HARVEY JONES Player: Richard Frantz (a.k.a. Rogue Chip) Character: Harvey Jones Physical: 5'10" average weight good physique brown hair and eyes (hair usually looks like it needs a trim even just after cut). Age: 29 Entered service at 18 and served 6 years. History: Military experience (U.S. Army). Not a green beret or anything like that but some experience with guns and hand-to-hand. Can shoot and not only hit the broad side of a barn but even the guy standing across the street (not a marksman but average or slightly better for the military). Can handle regular people hand-to-hand (karate, kept up practice as a hobby) but against an expert better off doing Indian Jones and shooting the opponent. Doesn't currently own a gun. Was a tech in the army, worked with electronics and such. Did some work in intelligence gathering (photo recon interpretation) so knows how to keep a secret. Wasn't deep into intel though. Lost interest in the military for some reason and left when hitch extension up. Has very good ability with machines (elctrical, computers, etc.) and has held a number of short term high-tech jobs since leaving the military. Most jobs lasted 6-months, liked to move around. Has a contact (friend in a placement service) who can get him a new, similar job fairly soon after old one ends, reasonably quickly. Education: Studied while in army and classes afterwards for equiv of college degree. Hobbies: Photography. Specializes in night photos of cities. As he likes to say "you have to stop and enjoy the lights", rather than smell the flowers because of hay-fever. Motorcyclist, good for transportation. Above average rider, not professional level though. (not practical in New england where I am, but good in CA.). Family and friends: No close ones. Been a loner for several years. Interesting stuff: Shortly before left military girlfriend died; nothing he could do about it, wasn't even there. This is why if he sees trouble and can help must. (sort of like spiderman's reason but in spiderman's case it was that he _didn't_ when could have and in this case is couldn't). Won't go looking for trouble, but if trouble finds him it's going to know it was in a fight. Jobs are pseudo-consulting so have somewhat flexible hours. Prefers to start a bit early and get home a bit early. Goes to sleep in early evening/late afternoon when gets off work and gets up in night. Prefers not to sleep at night, causes nightmares. <><><><><> [GM] Riding down the 280 towards Santa Clara, the site of your current job, Harvey is cruising on his motorcycle at a comfortable 65 mph (the speed at which you're usually safe from being stopped by the CHP) when one of those dreaded incidents happens; the driver ahead of you changes lanes without looking over his shoulder, and nearly wipes you off the road. You brake and swerve, avoiding being smeared against the center divider, but are unable to stay upright. You lay your bike down and hit the asphalt at 65 mph. Your last thoughts are that you hope it won't be too painful, as you skid down the road with your bike on top of you. You hear brakes screeching behind you, as you watch the asphalt rush beneath you in a blur and feel it abrading against your skin. Half a mile further on, you come to a halt. Which is very odd; not that you came to a halt, but that you are still aware of it. You figure you should be a bloody smear, and if you're still alive, you should be in shock at the very least. Maybe you are; the fact that you feel no pain is kind of scary. You figure when you turn your head, you're going to see pulped flesh trailing from your body, probably a puddle of blood and crushed organs and jagged bone fragments beneath you. Then you will flip out and mercifully, black out. But you don't, and find that moving your arms and legs doesn't seem to be a problem. Carefully, you pull yourself out from under your bike and roll over. You're half naked, because your clothing disintegrated almost instantly with the friction, but you don't see any blood. Nor does anything seem broken, torn or crushed. Black smoke curls from the ragged edges of your jeans and jacket, where an enormous hole was worn through them, but the skin beneath them seems whole. A man runs up to you (the same man who almost killed you, you notice in a dazed, abstract way), saying (rather stupidly, you think) "Are you all right?" <><><><><> [ Right after crash. The Cause has just run up asking a normally stupid "are you all right?" ] Harvey is confused, although not unhappy, about his 'lucky' survival of what should have been a very painful accident. He's so confused in fact that he doesn't even lay into the jerk with a few choice words (4 letter style). Harvey is normally a polite enough guy, but being on the road makes everyone an animal, especially being _literally_ on the road. Under the circumstances though, Harvey wants a little time to gather his thoughts and try to figure out what didn't happen. "ah.....yeah... I guess so, just shaken abit", shaking head to clear it, and see if anything rattles or falls off, "But how's my BIKE?!" Hopefully someone worrying more about the bike after the accident than about himself will confuse the jerk (pardon my calling him that, but I don't have a name and it fits) as much as Harvey is. Normally after an accident a trip to the hospital or the nearest first aid kit is in order, but since that seems unnecessary (although a trip to the nearest closet isn't) Harvey will consider alternate actions. And try to get a little more time to figure out what happened and what to do. So the next thing to do is check out the bike, at least from laying on the ground. Does it look like it came through as well as Harvey did? Unlikely but so was Harvey's condition. Does it look like it will still run without an overhaul? -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] Your bike will make a nice doorstop, or a few dozen paperweights. OK, it's not that bad. A new body, an engine overhaul, new tires, some serious work on the frame...it'll be good as new. The bystanders now gathering around stare at you and at the bike, and at the skid mark you left down the highway. "Man, are you lucky!" someone says. "Better lie down and wait for an ambulance!" <><><><><> Harvey makes good use of the time while the bystanders are distracted by the bike and comes up with a plausible explanation, which he will repeat to anyone who looks like they want or need one. He figures if he tells it often enough and is persuasive enough he'll start to beleive it himself. Explanation: as the bike rolled one way on to its side he went the other and ended up on top, protecting him from the road. The missing parts of his clothes were ripped of on something and any smoking parts were caused by contact with the hot exhaust system. Most people will figure that makes sense and believe it (Sherlock Holmes would have ignored that and accepted the impossible, but other people won't and that's how Sherlock made a living as a detective). Unfortunately, Harvey is not persuasive enough to convince himself that's what happened. If his legs feel steady enough and it looks practical Harvey will try to get the bike out of the middle of the road. Did his wallet survive intact? (By the way, how much and which part of the jeans are missing? Might make a difference in whether he's willing to wander around). -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The bystanders are loathe to let you move around, but you get some help dragging your bike to the side of the road. Your wallet lost most of its outer layers, but the contents are mostly intact. (A few credit cards got scratched up, one chewed seriously enough that it will have to be replaced.) Your pants flap loosely around your mostly-bare legs, but you're not in immediate danger of violating any public indecency statutes. The CHP arrives, then the ambulance. The paramedics determine (to their amazement) that you seem to be uninjured, but insist that you should go to the hospital anyways; you might be suffering shock or a hidden fracture or some other inobvious injury. <><><><><> Since Harvey probably can't dissuade the paramedics, and since he's a little short on transportation, he'll talk to the CHP until they're satisfied and then check in at the hospital. He'll stay as briefly as possible at the Hospital, and offer to see his family physician. While talking to the CHP he'll make a very off handed comment about this being unusually lucky to see if they have any similar anecdotes; he'd like to know if others have had 'lucky' accidents like this. Once he can get to a phone he'll call work and mention 'transportation difficulty' rather than an accident. He'll also try to think of any friends in the 'cycle business, to see if the bike has any salvage value, get at least a loaner for transportation and see if they have any stories of other riders coming through this clean. Harvey is still looking for an explanation for how he survived so well. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The paramedics and cops have seen motorcyclists survive really nasty accidents before; it does happen that a biker will hit the pavement at 65 mph and still live. Usually not for long, and rarely in one piece ever again. They haven't seen someone get up and walk away without a scratch before. "If you were a cat", one of them says, "I'd say you just used up eight and a half lives." A CHP officer mentions how another CHP motorcyclist once went down on the freeway and skidded a quarter of a mile...on his gun! He still wound up in the hospital with various broken limbs and other injuries, but he recovered. They brought him the gun, mounted on a plaque; it looked like someone had sawed it in half to show a cross- section. [Not really relevant, but that is a true story. ] They check you out at the hospital, and release you (telling you to come back immediately if you feel anything wrong, like light- headedness, etc.) You find, upon exiting the emergency room, that there are reporters there. Must be a slow news day, you think, but apparently they heard about the "miraculous" non-injury accident. You give them a brief statement about feeling fine and yeah, you do feel really lucky, and you leave. And you go about looking into getting a replacement for your bike. At the end of a long and harrowing day, during which you get to see yourself on the 6 o'clock news, you return home. As you put the key in your lock, you hear the sharp sound of a "crack". You have barely enough time to realize that you've heard this sound before, when a split second later, your doorframe, immediately to the left of your face, explodes. Actually, the whole frame doesn't explode, just a big chunk of it, right at the level of your head. Wood fragments fly everywhere. Dropping to the ground, you see a car that was sitting at the corner, down the street in the opposite direction, drive away rather quickly. <><><><><> "This is ridiculous", thinks Harvey, liing on the ground and trying to notice anything distinctive about the car, "Why would anyone want to go after me"? Anything he notices about the car, color, style, make, probably too far for a license plate number, he'll mutter out load to himself, trying to move it into the part of the brain dealing with words. Harvey heard that the part of the brain dealing with visual information is seperate from the part that handles words, in order to tell the police he'll have to move it to the 'word part'. Getting up slowly, and ready to duck again, he'll look around and see if there is anyone else around. Partly this has made him paranoid and he wants to make sure there is no one else looking for him but also he might get lucky and find another witness. Then he'll go inside, close the door and call the police. After a day like today, he'll consider getting more life-insurance but decide that after a day like today the rates would probably be too high. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The doorframe "exploded" when it was struck by a high-caliber rifle bullet, as the police ascertain when they arrive. Naturally, they ask all kinds of questions, particularly about the car (you saw that it was a dark blue sedan, possibly a Chrysler, didn't get a license plate), and whether there is anyone who would have reason to want you dead (no one that you can think of). Odd thing is, from the bullet they find, your description of where the car was, and where you were standing, the most likely trajectory of the bullet should have gone right through your head. The police are convinced you were standing further back from the door than you remember. (You're pretty sure you weren't...you had the key in the lock, after all) One of the cops notices you're the "Lucky Motorcyclist" from the news. "You know," he comments, "coincidences like this really bother me. Twice in one day you almost get killed, and both times escape without a scratch, apparently by pure luck both times. I think we'll be investigating your accident a little more closely. I think someone's out to get you. You'd best be very careful. And let us know immeditately if you can think of ANYTHING else to tell us." <><><><><><> The thought that the combination of motorcycle accident and shooting not being coincidence bothers Harvey. On consideration he decides that the accident that morning was probably a real accident, not intentional. The hole in the door is another matter. Since he can't think of anyone with a reason to want to kill him, Harvey comes up with 2 possibilities, either the attack was random or that the shooter decided to go after someone seen on the news. Unfortunately, Harvey and a LOT of other people saw the news. Harvey will mention the possibility that someone went after him as a minor celebrity (another reason Harvey wouldn't want to be a celebrity) to the police. He'll let them check it out (they probably have files of people who do crazy things like that, maybe someone who thinks he didn't deserve to be so lucky in a road accident). Then Harvey will hope the shooter doesn't come back and keep one eye over his shoulder. The following assume nothing happens to interfere: Harvey will grab some dinner (whatever is leftover in the refrigerator except pizza, after almost being road pizza this morning he couldn't stomach that). He'll go to bed early (as is usual for him) and get up while it is still dark when the first nightmare hits. Since he won't be able to get any rest after the nightmares start he'll get a light breakfast/midnight-snack grab his camera and some fast film and go out for some night photography before heading to work. When leaving he'll check very carefully that there is no one suspicious around. He'll be careful not to be followed while near home but relax some once away as too hard to find. ( The above assumes Harvey found at least temporary transportation during the day.) -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The rest of the evening goes normally. And the next day. The day after that, you are sitting at an intersection (on your borrowed motorcycle), when a car drives up alongside you. The driver hangs a shotgun out the window and opens fire. The blasts slam into you, shredding your jacket and blowing off the bike's headlight. The car drives off, as you look down at yourself in a daze. There's no question that you were hit, at point blank range. But you feel no pain, and see no blood. <><><><><> Harvey is dazed and confused for several seconds. Then he finally gets his act together: what kind of car was that? (if it was a blue sedan, possibly a chevy, he'll really curse himself for not paying attention). If it is still in sight he'll chase it; he WANTS that license plate, badly. He'll admit it is stupid to go chasing someone who just shot him, even if it was ineffective, but this is getting to him. He wants to know who is after him, and why! He'd like to get close enough to see the person or get the plates. (This is what Harvey thinks while chasing the car, unless the car was out of sight and Harvey can't find it in which case this is while parked somewhere trying to think:) Harvey tries to figure out what to do, he'd call the police (doesn't want to, this attracting too much attention, but would rather tell them now then have them find out later. He could say the shooter missed, or aimed for the bike, but how would he explain the hole in the jacket (and the shirt, he could take off the jacket but wouldn't be riding without at least the shirt). So before calling the police he'll need a new shirt and jacket. Hope there are some clothing stores in the vicinity. Other things depend on how close Harvey can get to the car, if he chases it, and how the pursuit goes. -------- Which day did this start on? Wait a minute, there was an accident, totaled the bike and a shooting; it must have been Monday. (right?) -Harvey- <><><><> [GM] You can chase the car. How "crazy" are you willing to get while chasing it? If you try to drive safely, it will get away rather easily. If you're willing to take risks, you'll have a better chance of catching up to it, but you'll be endangering yourself at least, and possibly others. How badly do you want to catch it? <><><><><> How crazy? Well crazy enough to chase someone who just shot him. Harvey will make a stab at chasing the car. He doesn't want to total this bike too and he doesn't want others getting hurt, but after being shot he'll take a FEW chances with his own body. He'd like to get close enough to get the license plate, but figures the car might well be stolen so would prefer a look at the driver but would accept missing on both cases if it's too difficult. He'll chase until it's out of sight or he has his first real scare (skid or what ever). If he isn't real close when he gets that first scare he'll stop then and go to his fall back position. Fall back in this case is getting a new jacket and shirt and then calling the police and saying someone shot AT him (and missed). On the way home he'll buy a new razor blade. At home he'll try to nick himself shaving, trying to figure out being shot could damage close but not skin. The only similar case he can think of is a magician's trick using trick bullets, but that wouldn't damage clothing so he can't even figure out how to study this. He'll consider going to the library to research other people who have survived dangerous situation, but so far doesn't think it will help. -Harvey- <><><><> [GM] You chase the car a while....he starts speeding through intersections, zooming around other cars, and generally driving like a maniac. You tail him and slowly close the gap, until he tries to slam on his brakes and sideswipe you. You barely avoid hitting him, but your heart skips several beats, thinking about a repeat of your last accident. You catch a glimpse of a man with blond hair and a slightly aged face...perhaps in his late forties. He's wearing a dark sweater. And he looks at you for a moment, and you see pure hatred in his eyes. Hatred and disgust. You have never seen him before, that you can remember. You also get his license plate number. Shaving, you are able to nick yourself without a problem. You can't understand how you can be immune to bullets, or hitting the asphalt at 65 mph, but not a razor blade. The police, of course, have now decided you are involved in something very strange. There is more than a little suspicion that you know more than you're telling them. But they offer to give you 24-hour police protection for a while. They run the license plate, and find it was a rental car. Trying to track the person who rented it ("Adam Smith") goes nowhere. <><><><><> Harvey is very confused, but decides to take it logically. One thing at a time. First, Adam Smith. Well, assume it is an alias then it could be a reference to the famous classical economist, but why would an economist hate Harvey? The other possibility is that The person's first name really is Adam and Smith is an alias. Why is he going after Harvey? Assuming the 'accident' was an accident (not caused by this person) then maybe that started this. Maybe 'Adam Smith' doesn't think Harvey deserves to be so lucky, crazy but so is trying to shoot Harvey. Harvey will go to the library, look at the back issues of the newspaper looking a story about a person killed in a road accident with a picture of a relative that looks like the guy Harvey saw, probably named Adam. Given the number of accidents, finding this would be incredible luck (so what else has Harvey had this week?) but he won't spend more than a couple hours on it before giving up. (Never can tell might get lucky). Police: Harvey dislikes making them go through the trouble of guarding him, but will accept. He'll offer to try to set a trap to get it over, setting himself up in exposed positions with convenient cover, if the police will go for it. Luck: How do pavement and razor blades differ? Well blades are metal... but so are bullets. The only differences that Harvey can see is that the razor blade shouldn't kill him (magnitude of danger) and razors are sharp instead of blunt; hitting himself with a baseball bat to test this doesn't appeal to Harvey so he'll drop that line for a while. At the library he'll try to find information on other people who have had close calls and see if he can spot anything. A name pops to mind 'Edgar Casey' who was supposed to have done some remarkable things but it probably doesn't relate (he'll look it up at the library anyways). Harvey will also get the bike fixed and wish this week was over. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] You find nothing in the library that gives a hint as to your situation. Of course there are plenty of stories of people surviving disasters that should have killed them....people hit by lightning multiple times without being hurt, skydivers whose parachutes didn't open, yet walked away from a two mile fall, people riddled with bullets or stabbed dozens of times, but they still survive, one man who actually had a pipe driven all the way through his skull in a car accident, but it somehow went through his brain without damaging any neural tissue that controlled anything important, so they removed the pipe and repaired his skull, and he was fine....nothing seems quite appropriate for your case. Sure, you could hit the asphalt at over a mile a minute and walk away...that would be amazing, but stranger things have happened. And that first rifle shot could have just missed you. And it's even possible that someone could fire a shotgun from less than ten feet away and shred your clothes while the blast somehow misses you completely...it's possible. But ALL of these things happening to the same person, within 48 hours? It defies the laws of probability. Besides, you FELT the impact of the shotgun blast. It hit you, all right, it just didn't hurt you. Even if the shells were only filled with rock salt (which you doubt), it would have hurt like hell at the very least, and at point blank range, even rock salt would probably be deadly. Returning home from a frustrating and scary day, you greet the plainclothes cop who is your houseguest for the time being. In your bedroom, you check a message waiting on your answering machine, as you read your mail. "I know what you are." You stop reading the mail as the low voice rumbles from the tape. "You are in more danger than you think. I can tell you what is happening to you. I can tell you why people are trying to kill you. But I won't speak to the police. They will think I'm crazy. The police will never believe the truth. You were at the library today. Meet me there tonight. Alone. There is a door in the back, where employees go out to the parking lot. That door will be unlocked. I will be waiting. But be careful. The assassin is watching you. Make sure you are not followed." <><><><><> Harvey listens to the message on the tape with an exasperated good news/bad news feeling. Has the universe turned malicious and decided to intentionally turn on him? (( well, actually, we both know the G.M at least has)). The good news is Harvey may finally be able to find out what is going on, the bad news is he now has a police officer in the way. Three possible scenarios flash through harveys mind. The first thing he'll do is erase the message the the officer can't just get the information that way (this assumes the office in the next room didn't hear this). Harvey has three possible plans: (these aren't the scenarios those are below) 1) go to bed early, turn on some music and climb out the window. Problem: if the officer is any good he'll notice and then he'll have to try to avoid the police who will be looking for him and will have created bad will with them. 2) Give the officer the dedroom, and go out the front door. Same problem as plan 1 if the officer is any good. 3) Plan three requires the cooperation of the officer and Harvey will have to tell him about the meeting. To control the situation and keep plan 1 as a backup He'll tell the officer the meeting is tomorrow night rather than tonight. (This is the plan Harvey is using:) Harvey will go into the other room and make small talk for a few minutes to feel out the officer. The he'll explain that someone called, refering to the person as an 'anoymous informant' (trying to express it so the officer will feel at home with the idea) and wants to meet harvey alone. Harvey will explain his three scenarios: The person is an informant or the prerson is the attacker or the pseron is crazy, (or a combination). Since the informant will not talk with the police present Harvey will propose this plan. They go in seperate vehicles, if attacked enroute the officer makes the collar. When they get close the officer parks a block away and watchs. Harvey will go in, if it's the attack scenario Harvey will dodge, get out and the officer can make the collar. If Harvey doesn't come out in ten minutes and signal all o.k. the officer will come in. Otherwise Harvey will talk to the informant. Harvey will also ask if the officer has a bullet proof vest Harvey can borrow (this is to make the officer feel more secure about this, although Havey will feel more secure too!). If the officer sounds accepting Harvey will tell him it is tonight. If Harvey doesn't think he can trust the officer, he'll give a fake address for tomorrow and go with plan 1) above. (Harvey will insist it has to be just the 2 of them if they both go, no department and may try to convince the officer he has a chance to be a hero and crack the big case by himself if he goes along). Harvey wants to find out what is going on, badly. He's willing to take some chances now rather than take chances for the rest of his life, how ever long that is. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The cop is against the idea of your meeting this person alone; he thinks there's a strong possibility it is the person trying to kill you. He wants to stake out the library, and let you arrive with police backups hidden about. There's no way that he's not going to call his superiors about this, and it's not likely they'll agree to let you go with just one officer in reserve. <><><><><><> Harvey has to admit that the officer has a good point about it being a trap. Unfortunately he can't convince himself the police could get into position without being spotted and he is too desperate to let this chance go by. He'll have to fall back to plan 1, sneak out. Harvey will try to make the officer comfortable on the couch in the living room, telling to to feel free with the TV, Refrigerator and telephone (no long duration, long distance phone calls, please ). He'll explain his strange sleeping schedule, early to bed and get up when the first nightmare hits at about 1 A.M. and head to bed. He'll inform the officer that once asleep the only two things that can wake him are an earthquake or a nightmare and not to worry about noise. Hopefully there will be a very good ball game on and the cop won't notice when Harvey tries to sneak out (Harvey told him the meeting was tomorrow night). Harvey is really distressed by putting the police through the trouble of guarding him and sorry to sneak out but he'll do it anyways. Harvey will go into the bed room, turn on some music, close the door and get into bed, for an hour. Then he'll get up, call a cab so he can leave his bike home and slip out the window. (He'll call using the extension in the bed room not the one in the livingroom). Before leaving he'll write a note to the officer, apologizing and including a message that he accepts full responsibility for his actions. Although he'll leave his bike he will take the chain and lock he occasionally locks it with (the lock on the end of the chain makes a good, explainable, weapon). Harvey trust more to his tendancy to remove parts of the engine to keep people from riding off with it. Hopefully Harvey will be able to sneak back in before the officer get a chance to read the note. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] You sneak out of your apartment easily enough...the police officer is expecting someone maybe to try sneaking IN, not for you to sneak out. He did call his superiors, who also want you to cooperate in a stake- out. But you decide you need to handle this alone. You get to the public library, noting that there are no other vehicles parked in its parking lot (not that there normally would be, at this time of night.) After securing your motorcycle somewhere inconspicuous, you head for the door behind the building. It is unlocked, as your myserious caller said it would be. Carefully, you open it, and a very nervous feeling comes over you. You suddenly feel a need for heightened alertness, as you realize you're about to enter a large, dark building, alone, with someone who is possibly trying to kill you waiting inside. <><><><><> Harvey is nervous, his palms are sweaty and is pulse is rapid. Without intent he puts his hand in his right jacket pocket where he has 3 feet of chain with a padlock locked to the end. A convenient weapon and effect when in range; he pulls out his hand as he remembers the range limit and doesn't want to atttract attention to it, saving it as a surprise. If I'd been smart I'd have brought a flashlight. Harvey opens the door peaks inside then steps quickly in and almost closes the door behind him. He steps near to the hinge side of the door so he is in the shadow instead of silhouetted but leaves the door ajar for a quick exit if warranted. He lets his eyes adjust to the dim for a few minutes. He won't try to turn on the lights since that would probably be to an attacker's advantage. After letting his eyes adjust a bit he'll examine his surroundings; depending on circumstances he may move in a little before calling to see if anyone is there. (entering further is to give himself more choices for retreat if it becomes needed, he won't move in too far yet). -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The library is dark and silent. Sweating, nerves twitching, you move silently into the gloom, keeping the doorway in a straight line from your position, within range of a short dash. You wish you'd been in Special Forces...you could probably infiltrate the place like some kind of ninja. But you remember enough about moving while under fire (or potentially under fire). You hope. Standing by a bookshelf, you look around, trying to make out shapes in the dim vastness. Some kind of movement. You open your mouth, thinking maybe you should call out. Then again, if your mysterious caller is really waiting for you, he should certainly have seen the door open and you come through. You hear a slight click, and your muscles tense. Then the world explodes. A flash of light and a roar of thunder fills the library, and you are blasted back against the bookshelf behind you by explosions that erupt against your chest. A column of flame across the room is hurling a stream of explosive shells at you...you're dimly aware of burning paper and wood spraying around you, raining down all around you like red hot volcanic ash. The shelf disintegrates around you as fireballs the size of grapefruits engulf it and you. And they HURT! You can feel your chest and legs and arms burning, and then a sharp pain as another fireball ignites against your cheek. And suddenly you don't feel anything. You were collapsing as the stream of death forced you back into the crumbling shelf, but you stagger to your feet, and you'd swear that the stream of bright tracer- like shells is going THROUGH you, decimating the next row of shelves behind the one that is now lying in ashes at your feet. Flames from burning books and wood and carpeting illuminates the area now, and as the roar of automatic fire halts momentarily, you see someone standing about twenty feet away, crouched behind another waist-high bookshelf. <><><><><> Harvey's first thought is of all the things he _should_ feel now, surprise, fear, panic, curiousity. Actually all those are subsumed by one greater sensation: He sees RED. Well, actually there's a fire so he SHOULD see red (with a little orange and yellow) and be hot under the collar, but he's too busy being angry. He imagines making a dash for the the shadowy figure and attacking, in fact, if he figures he's heallthy enough to move that fast he will: The figure of an enraged figure charging might even slow the attacker down. While he's trying to decide if he feels well enough to get up and attack he considers a couple of things. 1) if he is transparent to bullets he probably can't hit anyone, rats (He'll try anyway if he can get up). 2) This is a library and libraries have sprinklers (librarians are terrified of what happened to the library of Alexandria), and alarms which attract firemen. 3) HE'S LYING IN A FIRE! Moving is thus a very good idea, and while retreat might be nice that is where the fire is so attack just started to look even better! -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] Absolutely right about the fire extinguishers...odd that they're not kicking in... Yes, you can stand up. The places where the explosive bullets hit you smart, but you don't think you've been seriously injured (you can't believe you're thinking that! Explosive shells- all they did was sting?!) You charge the shadowy ambusher, shuddering as another stream of bullets tears through you...without effect. The man (?) leaps back and turns around, sprinting away from you. He drops a small object on the ground as he runs. <><><><><> Harvey runs after the attacker, hoping he knows which way is out (Harvey is a bit turned around). On the way he'll stoop down, scoop up the item the attacker dropped and stick it in his pocket as he runs after him. (Boy, I hope that wasn't a grenade he just stuck in his pocket). Are there any fire alarm pulls on the walls here? -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] As you run, something makes you freeze....you pull the object out again. Oh, S***, It IS a grenade!!!! You drop it and sprint, diving as the flash lights up the library and a roar fills your ears. You know you're too close, there's no way you can dive out of the blast radius....but as you lay on the floor, you feel oddly light. A wave of heat passes through you, along with hundreds of metal fragments and chunks of the library. You notice your fingers, clutching at the ground, are passing through the library floor, like it was insubstantial. <><><><><> Harvey sees his fingers, which are clutching at the flor, begin to pass through the floor, and PANICS! The logical part of his mind (which ever half of the brain that is) deduces: if bullets, grenades and bits of library pass through me then logically I pass through them (reciprocity) but if I pass through solid matter (which isn't solid enough for me or vice-versa) then I'll pass through the floor as gravity pulls me down. I'm going to end up a the center of the earth!! The emotional half of harvey's mind doesn't care about logic, it just wants to panic, it wins. Harvey complete panics, ignoring the attacker who has already gotten away while Harvey was dodging from the blast. While there is probably a downstairs harvey doesn't want to go into the foundation or ground, he'll try desperately to stop going through the floor before more than his fingers do. As soon as Harvey stops going through the floor, hopefully it is an effect that started at the edges and small parts like fingers and would take a while before larger parts of the body start going through things (assuming it does stop!) Harvey will look around for the attacker, not seeking him but avoiding him, he will take cover if he sees anything that looks like the attacker. He will pull a fire alarm if he sees it and exit. He will exit carefully, checking for the attacker, he wants to leave and go home. If he can't find a fire alarm he'll anonymously call the fire department once he's out. He doesn't want people to know he was there. He'll take a round about way home. (Harvey is concerned that if he manage to stop it so he wouldn't go through the floor he's also stopped whatever was making things go through him). -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] Your fingers sink into the carpet, but you don't sink any further. When you panic and push away from the ground, you notice a slight resistance, like pushing through water, except lighter and less resistant than water. But although your hands are still merged with the ground (!), you can feel SOME substance to the floor, against which you can push up. You head for an exit, noting that half the library is roaring with flames. Pulling a fire alarm produces no effect, but when you get outside, you see that there are a number of people in the street pointing at the blaze- undoubtedly, someone has called the fire department already. <><><><><> Harvey heads for home, carefully. He checks to make sure no one is followign him. The realization that someone is gunning for him with military style weapons (grenades and phosphorus rounds are not commonly picked up at the local gun store) makes him nervous. When he gets back, he sneaks in, looks at himself in the mirror and tries to figure out how he's going to explain the damage to the police officer without giving away the show; boy he hopes no one saw him. Harvey is very confused, in one week he has been shot at 3 times, almost killed in a cycle accident and started to fall through the floor, this is too much for him. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The police (several of them) are waiting for you when you return. "Are you !$!#!! CRAZY?!" yells a detective, who is apparently the superior of the guy who was "guarding" you (and now looking VERY uncomfortable.) Obviously they've heard about the library burning, and made the connection, since your proposed rendezvous there had already been reported to the department. "There were bloody EXPLOSIONS in that place!" he exclaims. "They were heard blocks away! The fire department is still fighting the blaze!" "So," he says, fixing you with a hard stare, "Since obviously you went there AGAINST our advice, and obviously managed to come back alive, tell me EVERYTHING that happened, every minute detail. This psycho who's trying to kill you is running around with explosives, and he's blowing up public buildings to get at you. He's suddenly jumped pretty high on our priority list..." <><><><><> Harvey looks hard at the detective, even as his stomach twists uncomfortably, but just like when dealing with irate officers he'll put on his best poker face and try to APPEAR to keep cool. "You left out disabling the sprinklers and cutting the fire alarm". Very coolly. pause. "And he was already pretty high on MY priority list, I just didn't expect him to have military hardware and a yen for general destruction of property." Harvey will sit down on the couch, close his eyes (ostensibly to help his concentration as he tries to remember details but really to make it harder to tell when he bends the truth. The story Harvey will tell will be pretty close to the truth. He'll leave out being shot and say the attacker missed and he dived for cover. And he'll leave out picking up the grenade and substitute diving for cover. (picking it up embarrasses Harvey). He didn't get a good look at the attacker but he'll mention the grenade and strange, military style, bullets. He'll ask if there have been any thefts of military gear lately? (He doesn't expect many details but they might let something slip before they realize they shouldn't tell him). He'll also ask if anyone as an idea how to set a trap, Harvey's willing to be bait if they do. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The detective tells you that the FBI is now in on this, and will have agents over to talk to you soon. When stolen military hardware is involved (and used!), it gets the Feds' attention. Great, you think. In the meantime, they want to take you in to the police station to talk to you more in-depth...and keep you out of the line of fire of whoever is after you, at least for the moment. Not having any great reason to refuse (I assume?), you go along. While you're sitting in a conference room, eating some complementary donuts and drinking some complementary bad coffee, you see a man in a dark suit (FBI, must be, you think) talking to the police detective. The detective doesn't look happy. The other man shows him a badge or an ID card, and hands him an envelope. The detective frowns, points at the door to your room, and heads straight for a phone, peering at the contents of the envelope. Mr. Dark Suit enters the room, nods at you and says "Good evening, Mr. Jones. Had a bit of excitement the past few days, I understand." He is a plain-looking man with black hair and brown eyes, with a light brown skin tone suggesting hispanic origin. He closes the door firmly behind him, and pulls out a small plastic box that looks something like a pocket radio, complete with antennae. He sets it on the table and presses a button, which causes a green light to wink on. Pulling out the same wallet he showed to the police detective, he holds it out to you. It contains a badge and an ID card. The badge has the Department of Defense insignia on it (DoD! They have nothing to do with a civilian agency like the FBI, you think.) The badge identifies him as "Special Agent George Mendez, Special Investigations, Department of Defense." "We can talk with complete confidentiality right now," he says. "I've insured that no police listening devices are active in this room. Now, let's talk about your adventures of the past few days. What would you say if I told you that I have reason to believe that you possess...abilities, that most people don't? Have you noticed anything odd about yourself since you bounced down the highway at sixty-five miles per hour and got up to walk away?" He folds his arms and looks at you with a slight smile, as if he already knows the answer.