Harold happily digs into the waiting food, as too does Chastity, who arrives soon after dressed in office wear and a haircut that reminds Jenny of old photos of her great-grandmother. "Oh, don't worry about me if you're busy - I've got plenty of stuff to do today." She explains between bites of bacon. "Work doesn't start until next week, but I've got to go to the school today for orientation. That ends in the early afternoon, so I'll head out and cruise the local gyms, looking for the one with the best, ahem, equipment. Finally, the principal asked me out for drinks with some of the other teachers. So like I said, I won't wilt indoors if you're not with me, I've got plenty of stuff to do without you - though don't take that to mean you can't tag along if you want to, I love spending time with you, sis."
Spoiler: Awareness Roll D100: 75 Looking around the room, Vanessa gets the work. Looking at the clothes, she finds that they certainly stink and look dirty, but they haven't started to rot yet, so she estimates they've been there for something between weeks and months. Looking around the rest of the room, she finds a piece of paper in one of the desks, blank, but with a strange chemical scent. In a draw, she finds a test tube filled with liquid, and by the bed she sees a phone, red light blinking to indicate there's been a voice message. "Mr Place, we've been trying to get in contact with you due to the quantum spectrometer you purchased from us. You've elected to pay in installments, but have consistently failed to meet your payments, and have failed to contact us. According to your bank, you've not contacted them either. I'm afraid that this is your final warning - contact us immediately, or we'll be forced to take legal and financial action. Good day." As the message end, Vanessa checks the computer again - the battery is intact, it just seems like it's out of juice.
“That assumes that she's still in police custody – which is not certain at all. Since her arrest was never announced it is possible that she has been released already – in exchange for a small ''donation'' to the local police. Or she might have been handed over to someone, such as one of the local crime lords or a rich person who has a use for her. Either way her release would not attract a lot of attention due to how few people know she was arrested in the first place.” Azura pointed out as her mind finally started working. “If – and that's a very big 'IF' – she is still in custody, I could use an illusion to hide who I really am and try to meet with her. But even if that works, persuading her to cooperate will be a whole other challenge... On the other hand, if she has been released she might come looking for the vial sooner or later, at which point I could try talking to her, possibly after subduing her again. But that would be quite dangerous for a number of reasons...” She sighed. “In theory I could ask someone with enough influence to arrange a meeting between us and her – but I don't know any such person, and it's not like I can just go to one of the local crime lords or one of the city's powerful people and say ''please help me meet with Toxin – I need to ask her a few questions''. Well, technically I could do that, but I will need to answer a lot of questions and likely pay in some way, so I'd rather not risk it if I don't have to.” She paused as her dirty mind “helpfully” provided numerous ideas about how she would have to pay, very few of which she found enjoyable. Quickly banishing any such thoughts she became thoughtful as she considered another option. “Alternatively we could leave Toxin alone for now and instead investigate the owners of the chemical plant. See what we can learn about them and the things they are involved in – they did offer a reward for the return of the vial, so they are obviously interested in it, whether they know what it is or not...”
Looking at the things she found, the strange smelling piece of paper was suspicious, so Vanessa opts to take it with her. And as she heard the message, "That's... odd. a quantum spectrometer?" She raises an eyebrow wondering what it was, "But since this is the first time the message is being played, that means he disappeared before whoever it was could take action." And since his laptop is still here, that means they probably missed him. The heiress thinks to herself as she decides to take the piece of paper, the test tube of liquid, and the laptop with her as she drives back to her hideout.
"Hmm..." Esmerelda nods in understanding that the problem isn't quite so straightforward. "Yes, the only contact we have with the police is one of Sapphira's seemingly innumerable exes, and from what I gathered, she's somewhat suspicious of us already after you garnered her help for my rescue - thanks again, by the way." The redhead smiles, before pulling out her phone and scrolling through it, the former magical girl still seeming a little uncomfortable with the human tech that was almost useless to her before she lost her powers. "It seems that Ace Chemicals' is a homegrown company - headquartered right here in Century City, conveniently." As Esmerelda recounts her findings, Sapphira approaches, munching on some leftover waffles. "Yeah, and back at the lab Mel mentioned they had some kinda high tech lab here in the city." The blonde names the scientist Azura met last night, before Esmerelda taps on the screen, a frown marring her beautiful face. "Not that I can see - their headquarters is here, but their laboratories are all overseas. No hints of a lab within the city limits."
At this hour the parking was empty. And this was a private place, so almost no one ever came here. Faye moaned as she leaned over the hood, putting her hand on the mask of the car. She put her legs apart, allowing her secretary to roll her skirt up. She moaned as she felt the woman's breasts press against her, her hands travel over her body, squeezing her breasts, their hips bouncing together as if glued. The kiss on her neck made Faye groan, her eyes roll lightly. "I need it... so badly~" She moaned out.
“Any time, Esme.” Azura returned the smile. “And yes, let's not push our luck with the police – we don't need to make Sapphira's friend even more suspicious.” Azura frowned as she listened to what the redhead had discovered. “Interesting. So officially they do not own any labs in the city. In other words the lab is either secret, or is officially owned by someone else. Both makes it rather suspicious.” She paused as she thought of something she had overlooked and mentally smacked herself. “While you're at it try to learn more about Toxin: Who she worked for before and after she became Toxin, any friends or allies she might have, any rivals or enemies... everything. Might as well learn as much about her as we can in order to have an edge when we find her.”
Heading out of the house, Vanessa feels like she's being watched, but sees no one. Strangely, though she left many rooms unexplored, the feeling isn't coming from the house itself. Regardless of her feeling, though, she leaves unmolested. The heiress finds Lawrence seated on the couch, reading glasses on as he peruses through the papers scattered on the table. "Ah, you're back. How did your tour go?"
"I can see that." Crystal giggles, bringing her hand down to give Faye's ass a hard slap, her skimpy thong providing no protection, as the gold in the choker around her neck means that she feels the blow. Faye feels her chest squished against the bonnet, Crystals breasts against her back, as the secretary pushes her down. As her hand moves around to Faye's front, sliding down her stomach to snake beneath the alien's panties, Faye feels the woman's teeth nibble on her earlobe, as she whispers. "A good secretary satisfies her boss' needs... And I'm a very good secretary."
"Sure thing." Esme slowly works her way through various webpages, before making her report. "Looks like Toxin, real name Terra Vooghan, worked for a private arms manufacturer that was closed down for producing illegal bioweapons after being busted by a hero named Amethyst Heart. Afterwards, she moved into business for herself - holding areas for ransom with the threat of toxic attacks. She was responsible for the city hall attack that killed the last mayor, the destruction of the government anti-super unit that was formed a few years ago, and the ransom of the subway system last year. Before you and Amethyst Heart, the last costume to put her in jail was Celesta." She reads the text off the page, before her eyes widen as she spots something. "Weird... It looks like parts of her old company were auctioned publicly after they were taken down - and a lot of it was bought by Ace Chemicals."
“That's quite the resume...” Azura commented, then frowned as she heard the last part. “Wait, what? Ace Chemicals? The owners of the chemical plant? That same Ace Chemicals? Interesting...” She paused briefly, thinking. “Hmm, I wonder if they used the assets they bought to secretly continue Toxin's research and she found out about it. Could this be the reason she attacked the plant?” “So Toxin has fought a couple of heroes before me, but what about villains? Has she ever had conflict with any of the other villains in the city? Also, any indication that Toxin has worked for someone important, be it one of the local crime lords or one of the people of power in the city?”
Though she regrets not searching the other rooms, with how rundown every other area looked. She figured there was nothing of interest in those areas. Though as she felt like she was being watched, Vanessa remains alert as she drives back to the safehouse. Once there, she lays down the things she retrieved. "The tour was informative, it seems that Oscar had some secret projects concerning mind control, and consciousness transfers." She lets out a tired sigh, "Other than that, the location I sent you. There was supposed to be a doctor there, a Jack Place, have you heard of him?" The heiress asked as she places the dead laptop, strange smelling piece of paper, and the test tube on a table. "Here's what I found. I figured the paper has something like invisible ink on it with how much it smells of chemicals. Also, do you know what a quantum spectrometer is?"
Shit! I forgot I gave her my real name! He flinches at the sound of glass breaking. "Nico is probably best. Uh, sorry for startling you." He ventures hesitantly, trying to gauge Lana's reaction beyond the initial shock.
"In that case we can set aside some time for tomorrow." Jenny replied. "That'll give me the opportunity to set up this meeting for today and time to prepare for a work activity tonight. I'm sorry but I don't think I'll be home until late." she apologized to her husband. It was then she remembered she hadn't clued him in on what happened. "Oh! So yesterday while I was out I stumbled upon another big opportunity for... the business; it's a part of that project I've been working on at nights. If everything goes right it should work out as a huge win for us. So I guess don't wait up." Once the meal was finished and all parties parted ways, Jenny contacted Fitzgerald Industries to set up a meeting for later that day before she changed into her Psychana costume. She paused as she admired herself in the mirror. The suit fit as well as it ever did, but something felt... off about it. Almost as though her hips and thighs were uncomfortable in the skin-tight material. With a frown she pushed the annoyance from her mind and went for a quick patrol around the area. It would kill whatever time there was before her meeting.
"Hmm..." Esmerelda's quiet as she continues to search the web. "I haven't seen anything about conflicts with villains. There's one reporter here who posted an article about her being hired by a Blue Lotus lieutenant, but it says the article was retracted after a lawsuit."
"That's disturbing." Lawrence nods. "Unfortunately, no - I've never come across that name." He eyes the paper and test tube. "No idea what that is - some scientific doo-dad, I would assume. As for the ink, there's only one way to find out." Picking up the paper, he examines it, before unscrewing the test tube and applying a few drops of liquid to it. "Nothing. Wait..." He pulls out the lighter he uses for his pipe, flicking on a flame, before holding it up beneath the paper. Before Vanessa's eyes, text appears in black ink, reading "AFIOKI667BU", the characters slightly faded. Below it, the lettering seeming fresher and newer than the gibberish letters and numbers, is written: "Bell Tower, 3:00"
"Um, that's all right." Lana kneels down, collecting the shattered pieces. "So, uh... Wow, this is awkward. So last night - what happened between you and Lee and me... Was that some kind of...undercover thing? Testing to see if we were really on the straight and narrow?"
"I figured as much." Vanessa shrugs as Lawrence didn't have a clue what a quantum spectrometer was as well. But as he used the liquid on the paper, "Gibberish? Or perhaps the password for this laptop?" She raised an eyebrow, grabbing her own laptop's charger to see if it'll match with Jack's. "And the Bell Tower at 3? Is that am or pm? There's no date too." She mumbled, trying to revive the dead computer by giving it some much needed charging. While waiting for the thing to boot, Vanessa turns to Lawrence, "Have you found anything else of interest in those papers?"
“Based on this and what you discovered previously, it seems Toxin avoids fighting other supers, at least publicly.” Azura noted. “Using a lawsuit to silence someone and cover their involvement seems like something the Blue Lotus would do... does it say which lieutenant? That might be a good place to start.”
"That's fine. Infi-, I mean, my boss is riding me pretty hard lately. I might not be home, either." Harold sighs. "Oh, you'll have to tell me all about this opportunity when we have some time." He smiles. Harold departs with a kiss on the cheek, and Chastity with a peck on the lips, before left Jenny's alone to get ready. Flying around the neighborhood, it isn't long before Jenny spots a group of men loitering around a pawn shop. After a moment discussing amongst each other, the men pull on masks and charge through the front door.
