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secretoracle's Games => Back Issues => Topic started by: secretoracle on March 06, 2009, 11:45:42 AM



Title: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: secretoracle on March 06, 2009, 11:45:42 AM
Mr. Heep's room is one of the science classrooms.  He's often found there after class.  Colin gave him the perfume and the sound device from the theater on Monday during the day.  Alicia seeks him out. 


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: AlleyCat on March 06, 2009, 12:06:57 PM
Outside the door, Alicia takes a calming breath.

This is part of her plan to prepare; she must cultivate resources to deal with the things she can't. Heep has already demonstrated a willingness to help in dealing with paranormal situations. All she needs to do is establish access and secure his cooperation.

Once she's ready, she steps in and knocks softly on the open door. "Mr. Heep?" she calls.


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: secretoracle on March 06, 2009, 01:43:49 PM
Mr. Heep looks up at Alicia over the tops of his glasses.  "Yes?, come in."  he says, waving her into the room.


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: AlleyCat on March 06, 2009, 01:55:35 PM
Taking a properly respectful demeanor, Alicia walks up to Mr. Heep and extends her hand in greeting.

"Sir? My name is Alicia Vega. I'm a friend of Colin's. I'm helping out with the..." she waves her hand vaguely, "thing with the perfume."


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: secretoracle on March 06, 2009, 03:05:39 PM
"Oh!"  he says, shaking her hand, "Nice to meet you Miss Vega."  He slides his chair over to his brief case and pulls out a folder, handing it to her.  "Pretty interesting stuff, Very complex formula, some ingredients that didn't make sense to me, but based on what Colin told me, and the other chemical compounds I've seen this year it's possible this is part of a two part chemical mixture."  The folder contains a diagram of a molecule, and a lot of scientific notations about the chemical makeup of things.  "My guess is that you get the desired response by giving someone chemical number one, and then whoever wears the perfume becomes the focus of the response.  I guess in this case it wasn't love, but hate."  He reaches up to the folder and tugs out another part way, "This is the analysis of what was on the outside of the bottle.  It reacts to certain non-visible light so it might just be a marking agent of some kind."


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: AlleyCat on March 06, 2009, 03:19:09 PM
Alicia struggles to keep up without her eyes glazing over. She manages to extract some salient points from the lecture.

"So this stuff is sort of like the stuff you had to deal with before? Could it have been made by the same guy? And is there any connection to the sound machine that Colin brought in?"

She starts as she assimilates the last bit. "Wait. There was something on the outside of the bottle?" She looks down at her gloves; they're the same ones she wore yesterday. "Um, any idea what it does besides..." Here she has to pause. Non-visible light? WTF?


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: secretoracle on March 06, 2009, 03:43:16 PM
He shakes his head, "It looks like it's just a marker chemical.  Maybe so someone can see who has handled the bottle?"  He slips another folder from his bag and hands if to her.  "the other item was a ground loop isolator.  they're used to help keep noise out of a sound system.  Like in your car, or if you have sound equipment operating near high voltage lines.  It wasn't incredibly well made.  Whoever built it needs a little more practice soldering.  Otherwise it seems pretty unremarkable.  As for the chemicals?  Possible they were made by the same person.  This and the love goo were both very sophisticated, so it's possible."


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: AlleyCat on March 06, 2009, 04:00:07 PM
Alicia doesn't even bother looking at the contents of the folder; her head hurts enough as it is.

"So it's unlikely that the machine caused people to break down in the theater? Wait, could it be only part of a system? Like the perfume? Maybe there was another machine? Or maybe it reacted with a chemical in the theater?"

"And the hate perfume. Colin said you helped come up with an antidote to the love goo. Could you do the same with this stuff?"


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: secretoracle on March 06, 2009, 04:16:49 PM
"I doubt the ground loop isolator was part of a system, but I'd need to test it under the same conditions as the theater.  As for the perfume, I can certainly try."


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: AlleyCat on March 06, 2009, 04:25:44 PM
Alicia gives him her best smile. "Thank you, sir."

Her face falls back to a serious mien as she thinks out loud. "So if we assume the same guy did the perfume and the goo, we're looking for someone who's really good at chemistry and has the equipment to make this stuff."

She looks at Mr. Heep apologetically. "I wasn't around the first time, so I may be going over already traveled ground, but... Do you have an idea how fancy the equipment would have to be create these sorts of chemicals?"


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: secretoracle on March 06, 2009, 04:34:25 PM
"Bathroom chemistry if you really know your stuff.  Nothing you can't get from an online supply house."


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: AlleyCat on March 06, 2009, 04:39:56 PM
"Oh."

Alicia collects the folders handed to her and offers them back. "Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Heep. I'll let Colin know what you found."

She hesitates, unsure how to broach the subject. "Um, I'm not sure if Colin had, ah, any sort of arrangement with you about..." She gestures at the folders helplessly.


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: secretoracle on March 06, 2009, 04:49:31 PM
He shrugs and takes the folders, ,"I can hold onto these.  Let me know if you need them.  Only too happy to help out."


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: AlleyCat on March 06, 2009, 04:54:07 PM
Alicia smiles again gratefully. "Thanks, Mr. Heep!"

She stops short of the door and turns around with a quizzical look. "Mr. Heep? Someone working with all these chemicals, wouldn't he inevitably get some of them on him?"


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: secretoracle on March 06, 2009, 04:56:05 PM
"When you work with a lot of them you tend to wear a lot of protective gear.  You might get some on you, but it wouldn't be much."


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: AlleyCat on March 06, 2009, 05:30:47 PM
Alicia is undaunted. "There might still be enough. I might try to take a sniff of the ingredients for the stuff, if you could get some. It might help finger the guy responsible."


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: secretoracle on March 06, 2009, 05:46:51 PM
Mr. Heep looks over his glasses at her again.  "It's something like thirty different chemicals, but I can make a list."  He shrugs, not sure where this is going.


Title: Re: Chapter 57-7, Alicia goes to see Mr. Heep
Post by: AlleyCat on March 06, 2009, 06:08:00 PM
Alicia flashes her smile once more. "Thanks! And if any of those are rare enough not to be found just sitting around, even better!"

She waves farewell to the teacher and skips out of the classroom.

Once back in the halls, she finds a comfortable corner and laboriously types out a text message to the group at large:

guys,

talked 2 heep. prety much as we guessed. 2 parts, one chem (in Cindy), one chem (in perfume) 2 target emotion. Prolly same guy that did love goo. bottle had marking chem on outside dat shows up in invisible lite. colin, u mite need 2 scrub hans + cloths.

sound box mite be dead end. nothing special, just cancels sounds. so somthing else caused crying jag. heep's goin 2 test box 2 make sure.


Satisfied, Alicia closes her phone. As an afterthought, she inspects her gloves. After a few seconds, she shrugs. She'll change when she gets home.