels down next to the body, frowning as she reaches into her pocket and finds exactly what she needs there: a latex glove. She pulls it on and then reaches out to move the head back and forth. The damage to the skull is severe. She doubts this was just some blunt force trauma...

At Giles' question, she glances up and shakes her head. "Not more than the average person, at least. I'm a doctor, but apparently Wonderland isn't interested in that. We're just going to have to fake our way through this."

A few of the others are eyeing them suspiciously, and Martha quickly stands. "Right, on to the artwork. I wonder if it's possible that one of them was used as the murder weapon. A heavy enough sculpture, maybe..."

[throughthedark]

Giles winces at an old memory, accompanied by a phantom pain in his head. "A heavy enough statue could certainly do the job," he says, with certainty that speaks of experience.

He moves to take a look around the gallery, a proper look at the "artwork". He spies an empty plinth that might hold the culprit, but he also spies something else. Giles notices that few of the others are eyeing them suspiciously. He tries to think. There's still something that's missing, something they're not...doing, in order to move on.

He comes up with the catcall from earlier - that had definitely been significant, a piece of direct interference on par with other "encouragement" he's had to deal with so far to play along.

Giles sighs. "So, you've never really worked with police before, Miss Jones?"

[selfrespecting]

It's surprising that the imaginary thief could have absconded with as much artwork as appears to be missing from the gallery. Martha wonders if that's meant to indicate that it wasn't a single criminal, but a group of people working together as a team. It's something to keep in mind, at the least.

They should ask about the security systems, as well. Shouldn't there be security cameras in a place like this? They were likely disabled in order to carry out the crime, but it still seems as if this place should have been guarded a bit better. Convenient for the sake of a telly program, perhaps?

She's lost in thought when Giles' question breaks through, and she turns toward him, uncertain if he's asking her directly or trying to play a part.

"Not exactly," she admits. "I've carried out plenty of investigations, though. Just not... completely orthodox ones." She's mainly investigated temporal issues alongside the doctor, or looked into some bizarre situation to find out who was behind it. A homicide like this almost feels straight-forward in comparison.

[throughthedark]

"Well, for all we know, this might not be completely orthodox. I think the methods by which we've found ourselves on this case speak for that."

That was genuinely asking the question. And Giles was impressed - really, it seemed like they might make a good team even outside ridiculous happenstances like this. He was also out of practice in solving cases that really were everything they seemed to be, but he suspected that was the case here. Even if it was all an illusion.

There was probably more than one thief, even if all signs pointed to only one murderer. There was way too much missing from walls and pedestals for anyone but a blind security guard to miss being smuggled out.

"I don't think we're supposed to like one another. Or, um, at the least, I don't think we're supposed to be communicating as we are. The ones by the door are starting to give me funny looks."

[selfrespecting]

Giles brings up a good point. This entire situation is more or less a result of something out of the ordinary, seeing how it's one of the mansion's events -- which means that for all that they know, the crime here might be supernatural in nature in well.

His remark inspires a raised eyebrow, and Martha casts a glance over her shoulder at the people standing near the entrance. It's like Giles said -- they're eyeing them like hawks. She sighs and rolls her eyes. "Can't they mind their own business? We're working, aren't we?"

Still, it seems like they'll have to play along. Martha isn't much of an actress, but she gets the feeling that so long as they put an effort in, it should count. "Right, then." She shoots Giles a small, subtle smiling before she tosses her head and marches away from him in a huff, moving toward one of the art displays that's empty of its piece.

She stands there, hands on her hips, and goes about examining it. There's no scuffing or any other indications of the painting being lifted up off the wall and away. It's all immaculate. Is the thief just that good, or does this mean something else?