With a smile that said "It's OK, I got this," Josh breezed up to the reception desk and gave the elderly man a wink and finger guns. "Hey grandpa, how's it goin'? Could you point me towards Director Stevens or Professor Smart? I've got some questions for 'em. Business stuff, could be big." He paused, looking at the sign. "Any of those, whatchamacallits, mummified crocodiles or something in the new exhibit? Maybe like a half-panther, half-snake? Cat-headed demigod?"
AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
Briael, seeing that Josh has the direct approach covered, silently points at the sign for the exhibit. With a meaningful glance at Michael, he then points at the nearest clock before heading into the gift shop to loiter.
The small giftshop contains various nicknacks. Fridge magnets, rubber band guns, t-shirts and the like. Upon closer inspection, much of the merchandise has significant dust collecting on it. The building itself has had some superficial updates over the years, but the walls are still stone, and the windows and glass all original. The neon drop lights have a bit of a stutter and a hum.
The old man looks up from what he's reading and adjusts his glasses. "Oh... hello. Well..." he trails off for a second. "Mr. Stevens is in his office, I believe. I haven't seen Professor Smart this morning... but that man over there hanging the banner is Harvey - he's Professor Smart's assistant. If you have any questions about the new exhibit he'd be the one to talk to."
The gentleman hanging the banner appears at first glance to be around Josh's own age. He has his hair pulled back in a ponytail and is wearing jeans and a khaki button up work shirt - under the work shirt you can see that he's wearing a black tee. It's mostly obscured, but you can make out the letters 'GADE' in a gold colored beveled font. There's a nice looking knife with an antler handle on his belt.
Bryan plops the remote down on the little cheap wooden stand beside the bed. "Eh, just feelin' cooped up I guess. Doctors say I'll be in here a couple more days till got to finish some observation stuff and they got to give me and Debbie a bunch of shots for rabies, apparently." He looks over at the lady in the other bed. "She got it worse than me - they got her sedated because of the pain. Her arm's messed up pretty bad." He points to the bandage on his face. "They missed my eye, but the doc says I'll probably have a big scar on my cheekbone. Maybe I can come up with some bad ass story about it."
"There isn't much in the papers about you, per se. Just that you were attacked by rabid dogs and fended them off. Is that accurate?
"I'll confess that part of the reason I came is to make sure that this wasn't of a more... mystical nature. The Lord has sent stranger plagues than this, but perhaps that is just my imagination running wild. You'll forgive an old priest his eccentricities.
"Before I go, is there anything I can give to you? Any guidance you may seek, or sins to repent?"
"Assistant, eh? Have you seen him before? Maybe he's a living statue or something. Let's find out." Josh left the bewildered old man at the reception desk, and sauntered over to Professor Smart's assistant. "Hey there, ponytail. How's the exhibit setup going? Got any weird animals inside, like a flaming ibis or something?"
Bryan ruffles his hair in thought. "Well, I mean... the whole thing happened so fast. One second I'm jogging and timing my pace - next second I got my face full of dog teeth. Then just *poof* they were gone." He looks over at lady in the other bed, "I crawled about ten feet before I found Deb laying there in about as bad a shape as me." He looks back to Abe. "The cop that found us stopped by earlier -- said that they couldn't find any signs of the dogs. Seems kinda hinkey if you ask me."
About this time, a broad and stocky and slightly balding man walks into the room. He's wearing blue slacks with a white shirt and tie and a brown jacket. Most striking is his belt, featuring a shiney gold badge and a Beretta 92. "Excuse me, father... these patients aren't open for public visitors." The young man hanging the banner pops off his headphones. A grungy voice and guitar are audible from the yellow foam earpads. "Huh? What?" he blinks for a second and narrows his eyes. "You look familiar... do I know you?" He steps down the ladder, "Uhh... no weird animals, just some artifacts from our dig in Karnak..." he still is giving Josh an odd look. "Did you go to North City High School?"
"Nah, you probably know me from my hit TV show Night Moves. It's pretty big now, I've got a van and everything." Josh handed the young man a card with the show's logo and "check your local listings!" underneath. "Hey, you said Karnak right? Got any of those cool sphinx-lookin' things with the goat horns?"
At the word hinkey Abe does his best to look directly into Bryan's eyes and give his best sympathetic face. As the policeman (?) interrupts him, he mumbles a prayer, makes the sign of the cross, and tells Bryan, "May you find the health and peace you seek. Should you need any further guidance, I am always available," and he hands Bryan a card with the church phone number.
He exits the room, head bowed. When the door behind him closes, he turns to face the officer and says "Why exactly is this room couple being monitored? They seem perfectly normal to me."
"Ooooh yeah... that show on late night public access. Cool." Harvey wipes some dust and gunk off his hands with a bandanna and puts it back in his pocket. "That's the Amun Ram, and nah -- nothing like that." He gestures back towards the door behind him. "Biggest thing was a small chamber, lots of jewelry and stuff in side. Canopic jars, amulets, rings, braclets - that kinda thing. The Professors been spending most of his time dating and cross referencing this stuff with other finds in the area." He gets a bit of an un-easy look about it, "I know you're into this stuff, and I'd love to show you the exhibit, but the Professors is being a total hard-ass about the gala tomorrow night and the reveal. The only people I think have been in there are myself, the prof, mr stevens and like -- the janitor maybe."
A look crosses his face, as if he had a great idea. "But hey! What I can do is make sure you and a couple guests can come to the opening! About how many people do you have on your crew? The Professor said no 'media' but you like aren't a news crew, so maybe I can talk him into it." The detective lowers his brow a bit and crosses his arms. "Yeah, they are perfectly normal -- and they don't need a bunch of people hassling them over a dog attack. We have enough issues with that big mouth patrol man, spouting off about 'finding no trace of the animal' and all that. Now you got people mumbling about mafiosos sickin' trained attack dogs of people and then taking off with them. And a whole of other garabge and rumors we really don't need to deal with."
He moves over and stands a bit closer to the hospital room door, "And all that aside, that guy is a bit of a ham when the reporters show up. People just need to let us do our jobs and find out where those dogs are hiding out."
"Sometimes, people make up rumors because they are deeply unsatisfied with their own lives. They cannot bear the weight of the mundanity of existence. These are the people that I think are in the most need of my help. Would you mind sharing the name of your patrol man and his location? I would like to take this burden from him."
"Four total. If you could talk him into it, that'd be rad. I'm gonna check out the rest of the exhibits in the meantime, I'll catch back up with you later." Josh gave the guy a mock salute and wandered off in search of a janitor's closet.
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Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
The old man looks up from what he's reading and adjusts his glasses. "Oh... hello. Well..." he trails off for a second. "Mr. Stevens is in his office, I believe. I haven't seen Professor Smart this morning... but that man over there hanging the banner is Harvey - he's Professor Smart's assistant. If you have any questions about the new exhibit he'd be the one to talk to."
The gentleman hanging the banner appears at first glance to be around Josh's own age. He has his hair pulled back in a ponytail and is wearing jeans and a khaki button up work shirt - under the work shirt you can see that he's wearing a black tee. It's mostly obscured, but you can make out the letters 'GADE' in a gold colored beveled font. There's a nice looking knife with an antler handle on his belt.
Bryan plops the remote down on the little cheap wooden stand beside the bed. "Eh, just feelin' cooped up I guess. Doctors say I'll be in here a couple more days till got to finish some observation stuff and they got to give me and Debbie a bunch of shots for rabies, apparently." He looks over at the lady in the other bed. "She got it worse than me - they got her sedated because of the pain. Her arm's messed up pretty bad." He points to the bandage on his face. "They missed my eye, but the doc says I'll probably have a big scar on my cheekbone. Maybe I can come up with some bad ass story about it."
"What are the papers saying about me?"
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
"There isn't much in the papers about you, per se. Just that you were attacked by rabid dogs and fended them off. Is that accurate?
"I'll confess that part of the reason I came is to make sure that this wasn't of a more... mystical nature. The Lord has sent stranger plagues than this, but perhaps that is just my imagination running wild. You'll forgive an old priest his eccentricities.
"Before I go, is there anything I can give to you? Any guidance you may seek, or sins to repent?"
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
About this time, a broad and stocky and slightly balding man walks into the room. He's wearing blue slacks with a white shirt and tie and a brown jacket. Most striking is his belt, featuring a shiney gold badge and a Beretta 92. "Excuse me, father... these patients aren't open for public visitors."
The young man hanging the banner pops off his headphones. A grungy voice and guitar are audible from the yellow foam earpads. "Huh? What?" he blinks for a second and narrows his eyes. "You look familiar... do I know you?" He steps down the ladder, "Uhh... no weird animals, just some artifacts from our dig in Karnak..." he still is giving Josh an odd look. "Did you go to North City High School?"
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
He exits the room, head bowed. When the door behind him closes, he turns to face the officer and says "Why exactly is this room couple being monitored? They seem perfectly normal to me."
A look crosses his face, as if he had a great idea. "But hey! What I can do is make sure you and a couple guests can come to the opening! About how many people do you have on your crew? The Professor said no 'media' but you like aren't a news crew, so maybe I can talk him into it."
The detective lowers his brow a bit and crosses his arms. "Yeah, they are perfectly normal -- and they don't need a bunch of people hassling them over a dog attack. We have enough issues with that big mouth patrol man, spouting off about 'finding no trace of the animal' and all that. Now you got people mumbling about mafiosos sickin' trained attack dogs of people and then taking off with them. And a whole of other garabge and rumors we really don't need to deal with."
He moves over and stands a bit closer to the hospital room door, "And all that aside, that guy is a bit of a ham when the reporters show up. People just need to let us do our jobs and find out where those dogs are hiding out."
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
"Sometimes, people make up rumors because they are deeply unsatisfied with their own lives. They cannot bear the weight of the mundanity of existence. These are the people that I think are in the most need of my help. Would you mind sharing the name of your patrol man and his location? I would like to take this burden from him."
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists