Persons of Interest: Nadiya Ivanova Kuznetsiva (Quest)

[HK]

Marynn checks the brief on her wrist computer to be sure she has the right apartment, and then with a quick glance to both sides to look for any passer by, attempts to pick the lock on the door.
She quickly discovers though, that the key hole has been filled in with resin, making it impossible to take the subtle approach to getting in.
Hesitating briefly, she looks at the door for handholds, and for how the hinges are built.

[Count Loot]

That could be important. And here I thought I could do this without screwing with peoples' heads... Heigan silently prepared one of his preferred infiltration spells. It was a simple compulsion spell, with the basic order of 'trust Heigan.' Almost completely undetectable, it would fade in less than a day and the girl likely wouldn't even remember anything amiss. Casting the spell, he got the girls attention once more. "I think I should stop in to see Miss Olga first, if you could wait outside while I speak with her, it would be much appreciated."
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"My enemy’s enemy is a problem for later. In the meantime, they might be useful."
- Inquisitor Quixos (attributed)
My mans!

[Stardrake]

Apartment Reception

"Don't see any reason why not. Family, after all. Boris, any chance you can get these folks a master key for 215?"

Against all stereotypes, it appears that Boris is the more intellectual of the pair. "If she wasn't wearing it, that jewelry is probably gone - the dratted good-for-nothings'll probably destroyed any actual evidence in the process of ransacking the place for anything of value. Besides, like I said, we're not allowed to let anyone in there." But I may be able to get a bit on the side, and how would they know? "Naturally, they didn't think to offer to pay the rent to cover this indeterminate period of time with the room sealed..."

Boris's fingertips tap on the top of the desk in a not-quite-casual manner.

Nadiya's Apartment
The door has a round handle, with the lock mounted into the handle. The hinges appear to be on the other side of the door.

The College
The casual approach is successful in bypassing the guards, as long as there are no obvious weapons in evidence.

Looking around and glancing at the campus guide (or referencing the campus data by POST) reveals a lack of any consolidated science area - sciences such as biology, zoology, chemistry and geology seem to be spread out according to which industry uses them. Physics lacks a building of its own, being attached instead to the engineering building.

Gypsy Camp
"Okay," the girl says, shifting direction slightly. On reaching the tent and lifting the flap, she motions Heigan in. "Mistress Olga, there's a man here for..."

"Ahhh, the Noble Demon has arrived. Please, come into my tent and take a seat." A middle-aged gypsy woman who is presumably Mistress Olga waves Heigan towards a covered table with two stools. Predictably, a crystal ball sits within a mount on the table.
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Current SAN: 24
dS/dt: +5 S/d
Flavour: Cautious optimism

[The Dunedan]

Stand down for a second, Vitya: I think this guy might be a little easier to work on than that...


*Dunedan snorts derisively as Boris described the Police demands...the undertone of the comment is all to clear, and he decides to keep things a little less noticable than a gold ounce. Reaching deeper into the same pocket, he pulls out a roll of battered paper money and peels off four five-hundred Ruble notes.*

Figures they'd stick you like that...cops never think anything through. And you're probably right about the jewelry, but Nadiya was pretty smart. When we were kids, she used to buy marijuana or vodka off the Gypsies, came up with all kinds of places to hide things. I just wanna check and see if she managed to save anything in case....well, you know. Will two thousand cover the rent for awhile? Just in case she comes back?

That oughta keep Boris well-supplied with his vices of choice for a couple of weeks out here...

[Stardrake]

Apartment Reception

The money disappears almost as soon as it appears, leaving a key in its place. "Well, I suppose since you're family I can make an exception. Just try to leave everything where you find it, and if you've got a pair of gloves, wear them so you don't get your fingerprints confused with whoever took her." Although I'm pretty sure whatever happened to her happened elsewhere, and if there were any prints those clods have probably obliterated them anyway...
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Current SAN: 24
dS/dt: +5 S/d
Flavour: Cautious optimism

[HK]

Marynn considers, for a moment, simply tearing the door out from its frame.
But mindful that this is a low profile recon mission, decides to head back down to ask her alpha for new directions.
Besides, best to have some others nearby in case the door is booby trapped. Someone's made at least some effort to blocking entry.

[The Dunedan]

*Dunedan slips the key into his hand and nods gratefully to Boris and the guard, hoisting his bottle for another sip before pocketing it again.*

Thank you both, from all of us. I'll make sure Nadiya knows how helpful you were. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes to check her flat, but we'll be careful.

*Dunedan heads upstairs, encountering Marynn on her way down. He makes sure to walk tiredly, mildly drunkenly, like the over-wrought, under-slept big brother he's supposed to be.*

I got the key from the receptionist...let's go have a quick look around.

[HK]

"Lock has been jammed with resin, I couldn't pick it. Thought about taking it off the frame. We are still low profile though."

[The Dunedan]

Got it covered...

*Dunedan heads up the stairs and examines the door. The resin appears to be a low-temperature epoxy or possibly even natural.*

Oh yeah...not a problem.

*Dunedan reaches into his pocket and withdraws a small, torch-style cigarette lighter, which he ignites and plays back and forth over the hole, talking to Marynn the whole time to cover the few second's worth of noise. He relates the comments of the guards in an approving tone as he waits for the resin to, hopefully, soften and melt out of the lock.*

[Stardrake]

Marynn's Apartment

Sure enough, the application of flame proves to work as Dunedan anticipated, the molten resin dribbling out of the lock. It begins to set quickly, but doesn't appear to be particularly sticky - whoever made it appeared to want something that could be quickly and easily cleaned up after it was no longer needed.

Attempting to open the lock with the key shows that the lock is none the worse for the experience, but the door still refuses to open. Examination reveals that the door appears to be bolted from the inside.
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Current SAN: 24
dS/dt: +5 S/d
Flavour: Cautious optimism

[Steven]

Viktor follows Dunedan up the stairs and stands waiting for the lock to be opened. Carefully Viktor starts a brief scan of the rooms around the one they are about to enter.
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My Profile and characters

[Count Loot]

After introducing himself Heigan sits in the offered seat and faces the fortune teller. "You gave me quite the surprise when you started calling me over."
_________________
"My enemy’s enemy is a problem for later. In the meantime, they might be useful."
- Inquisitor Quixos (attributed)
My mans!

[HK]

Aware that brute force isn't likley the best approach to the locked door, but lacking in training on how to deal with an investigation, Marynn instead looks to Dunadan for direction on how to proceed.

[Stardrake]

Gypsy Camp

Olga chuckles. "Most of my trade is simply fooling the gullible, Noble Demon, but when the gift calls, sometimes it is it that controls me. Tea?"

Without waiting for a response, Olga pours a pair of teacups from a kettle. It appears it was made ready just before Heigan arrived.

"As you may have already surmised," Olga continues, "I have a fortune for you and the other Shining Ones. I hope you understand that there is little that I know beyond the words of the prophecy, although if you have any other questions I will try to answer them."

Placing a hand on the crystal ball, the fortune teller appears to gather herself begins to intone in a mystical-sounding voice. "The one you seek lies in a dark place, her betrayer catching her aghast. Quench the flame before splitting stone, lest all you find be blackened bone. Six and six and six have you for her trace, yet a third and a third of a third be already past."

A faint blue light that had grown within the ball winks out as the fortune teller falls silent.
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Current SAN: 24
dS/dt: +5 S/d
Flavour: Cautious optimism

[Hyp3rB14d3]

Hyp3rB14d3 considers questioning the staff, but decides to hold off on that until after he's done investigating the building. After all, if any of them were involved in her disappearance, they might try to hide any evidence once they know someone's looking for her. Hyp3rB14d3 begins walking toward the engineering building.
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Woo! New Quest thread!

[Steven]

((OOC: gah, that will teach me for posting in a hurry and not seeing stardrakes post. Must remember to refresh the page next time ))

"If I may..." Viktor reaches out with a probe, and carefully checks the door for any magical traps. Assuming he finds none he applies a bit of TK to the door bolt to open the door.
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My Profile and characters

[The Dunedan]

Excellent...

*Dunedan is obviously pleased with the "new hire" as he observes Viktor attempt to manipulate the lock. He had been considering an attempt to "pop" the hinges, but such an operation would be noisy (though not as loud as breaking the door clean down).*

[Stardrake]

Nadiya's Apartment

Viktor's probe reveals no suspicious thaumaturgical activity, and the bolt slides open without resistance to Viktor's efforts.

Engineering Building

The entrance room to the engineering department is decorated with a handful of models of gadgets and scale models of industrial buildings and equipments. Some are particularly impressive (by local standards) products of school projects, others are industrial projects that alumni of the college have contributed to. None are particularly inventive, although a model of a supposedly more efficient tractor stands out as being the only project in display credited to a first-year student.

A bored female receptionist eyes Hyp3r from behind a desk, rolls her eyes, and mutters something uncomplimentary about his eating and exercise habits and how they compare to Americans. Signs in Russian point the way to the lecture hall, tutorial rooms, practical exercise rooms, computer labs, and staff offices.
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Current SAN: 24
dS/dt: +5 S/d
Flavour: Cautious optimism

[The Dunedan]

Nice work, kid...

*Dunedan pats Viktor on the shoulder as the door swings open under pressure. He moves to the right side of the door, checking/clearing that side as Marynn and Viktor move in behind him.*

[Count Loot]

"Hmm, this could be problematic." Heigan relayed the prophecy to the rest of the team with a note attached: I'm no good with riddles and such, so if anyone has any ideas, feel free to chip in. "Now this is going to be bugging me all day."
_________________
"My enemy’s enemy is a problem for later. In the meantime, they might be useful."
- Inquisitor Quixos (attributed)
My mans!