Corruption at Purity Hospital IC

[Bennosuke]

Act 1 Scene i

Airports see more sincere kisses than wedding halls and
The Walls of a Hospital have heard more prayers then the walls of a Church

Around 2 in the morning, you find yourself alone in one of the main halls of Purity Hospital. It's your second week on shift, and you've started with nights. Someone either really trusts you, or really doesn't like you. For the most part the last two weeks have been uneventful. Before it happens, you find yourself listening to the heavy buzz of the fluorescent lights, and the breathing of the ventilation shafts. The buzz comes in and out as long overused bulbs burn out their last hours, casting a flickering, strobing light down the corridor.

Please describe which building you are in, and why you are alone in one of the hallways, before the first event of the game begins. This is a chance for you to set the scene for your character.

[Ichneumon]

Medical clinics are not that different from prisons, Johnny thought, while he gazed at the ventilation shafts and listened to the air flowing in and out.

He had been bored, tired and he knew the night was still long. If I had stayed any longer in that squeaky chair at the Main Security office, I'd most likely go insane. So he had decided to make a walk through the deserted corridors of the hospital. "At least I can stretch my legs a bit."

He didn't want to admit it, but he found the hospital somewhat creepy, especially at night with the atmosphere of the fluorescent lights and he didn't feel comfortable all alone. It just seemed like the perfect setting for one of the many murder mystery novels he had read. And then, suddenly out of nowhere a mad man jumps up with a chainsaw and he murders the young security guard... Johnny tried to distract himself, clear his mind of those unnerving scary thoughts. He tried to focus his mind on the intellectual task of making a comparison between one institution and the other, prisons and hospitals. He knew the subject had come up frequently in one of the political science lectures he had followed long ago, but he found it difficult to remember the gist of it.

"Let's see... In both cases, patients and prisoners have to submit to the higher authority of doctors or detention officers.", he whispered, while he continued his walk through the empty corridors.

Eventually Johnny reached the Main Hall of Building M. "After a week, I still feel like I could get lost in here," he sighed.

He looked at the flickering buzzing lights in one of the corridors and the thoughts of chainsaw-wielding lunatics came back to him. He quickly continued his philosophical analysis: "So... Both patients and prisoners are subjected to different dehumanising power practices: they all lost some of their individuality, having to wear the same type of clothes. The hospital gown of bedridden patients wasn't that different from the orange jumpsuits of prisoners, was it?"

Johnny yawned and wished the night was already over.

I tried to cover the main aspects of his character (his laziness, him being a political science and horror nerd etc.) as well as portray his uneasy distrusting relationship with hospitals. If anything is wrong or needs to be adjusted to fit the hospital better, let me know.

[Bennosuke]

It is about mid yawn when your handheld radio clicks, "Code Grey, Code Grey. All Security personnel to the..."

The hospital PA system clicks on at this time, the voice of a young female operator drowning out your walkie talkie. "Code Blue, M2, Psych Ward. Code Blue, M2, Psych Ward. Repeat Code Blue!", the PA repeats several times.

You had studied enough to know that a Code Grey was a security emergency, usually a combative patient, and a Code Blue was a medical emergency requiring cardiac rescue. You also knew enough to feel your stomach turn thinking about the Psychiatric Floor.

[Ichneumon]

Almost immediately Johnny started running. The moment the radio had clicked, the moment he had received his orders, it was as if a button in his mind had been switched. This wasn't the time for philosophy or political daydreaming, this also wasn't the time for wild speculation about what he might encounter once he had reached the Psychiatric Floor. He would see that once he was there. This was an emergency and his mind had to be clear. He was a security guard and duty called. If only I can make it there on time...

Johnny started running as fast as he could to the Psychiatric Floor.

[Bennosuke]

You forgo the elevator for the stairs, knowing that the Psych ward is in the same building only one floor up (OOC: Nice choice of where you would be).

You exit the stairwell just as several security officers disappear behind the large magnetic sealed white door. You rush to the door, flashing your ID through the security scanner, opening into a small locked compartment used to keep patients who slip past the first door from escaping. You swipe again and enter into madness.

You had been on the psych floor before, but during the day, and when one patient was being combative; this is a riot. As you step into the dimly lit floor, two security officers you now recognize, Steve Lang and Clarita Rosado are ahead battering back howling patients in soiled white hospital gowns. Some patients are charging at the guards, others seem to be fleeing or charging the nursing station. Swears, shrieks and moans fill the room. To the left, the nursing station is an outlet protected by metal fencing and plexiglass, behind which nurses are cowering. A touch of anger flutters in your chest when you realize they are refusing to enter the fray. At first you are unsure of what the overhead Codes were for, then you see that other security officers and a White Coat are rushing down the hall towards the outdoor patio.

Out of the corner of your eye you witness one patient smashing his head repeatedly against the plexi glass window, sending two female nurses scurrying away from the barrier. A third older African American nurse sits calmly in his chair reading a newspaper. Blood stains the plexiglass from the man's forehead.

You follow Steve and Clarita down the hall, and as you do, your eyes lock with a young female patient. Her hair is cut short, and she stands with her arms locked and fists balled, a look of anger on her face. Hers is the most intellegent in-control face in the room. She looks down the hall at the patio, then at you, then mouths (or yells, it's too loud to hear anything) "No!" Then she rushes off down the hall into one of the patient rooms.

You arrive at the patio, a plain tiled area with a few benches riveted to the ground and a chain fence barrier. The three other officers and the White Coat (now you see she is a doctor) circle a puddle of a body that is slowly developing a moat of blood.

"He has a pulse!" The doctor yells, leaning over and examining the man, "Quick, help me roll him on his back! Hurry, he's still alive damn it!"

[Ichneumon]

What have I gotten myself into? Johnny had immediately imagined it being bad, when he heard there was an emergency at the Psychiatric Floor, but this... who could have imagined this?

He was glad he wasn't alone, that Steve and Clarita were with him. When the doctor asked assistance. Johny got on his knees to help him do what was required. "Of course, Doc." Normally, Johnny would look around first, to see if things were safe. But now, there wasn't time and Steve and Clarita could do that. He helped him roll over and assist him further, if possible.

He made a mental note for when all the chaos was over, to look into the short-haired woman, to find out who she is and why she was in here. He could not say why, but something about her, the look in her eyes, had intrigued him.

[Bennosuke]

Remembering protocol you put on a pair of vinyl gloves before bending down to assist the Doctor. Your stomach does a somersault as you turn him over, unable to take your eyes from his crushed face; blood pooling around the smashed nose and split lips. You notice that one of his forearm bones has broken the skin of his right arm, and his body is limp in your arms.

You can barely hear the Doctor, an beautiful woman with graying hair and a bold aqueline nose who mutters, "****! Where the hell are the Psych nurses. They are the ones who called the Code. You," she says pointing to someone behind you, "Go get one of the nurses and the Code Cart. I can't believe he fell from the story above! How the hell did he get out the window? And where the Hell is the Psych resident?"

Please roll for a breaking point. Your base Resolve + Composure is 4. You get +1 for Integrity 7, and I'm giving you another +2 for assisting in trying to save the person (Hope is your Virtue) and because you are following orders. SO that's a total of 6d10.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny wished to scream and run away. He wished nothing more than to drop the man (or at least what was left of him) and run away from this. Blood... look at his face... his arms, his legs.... He doesn't do that though. He manages to burry the conflict, the disgust, deep inside himself, so that he may remain act calm and professional.
"Ddd... Doctor. Should we try moving him?", he stammered.

Waiting for response, Johnny addresses Steve. Johnny heard what the doctor was saying and figured they might help finding the people who called the code. "Steve, can try contacting the other security guards through your radio? Maybe some of them know where the Psych nurses are."

Johnny stared at the man's face. Why would someone jump? Was it suicide? Was it an accident? Or did someone push him? He looks around and up, at the window, to see if there is something out of place, something that might indicate what has happened here.

If a perception check is appropriate: Wits (3) + Composure (2) = 5, [roll0]. In case I have any 10's: 6

[Bennosuke]

"Crap, ya. Help me stabilize his neck!" The doctor wraps her arm around either side of the man's head and grabs the man's chest, trying to line the man's head up with his neck. You help the doctor with this and trying to ease your roiling stomach, look up towards the Hospital building. About two floors up was a smashed window, a white drape slithering out in the wind. Looking back down you see the sparkling shards of glass.

You don't know whether Steve had responded to you but now you see Clarita running back with an unkempt young nurse who is either pregnant or unfortunately proportioned in her obesity; the two of them dragging a multi-shelved cart. Behind them another security guard too far away to recognize is fighting back a large black patient who may or may not have just bitten the guard.

The Doctor retrieves a needle from the cart and begins driving it into the man's arm. "Hold his head steady", she says to you as she gets to work. She begins barking orders at the nurse, while asking her what happened. The misshapen nurse explains that there had been what sounded like an explosion and then a large thud from the patio area. The nurses had thought a bomb had gone off, but when they looked out the window there had been the body.

The Doctor begins to chew out the nurse for her cowardice in leaving the body outside. More doctors and nurses arrive and begin the process of resuscitating and stabilizing the patient. You are relieved from your duties, and when you stand up you see that your uniform jacket; a navy windbreaker is slick with dark blood.

Clarita, who is only a few feet away looks at you with concern, "Are you okay?"

[Ichneumon]

Johnny ignores Clarita's question for a moment, gazing at the blood. He had never seen so much blood before and even while he knew it wasn't his own, seeing it on his own clothes was still a very... disturbing experience. While he tried to stay stoic and calm, Clarita had apparently seen in his eyes that he was just pretending.

So, Johnny thought, the nurse said she heard what sounded like an explosion. Could it have been a gas leak? No, that doesn't sound right. If that was the case, the damage would be a lot bigger. A gas leak is unlikely... But if not a gas leak, what then?

He kept thinking about it, looking repeatedly at the body of the man and and the blood on his clothes and fingers. When Clarita asked him the same question a second time, he snapped out of it.

"Yes, thank you, Clarita. I.. I am fine.", he said in a way that seemed to indicate he wasn't sure of it himself.

He turns to Clarita, smiles, and then looks around, to see if any of the other security guards need assistance.

[Bennosuke]

"Maybe you should take the jacket off for now," she says. This is the kindest Clarita has ever been towards you. Usually, she puts on this hood, persona, and you being the newest face... well you can tell she's consciously not going easy on you. "Then we should see if they need help controlling the patients inside."

[Ichneumon]

"Yes, that's an excellent idea. We wouldn't want to frighten the patients more than necessary would we?" Johnny tries to joke, while he takes off his jacket. He feels somewhat naked without it.

He continued thinking about the dark red blood... the next time my uniform is soaked in blood, I wonder whose blood it will be? Someone else's or my own?

Then, he looked one last time at the patient lying on the floor and the hoard of doctors and nurses swarming around him. It reminded him of a swarm of insects he once saw buzzing around a corpse of a dead cat in dark alleyway.

He then follows Clarita, it seemed to him she knew what they would have to do. "Thanks again. I have to admit I'm a bit shocked and overwhelmed. I have never experienced a riot such as this before. Have you?", he asks.

[Bennosuke]

"The Psych Floor can be crazy," she says, "I once saw a man who'd hung himself with his shoe strings in here. But no, never like this. You'll be okay though."

The lights have been turned on inside, exposing the mess that has been made by the frenzy of patients. Tables have been overturned, and the blood stain has dripped down the nurse station window onto the floor. The majority of the patients have been detained or sent to their rooms. One man, skinny and bald headed kicks under the weight of a large security guard. He shouts and his legs flail as he screams about The Devil and RoboCop.

Several of the nurses look anxiously at the two of you as you walk in. The older nurse is still reading his newspaper, refusing to acknowledge anything that has happened.

[Ichneumon]

"Well," he says, "at least it's good to know this isn't something that happens regularly."

Amazed Johnny looks at the older nurse. How can he ignore this?

Then, when he sees the security guard trying to contain the shouting and screaming patient, he nods to Clarita, points and walks towards him, to assist the security guard. He responds to the shouting "Quiet you. RoboCop wasn't even that good a movie."

Johnny would assist the security guard in helping to detain and calm the patient. If I need to roll for that, I figure it is Str + Brawl (detaining), which would make 7, so... [roll0].

[Bennosuke]

The man seems to buck a little harder when you say this, but does not verbally respond. The security officer chuckles, though again you cannot place just who he is. You look around and figure the entire night's crew has responded to the event, and you wonder what must be going on upstairs where the man came from.

The floor looks relatively under control. You turn to the security door, which opens. In rushes in a young physician, probably a resident though you obviously don't recognize him.

************************************************** *******************************

Ethan rushes onto the Psych floor. You had been all the way on the top floor of the M building, on the Heme/Onc floor, dealing with an unstable patient, when your pager had gone off. You responded to the page, where a Filipino nurse told you your patient on the third floor had somehow managed to jump out the window and onto the balcony of the Psych floor.

The page had made ice run in your veins. You had no idea how your patient had managed to get out of the bolted window, or why he had jumped, or if he were alive; but you were damn sure you were going to be blamed for it.

The patient's name is Joseph King, a 43 year old man with a young son and a wife, who had presented to the ED with Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), but was near the tail end of his hospital stay. After briefly reviewing the patient's case you had rushed down to the Psych floor.

The floor looks to be recovering from the throws of chaos. However, the patients all seem to be locked in their rooms now, and the only thing standing between you and the excitement outside is two security guards who are staring at you dumbly.

[XianTheCoder]

What the H***! How did he get out that window? And more importantly, why? This is going to ruin the plans I had for this evening... Ethan rushes down the hall, puling a new set of gloves out of his pocket and pulling them over his hands as he pushes through the doors to the Pysch Floor. He better live or I'll kill him! Seeing that the patient is being worked on outside, Ethan moves in that direction, but stops short when he reaches the security guards. Using a rushed yet authoritative tone, Ethan will say, "I'm Doctor Roberts, and that's my patient"" Ethan will indicate the commotion behind him. "Did either of you see what happened?


In his late 20s with short brown hair and green eyes, Ethan has handsome physical qualities but they are often overshadowed by other factors. Standing just under 6' with a lithe build and graceful movements, Ethan could easily be mistaken for a marathon runner. Often wearing casual button down shirts or polos with nice jeans or black slacks, Ethan dresses to look nice, but hasn't quite mastered the ability to impress. While in the hospital he always wears his white coat.

[Ichneumon]

"Nice to meet you, Doctor. This is Clarita Rosado and I'm John Smith."

Johnny is a young slender, but athletically build, man with shoulder length black hair. He has a friendly and intelligent looking face. He wears the same uniform all other security guards are wearing, but currently without his jacket.

Johnny waits a few seconds before answering the question, inspecting Dr Roberts and waiting to see if someone else would answer. When no one does, he continues: "We didn't. We were paged here as well, when a riot had started. One of the nurses says she heard an explosion, right before he fell. I imagine some of the patients panicked when they saw him fall."

"Did he have suicidal tendencies?", Johnny says, pointing towards the almost-dead patient on the floor.

I guess I had forgotten to give Johnny a surname. Well, he has one now.:smallamused:

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods his head at the introductions and raises his hands showing that he's wearing gloves (I.E. indicating that he would shake their hands if he could, but he can't at the moment). "Explosion?" Ethan's head and eyes will subconsciously look upwards toward the third floor as he considers what could cause an explosion up there. Did he jump, or was he blown out of the window? That would explain the why and how, but what could have exploded and why aren't there any fire alarms going off? Turning his eyes back to Johnny, "It looks like you two have things under control here. I'm going to check on my patient, could one of you radio over to the security office and find out if any fire alarms or sprinkler systems went off? Perhaps they couldn't be heard over the ruckus? If there was an explosion though, we could be needed elsewhere."" Ethan will then turn and quickly make his way over to his patient.

After making his presence known, Ethan will offer assistance/information to those currently attending to the patient. If the staff attending Mr. King appear to be competent, then Ethan will monitor their progress and direct them as needed (unless there is a more senior doctor on the scene already doing that) as he doesn't want to risk losing the patient by taking the time to shift emergency staff around. If it appears that they aren't going to be able to save him (or aren't competent), then Ethan will immediately take over the emergency services. If Ethan has a moment, he will look up to see if the window above is broken/shattered or if it was opened naturally.

*Ethan plans to check back with Johnny and Clarita after checking on Mr. king.


Based on visual inspection of the body and the blood pool, does it appear that Mr. King's injuries were a result a fall or an explosion?

Wits + Investigation: [roll0]
As Needed: [roll1]
Int + Medicine [9-Again] (Determine Cause of Injuries): [roll2]
As Needed: [roll3]
Int + Medicine [9-Again] (Perform Emergency Medical Services): [roll4]
As Needed: [roll5]

*I always roll an additional 5d10 after each roll, this is for things like 8/9/10-again, GM applied modifiers, etc. Take what you need and discard the rest.*


Edit: Oops... wrong dice rolling syntax.. been a while. Sending rolls to OOC.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny nods. That's actually a good idea, why didn't I think of that?

He takes his radio and calls. "Main office. This is John Smith. The situation on the Psych floor is under control. Patients have been locked in their room. Doctors and nurses are at the scene to take care of the wounded and the injured."

"Is the entire hospital secure? A nurses here says they heard an explosion. Can you confirm or refute this? Did any of the fire alarms or sprinkler systems go off, for example?"

[Bennosuke]

Ethan rushes outside leaving Johnny and Clarita on the Floor. He introduces himself to the female Attending Physician who initiated the resuscitation of Mr. King. The attending appears exasperated and nervous, finding a perfect whipping boy, proceeds to dish out admonishment as if they were blows of catharsis. As she continues her assault, Ethan begins visibly examining the damaged body of his patient. From what he can see the majority of the trauma appears to have been from the fall. There is an open right nightstick fracture (both forearm bones broken and cutting through the skin), and it looks like the left wrist has a closed fracture as well (skin intact), likely from trying to stop the fall. The face is a mess, likely from the fall, and one shoulder is completely posteriorly dislocated (can only occur from this kind of trauma). There is no clear evidence of burns, or any other form of injury, though there are multiple lacerations on the hands and forearms, likely from breaking through the window. This is the extent of the info that Ethan can glean.

With the conclusion of the attending's berating, Ethan begins to help stabilize the patient, helping to get a third IV in so that more fluid could be run to maintain the patient's pressure

************************************************** ************************************************** ***

While this is going on Johnny radios to the Security Dispatch. "No, there was no report of any explosion, and no fire alarm went off, otherwise a Code Red would have been called. Perhaps you could go up to the third floor and find out what happened? We sent all hands to M2, and do not know the situation."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan listens to the Attending, making a mental note of her mental condition and the manner in which she handles herself. Less than impressed with her, Ethan files the information away for a later time and continues his inspection of Mr. King's wounds. Damn! No signs of an explosion. Once the berating concludes, Ethan does what he can to help Mr. King, very hopeful that they can stabilize him.


So it sounds like he went roughly torso first considering his shoulder and face took so much damage. Is that a correct assumption? What I find interesting is that the damage to the arms indicates he might have tried to stop the fall, which would seem to indicate it wasn't a suicide.

Ethan is going to stay with the patient until he either dies or he is stabilized enough to rush him to ER/Surgery/etc.

[Bennosuke]

While Ethan finishes up placing the IV line, transport arrives to take the patient to the ICU. Ethan helps lead the stretcher and a train of transport and nurses, with the Attending taking the caboose. The trip through the Psych floor is uncomfortable, as the nurses and patients watch the procession like caged animals. During the ride up the elevator, no one talks.

The MICU (Medical Intensive Care Unit) is a series of large glass rooms wrapped around the largest possible nurses station. Beeping and hissing machines crowd each patient bed while wires and catheters and other cords stretch from the walls to poke in or wrap around the ensnared patients. When Ethan arrives, you get the sense that the ICU was like an undisturbed pond that now has erupted in ripples and splashes. Nurses and residents rush to meet the parade. A second year Medicine resident named Chris pats Ethan on the shoulder as he comes in. "This our Jumper?", he asks.

[XianTheCoder]

During the ride up to the ICU, Ethan can't keep himself from wondering what drove his patient to jump through the window... and if he jumped. None of it made any sense. Ethan suspected Mr. King would be in surgery for a few hours, that should give him plenty of time to run back over to the psych ward to investigate and ask some questions. Having a patient... a presumably mentally stable patient... jumping out of a window was not going to look good for Ethan, and he needed answers before someone started asking questions.

Once inside the ICU, Ethan turns towards Chris and nods, "He is. Joseph King, age 43, presented to the ED with Diabetic Ketoacidosis, standard treatment was performed and appeared to be working, he was due to be discharged. No sign of mental illness, or any conditions that would cause him to jump through a window. Details are still unclear, but his injuries suggest he went head-first from the third floor. We stabilized him as best we could, but he's going to need to get into surgery if he's going to have a chance." When he's done signing-out and passing-off his patient to Chris, Ethan will ask, "Have any other patients been sent up here from the incident?"

[Ichneumon]

Johnny finishes the conversation on the radio. "Thanks for the info. We'll do that."

As he observes the doctors move the patient, Johnny was somewhat relieved. It's over. The blood, the madness, it's over. But it wasn't over of course, not until they found out what had happened. He turns towards Clarita and says: "Let's go to the third floor. They don't know the situation yet and I'm quite curious what happened."

Let's do some investigative work.:smallamused:

[Bennosuke]

Chris nods at Ethan's sign out. "It sounds like Surgery was already paged. We'll get a new set of vitals in him, and start running some PRBC (packed red blood cells). The labs you guys drew already came back, his heme is already down to 6, though some of it could be dilution."

As Chris is talking, you notice one of the patient's in a nearby, an older gentleman calling out, "Help, please help." He thrashes about, but no one seems to pay him any mind. He calls out again, but the nurse sitting at a desk just outside his rooms seems to be completely apathetic. "They are trying to kill me! Help please, somebody!" It's at this point you notice that his arms and legs have been tied down with ropes known as 4 point restraints.

"Don't mind him," Chris says, "he came in with a COPD exacerbation, but has developed a good case of ICU delirium." Then Chris responds to your question, "No, no other transfers. I understand that security was a little rough with some of the psych patients, but no significant injuries that I'm aware of. How are you holding up man? Rough night." As he says this Mr. King is rushed into one of the empty rooms, and like a team of worker ants, the nurses begin attaching lines and cables into his body.

************************************************** ********************************
Johnny and Clarita make their way up to M3, which is a general medicine floor. It's eerily quiet, and the hall lights seem to dimmed or poorly wired. The two make their way to the nurses station, which is abandoned except for a middle aged black woman with too much weight on her and hairs that have whitened too early. Seeing the two security officers, she looks up from a book she is reading and just points the two towards the staff lounge.

Inside is a young nurse, maybe 18 or so, of either Hispanic or Asian ethnicity. She is sobbing and being comforted by an older male nurse. She sobs and sobs, her hands open and pressed to her face. The man stiffens, and responding, she looks up to see the two security officers. "Oh god!", she cries, "you're here about Mr. King. Oh god, I swear I don't know what happened. I don't kn..." She breaks down bawling, her face crimping into lines of wrinkles and pain.

[XianTheCoder]

Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Conditions: None
Tilts: None
Beats: 0

1. Make a new "friend" at the hospital that can be leveraged later.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't



Ethan nods as Chris relays the new information. Noticing the man in the bonds and hearing about his condition, Ethan can't help but mumble, "Is there a full moon out tonight?" Turning back to Chris he responds, "Yeah, I arrived at the tail end, so security already had matters under control by the time I got there. Still, it felt tense when I got there, like the entire room could erupt at any moment." Ethan shrugs, "Let's hope this was a one-off situation. I am going to head back over to the M3 after this, and see if I can find whoever last spoke to King. Tell me, are the nurses here all so... apathetic? I heard one of the Attendings chewing one out for reading through the entire incident."

[Ichneumon]

As they make their way on the quiet medical floor, Johnny is reminded of why he hates hospitals. God, what a spooky place is this. I really should have applied for that job as a security guard at a shopping mall a few months ago. ...

When they encounter the man and woman, Johnny is struck with pity for the young nurse. Did she see it happen? We need answers, but maybe I should go easy on her.... She seems traumatised.. Would that man know something?

"Sir," he said with a soft tone, "can you tell us anything about what happened?"

[Bennosuke]

The man looks troubled at Johnny's question and shrugs uncomfortably. The girl sobs again. "You mean with patient King? I don't know, I was down the hall with another patient. He was Stella's patient," he says looking down at the crying nurse, "but it wasn't her fault."

The girl looks up at the male nurse and as if suddenly remembering something, she smacks her forehead. "Oh god, Dr. Roberts is never going to talk to me again!"

"Do you want to see the patient room? Nobody's been in yet."

************************************************** ***********************************************

Chris looks around uncomfortably at Ethan's question about nurse apathy, as if to say this is not the best place or time. "I don't know man. You know what they say, when it rains, it pours. "

One of the nurses calls over to Chris regarding patient King. He looks quickly over his shoulder, then says, "Ok man, I think we have this under control. Why don't you head back to the floor. Strong work tonight man, I'll catch up with you later."

[Ichneumon]

All kinds of question arose in Jonny's mind.Stella? Who was this Stella and where is she? Why does this crying girl think Dr Robert will be angry at her? It doesn't seem these people are likely to be able to give me the answers I need, at least not now, while they are in shock. I should definitely talk some more with Dr Roberts soon, maybe he can help clear things up..

Without discussing it to Clarita first, Johnny answers immediately: "Yes, thank you very much. We would like to see his room.". It was difficult for him to hide his eagerness. He wanted to get away from crying nurses and to be able to look for clues in the patient's room.

[XianTheCoder]

Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Conditions: None
Tilts: None
Beats:

1. Make a new "friend" at the hospital that can be leveraged later.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't



Ethan nods at Chris, "Ok Man, I'll check back later. Page me when he's out of surgery." Ethan will watch as Chris and the nurses depart, before turning to leave. As he walks towards the door Ethan's eye catches the restrained man. Knowing he has a few hours his curiousity gets the better of him, so he walks over to him and kneels down to meet his eye level (though he'll keep himself out of reach). "How are you Sir? Who's trying to hurt you?"

[Bennosuke]

As Johnny starts to leave the room, his head filled with questions, he catches a quick glance at the crying nurse's badge, which reads "Stella Apostole". Well at least one mystery is cleared up. After Clarita asks, the male nurse explains which room was Mr. Kings, and the two security guards make their leave.

Johnny and Clarita make their way to the patient room that Mr. King had stayed in. The unlit room looks mainly unharmed, though sure enough the window has been smashed, allowing for the curtains to whip out into the sky.

Perhaps Johnny would like to investigate the room. If so, please make a Wits+Investigation roll.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

The old man, saliva dried in the creases of his lips looks wide eyed at the young intern. "They are. Everyone here is trying to kill me. The nurses, the doctors. They all work for it! I just need to get out of here, I just need to go home!" The man's voice is still full of wheezing, and the albuterol nebulizer meant to treat his respiratory condition sits blowing vaporized medication into his bed sheets. "Please untie me."

[XianTheCoder]

Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Conditions: ?
Tilts: None
Beats: 0

1. Make a new "friend" at the hospital that can be leveraged later.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't



Ethan meets the man's eyes and listens while he talks, excitement slowly building as Ethan hears what the man believes. The man was obviously crazy, but Ethan liked crazy people, they were so easy to manipulate. While he preferred depressed admins and insecure nurses because of their access to information, ease of breaking, and the potential carnal benefits, a crazy patient could sometimes provide a wealth of information about his coworkers. It always amazed Ethan how often people dropped their mental and social guards in favor of increasing their physical guards around crazy people. Ethan particularly enjoyed when a person just handed him the means of control and the story by which to do it. This man wants out of the hospital, that much was clear, if Ethan could convince this man that he would help him "escape" provided he learned about his "captors", then Ethan might be able to get some useful information about his coworkers out of this man. Attempting to appear as if he believes the man, Ethan leans forward and asks, "It? What's 'it'?


I assume "Get the hell out of this hospital" is an Aspiration of this man? If Ethan is correct, then that would reduce one social maneuvering door. The use of the Sympathetic merit would reduce two additional doors (and give Ethan a condition at your discretion).

[Ichneumon]

Johnny searches for the light switch next to the door and walks into the room. He starts his investigation. The first thing he would look at, would be the bed and any personal belongings on the night stand. Then, he'd search the room, for books and other such stuff, that might give an impression of the kind of person the patient is. Last, he'd look at the windows and the surrounding area, for signs of what might have happened.

Of course, Johnny wouldn't actually read anything like letters, diaries or other personal things that he is not authorised to look into and that might get him fired.
Investigation roll: Wits (3) + Investigation (1) = [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Ethan leans over the bound man, placing one hand on his shoulder in a comforting sort of way. He looks into the man's eyes and the man smiles for just a moment, the terror in his eyes calming, and a moment of clarity seems to come over his face. "It? What's 'it'?", he asks, his voice hushed and empathetic.

The lines of the man's face furrow, and the hairs of his brow seem to expand and bristle. He takes a deep out as if punched in the gut, and the man grabs hold of Ethan's sleeve with the one hand that has enough slack. "It claws and slithers! The others don't see it; the doctors and nurses" the man says, at first a whisper, the volume building. There is still the clarity on his face, "I have seen it. Oh god, I've seen it in this very building!" The man is now yelling, specks of frothy saliva staining Ethan's coat. The veins bulge in his forehead and neck, and his face turns beet red.

The nurse who was previously inattentive looks up, and with a look of annoyance walks towards the room, yelling, "Hey, what are you doing in there? Leave the poor man alone."

Ethan tries to step back but the man still has hold of his whitecoat. The nurse's voice seems far off. Ethan can feel his heart racing, his mind racing. 'What if the man is not mad? What if he is telling the truth?'

Okay, Ethan automatically knocks down 2/3 doors with Sympathy. He gets 3 successes, and knocks down the last door. What the man tells Ethan, the man truly believes, and this is something beyond the delirium. The man is terrified of this, now raving, out of his mind afraid. Because of Ethan's sympathy, he picks up Spooked. Until resolved, Ethan is more prone to believing in something supernatural, and more prone to being truly frightened by any supernatural occurrence till it's resolution. As per the description, this resolves when Ethan does something that hinders the group out of fascination about the supernatural.

Xian, I know you were hoping to pick up vulnerable, but I think this condition hits the nail on the head towards what the ICU patient is feeling. He is terrified out of his mind. Disoriented by the long hospital stay, his confusing and disorienting surroundings, his lack of sleep, he is delirious and consumed with fear. Beyond the distressing nature of his delirium, perhaps he has peaked beyond the veil... and so in Ethan's attempt to understand the man, Ethan is left spooked by the possibility that there is truth driving the man's fear.

I also think this condition will drive the game forward by pushing Ethan to investigate something spooky that he otherwise would just dismiss. If you disagree with this choice, I am happy to discuss."

************************************************** ******************************

Stepping into the room, Johnny turns the lights on, and begins scanning. Immediately, Johnny can see that minimal glass has shattered on the inside of the room, confirming that the man jumped. Threads of blood have trickled down the remaining window pane and dried. The patient's bed is empty, the top sheet has been thrown onto the entrance side of the bed. Then Johnny's eyes identify the black smart phone, sitting on the floor between the bed and the window, as if dropped on the way from one to the other. There is also an upended night stand on the window side of the bed.

As Johnny turns to say something to Clarita, he could swear he sees a silhouette of a female figure in the well lit hallway, staring dumbly into the room. "What?" Clarita asks with a look of annoyance. Suddenly distracted, when Johnny looks back, the figure is gone, possibly just a figment of your imagination.

Johnny gets two successes, and identifies a few key pieces of information from the patient's room, as above.

[XianTheCoder]

It was the man's eyes, you could always tell when a person was telling the truth through their eyes, and this man's eyes caused Ethan to experience something he hadn't in a long time... terror. Ethan didn't know what terrified him more, the fact that he believed this man, or the fact that he was out of control of his emotions. This man wasn't insane, well... he was... but far less than the doctor's assumed. Classic Western medicine, just drug him up so his brain was too muddled to think straight and call it treatment, how did the other doctor's miss this? Ethan didn't believe in ghost stories, they were illogical, but he DID believe in slithering things. It took Ethan a while before he realized the man was yelling, and it took him even longer to realize the nurse was walking over. When he finally regained enough composure to think and move, Ethan immediately tries to calm the man, in a hushed tone Ethan hisses"Sir! I can't help you if you keep yelling, it will draw attention to us. Without waiting to see if he calms, Ethan will turn and try and wave off the nurse, showing his badge and indicating he's a doctor, "It's fine, while speaking with Chris about the patient a concern came up. I'm just doing a quick inspection. This man is fine, just a bit cooped up. Ethan will smile at the nurse, hoping she's apathetic enough to let a doctor do whatever he wants as long as he takes responsibility for it. Ethan will then turn back to the man, hoping the man has calmed so he can pry the hand off his coat.


Manipulation+Subterfuge: [roll0]
Use as Needed: [roll1]
*I'm not sure if you would qualify this as an outright lie or misdirection, I am rolling for a Lie, but if it's Misdirection then add one additional die from the "use as needed" pile
**If Ethan fails the roll, he will choose to convert it to a Dramatic Failure (which seems appropriate given the Spooked condition) and take a Beat.

If the man has calmed AND the nurse was successfully waved off, then Ethan will continue trying to talk to the man.

[Ichneumon]

So he jumped, Johnny thought. "What could drive a man that he would jump?" Did I ask Dr Roberts about the mental condition of the patient? I remember asking him whether the patient was suicidal, but I can't remember what he answered. I definitely have to talk to him some more...

Johnny didn't know a lot about psychology or medicine, but he didn't think it would be logical to keep patients that they know are suicidal in rooms like these. So then again, I am faced with the question, what could drive a patient to suddenly decide to jump out of window? Was he trying to run away from something? Or someone? Maybe I should ask one of the nurses whether they've seen someone enter his room, just before the incident, or maybe I could check the footage of one of the security camera's?

Johnny looked at the hallway and saw the silhouette of the staring lady. "Hé, who are..." Then, when Clarita distracts him and the silhouette is suddenly gone, Johnny is taken aback. "What the... did you.. did you see that? Clarita, did you see that?", pointing to the door?

[Bennosuke]

Clarita looks even more frustrated with you. "Pull it together newbie", she scolds full of returned aloofness. She looks over her shoulder, of course nothing is there. "[B]So are we going to collect his belongings?"

She is referring to how it is Security's job to collect and document patients' belongings for transport between floors so that items don't get lost or stolen. Clarita seems completely indifferent to what had happened to Mr. King, or on the Psych floor. "I'll go get a Belongings Bag", she says before walking out of the room.

As she leaves Johnny remembers about the security cameras placed on every floor. Although none of them are meant to look directly into a patient room, it was possible that the right camera would have caught what happened to Mr. King... or what had just happened in the room.

Quickly peaking outside, Johnny catches site of a camera that should have a good view of the room.

Clarita has left the room, and Johnny has a few seconds to do any investigation unobserved if he so desires. If there is something you want to do, please post in the OOC thread. If Johnny won't do any clandestine investigation, just let me know in the OOC thread.

**************************************************

Ethan's lie seems to work. The nurse looks at him with a little bit of confusion but says, "Okay Doctor. But if he keeps thrashing like that, I am going to have to give him some Haldol ( OOC: An antipsychotic most commonly used to sedate patients.If you want to know if Ethan knows more about the med you can do int + med)."

The nurse walks back to her desk, but it's clear she is keeping an eye on the room. Ethan turns back to the man. He has worked himself up into quiet a frenzy now, twisting and kicking against his restraints. The man seems to have lost himself now, and can no longer respond to Ethan's questions. He mumbles a few more times about It crawling out to get everyone, and how nobody knows, but Ethan is able to get much more out of him.

With the patient continuing to thrash, the nurse returns with a fluid filled syringe. "Sorry Doc, but it's just not humane to leave him like this." She pulls down an arm and places the injection into his deltoid. The man's thrashing slows, and the look of horror goes away. He slowly falls into a sedate state. "Perhaps it will be easier to examine him now," she says with a sheepish smile.

[XianTheCoder]

Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Conditions: Spooked
Tilts: None
Beats: 0

1. Make a new "friend" at the hospital that can be leveraged later.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't



Ethan lets out a slow breath as the nurse walks back to her desk, if there was ever a time when he thought his gift for lying was going to fail him, it was in that moment. Still shaken, he turns back to the man, and tries to get anything more out of him. When the nurse returns, Ethan's heart sinks in his chest, he knew that the second the needle entered his arm his efforts here would be at an end. Trying to think fast for a reason, any reason, to keep the needle out the man's arm, Ethan's rattled nerves don't allow him to think fast enough and he watches as cognition... and fear... leave the man's face. For a second, Ethan wonders if the man is perhaps better off, Ethan would give anything in that moment to have his own fear taken away. Turning to the nurse, Ethan is just able to croak out a "Thank You" from his now dry mouth. He watches the nurse walk away and smiles at her, more out of a subconscious muscle memory than by intent. This was usually the type of opening Ethan would use to strike up a conversation with the nurse, but his mind was still filled with the terrible look of fear on the man's face. Knowing there was nothing more he could do here with the nurse watching, Ethan looks at the man's [chart/wrist bracelet/whatever] to find the patient's name, hoping that later he would have an opportunity to speak with the man again. After lingering for another few moments, Ethan backs away from the man, turns, and walks out of the ICU.

Ethan walks a few paces down the hallway, until he's in a location where he is mostly alone, and stops to lean against the wall and take a few moments to consider what had transpired. Ethan wanted to speak to that patient one more time, he should have a chance when his patient was out of surgery... his patient... $h!7... he had forgotten why he was there in the first place! He still had to get back to M3 in order to find out why his patient jumped out the window! Ethan throws himself off the wall and walks as fast as he can without drawing attention to himself. Shaking the events in the ICU temporarily out of his head, Ethan rushes to M3, hoping he can find an answer that lets him off the hook for what happened earlier. This was really turning into a $h!77y night of work...


Int+Med (Info about Haldol): [roll0]
As Needed: [roll1]



EDIT: I'm assuming that Ethan will fail that medical roll. If there is anything interesting you want to do, I'm happy to take the dramatic failure.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan begins to make his way back to the M building. He only gets about 10 yards down the hall when the air conditioning unit roars to life suddenly, making him jump as if he were about to be attacked. The hairs stand up on end, and his just recently settled heart begins racing again. It takes a few moments to settle his head, and he even looks around to make sure no one saw him startle. These sorts of things happen in a large hospital building all the time. It sometimes seems like the building has a mind of its own, and different floors can be a completely different micro-environment.

After collecting himself, Ethan continues his walk towards M3. When he arrives on the floor, he finds the front desk abandoned. The nurse who had been caring for Mr. King was young girl named Stella, a Filipino ex-pat. She was a nice girl, and it seemed like she had a doe eyed crush on Ethan, along with just about every other young male resident in the hospital; but she was nowhere in sight.

Ethan makes his way to Mr. King's room, in the hope of finding the nurse. However, inside are two security guards who appear to be collecting Mr. King's belongings. One of the guards looks very familiar.

************************************************** *************************************

When Clarita steps away, Johnny walks cautiously over to the upended nightstand and rights it. He opens the first drawer. Sitting atop a pile of toiletries is a printed photograph of Mr. King, his arm around presumably his wife and son. Although his face had been badly damaged by the fall, it was clear this was Mr. King and his family. His wife had dark curly hair and bright pink lipstick on. While Mr. King stared at the camera, with a smile and look of pure contentedness, Mrs. King was looking directly at her husband with a look of pure adoration. His son was a few inches taller than Mr. King, skinny and awkward looking with the defiant long curls of a teenager, and the pimples to match. Little King had a look of complete embarrassment in the photo, a smile that was a more than a little self conscious, but he had his skinny arm pulled tight across his father's shoulder.

Placing the photo aside, the only other objects in the first drawer were some toiletries, and the second drawer just had a few articles of Mr. King's clothing in a large Belongings Bag.

Hearing Clarita's heavy boot steps, Johnny quickly puts the photo back in the drawer and meets her. The two begin opening Belonging Bags to fill with Mr. King's personal effects when another set of footsteps announce the arrival of a young man in a white coat. It is Ethan, the Intern who had been too busy to talk down on M2.

[XianTheCoder]

Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Conditions: Spooked
Tilts: None
Beats: 0

1. Make a new "friend" at the hospital that can be leveraged later.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't



As Ethan steps into Mr King's room, he notices the security guards, Dammit, I hope they didn't touch too much yet. Ethan smiles at them, knowing they are likely just doing their job. The security officers were one group that he'd had little opportunity to make in-roads with since coming to Purity, and he wanted to appear friendly to the group of people who could access any part of the hospital. Noticing one of the guards from earlier, Ethan wracks his brain for his name, It's been such a long night already, what was it... Ah Yes.. John! Ethan steps fully into the room and gives a tired smile, Mr. King is in surgery with a reasonable shot of pulling through this mess. Ethan will carefully walk to the window and look at the broken glass, then he'll turn back to the guards, John, correct? Good to see you again, sorry I was short earlier, it's been a crazy night. Ethan turns to the other guard and gives a nod of acknowledgement, I'm Dr. Ethan Roberts. Once again, I see you have things under control here. Have either of you seen Stella, the nurse? Has anyone come forward as a witness to Mr Kings apparent jump? Ethan desperately hopes that there is a witness and one that didn't see Mr King jump. As Ethan waits and listens for a response to his questions, he will causally glance around the room for anything that might jump at him as being important.


Wits+Inv: [roll0]
As Needed: [roll1]

[Ichneumon]

Johnny makes sure he memorises the faces on the picture. While the people in the photograph looked quite happy, Johnny couldn't help but experience a strange eerie feeling, giving the circumstances. People jumping out of windows, silhouettes appearing and disappearing out of nowhere... Something doesn't feel right. What happened here?

He tries to hide his disappointment when Clarita comes in. Why did she have to come back so soon? I would have loved to have more time looking around. Well, in that case, I'll just have to focus on finding a way to look at the camera footage..

I'll just have to try to convince the other security officer to let me examine the videos. If I can't convince him, I might have to.... Johnny didn't want to think about the trouble he could get in, if caught breaking it.

He doesn't have long to ponder on how he is going to get access to it, before Ethan walks in. A big smile appeared on his face. This Dr Roberts seemed to him like an nice guy, a person you could trust. "Yes, it's John. No worries, nice to meet you. Yes, it has been a crazy night. I'm quite new here. You?"

"Stella? Yeah, I saw her in the nurses station earlier. She was crying and very upset. One of the other nurses was comforting her. I think she was afraid you'd be angry at her. She said she didn't know what happened. So we just came here to examine the scene"

After staying quiet for a few moments and judging Ethan's reaction, he leans in more closely and somewhat softer, he says: "What do you think happened here, Doctor? When we came in here, some of the furniture was overturned....", Jonny says while pointing at the night stand. "Do you think there was fight or something?"

[XianTheCoder]

Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Conditions: Spooked
Tilts: None
Beats: 0

1. Make a new "friend" at the hospital that can be leveraged later.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't




He doesn't have long to ponder on how he is going to get access to it, before Ethan walks in. A big smile appeared on his face. This Dr Roberts seemed to him like an nice guy, a person you could trust. "Yes, it's John. No worries, nice to meet you. Yes, it has been a crazy night. I'm quite new here. You?"
"Myself as well, it's been about a couple of weeks. Way too short a time to lose a patient like this..." Ethan will frown as he continues to look around the room.


"Stella? Yeah, I saw her in the nurses station earlier. She was crying and very upset. One of the other nurses was comforting her. I think she was afraid you'd be angry at her. She said she didn't know what happened. So we just came here to examine the scene"
Ethan looks up from his inspection as Johnny answers, giving a nod at the end, "Odd, she wasn't at the front desk. Perhaps she's giving a statement or was sent home to collect herself after what transpired." Angry? Ethan was furious, but yelling at Stella wasn't going to fix this situation, if anything she might be his out. The whore who was too busy batting eyes at the male residents to notice a patient taking a header out the window... it could work... if it came to that. Stella liked Ethan, maybe if he could get to her before anyone else he could "help" her recollect what happened, that would keep them both out of trouble, then she'd really owe Ethan a few favors.. and not just the favors she was rumored to have already been handing out. If she says she didn't see anything, then I believe she doesn't believe she saw anything, Stella is a nice and honest girl. That doesn't mean she didn't see something important, she may just not realize it. No matter, we can speak with her later.


After staying quiet for a few moments and judging Ethan's reaction, he leans in more closely and somewhat softer, he says: "What do you think happened here, Doctor? When we came in here, some of the furniture was overturned....", Jonny says while pointing at the night stand. "Do you think there was fight or something?"
Ethan was a bit surprised by Johnny's interest in the room, so far he'd experienced so much apathy around Purity it was both curious and refreshing to meet someone who seemed at least mildly interested in something other than clipping a paycheck. Ethan was never particularly comfortable around people who were too curious, but provided their attentions were focused on someone/thing other then Ethan, they could be great tools. Looking at where John points Ethan thinks to himself, He's observant as well, most would have missed that. Nodding, Ethan points to the blankets, I was focused on these bed sheets, did either of you move them? It's curious as to why they would be thrown off the bed in the direction of the window. It's something you might expect to see if he was dragged out of bed... Though he may not have given a direct answer, it's clear to Johnny that Ethan isn't sold on this being a suicide attempt. I don't suppose you can arrange for a review of the security footage?

[Ichneumon]

Johnny's eyed lightened up. The bed sheets! "No, I.. we didn't move them. That's a good point!" I hadn't connected those dots yet. This guy is clever!

"I think it would definitely be a good idea to look at the video footage... I don't have the authorisation myself but... If you, as the patient's doctor, come with me to the video room, I can't see how they could refuse to let us look at them."

And hopefully, I'll also get a better view of whoever's silhouette that was. Could she have been the one to drag Mr King out of bed? For a moment, Johnny considered telling Ethan about the woman he'd seen, but he decided not to. Not yet, anyway.

"Shell we go to the video room right away?"

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan considers the options for a moment. He wanted to see that footage, but something felt wrong about this entire situation, and rushing into the security office and demanding to see footage seemed overly... Exposing. Maybe it was the image of the terror in the old man's face, or perhaps it was Ethan's pragmatic side telling him to remain hidden, but the thought of going to the security room gave him a chill down his spine. Ethan continued to think on the situation, while reviewing Mr King's room. On the one hand, the footage could answer his questions, but on the other he didn't want to explain to anyone why he was performing an investigation that he was presumably not qualified and certainly not paid to perform. John seemed overly interested in investigating, that was good, if he could ensure John gained access to the footage and would report back the findings then it would keep Ethan from having to expose himself. The question was how to ensure John gained access. Realizing that too much time was passing without responding, Ethan offers an alternative plan, speaking softly, "I'm not sure they'll be as receptive as you suggest. I'm sure protocol isn't to open up the footage to anyone who asks, doctor or not. Besides, eventually the police will come looking, and I don't think it will look good trying to explain why two people only loosely affiliated with the incident who aren't authorized to investigate were asking to see the security footage. I think a more subtle approach is going to be required. How well do you know the guard who monitors the cameras? Perhaps it's best for you to go down and play the part of the buddy who wants to gossip about what happened. It will look far less suspicious than if we both march down there asking to see the footage, and perhaps he'll even play the footage back while bonding over a gossip session. If you don’t think you are making progress then you can send me a signal, and I can try and find a way to get him out of the room, leaving you there of for a few minutes to review the footage before he comes back. Alternatively, you could just ask the guard if he saw anything suspicious... perhaps something specific but nuanced, which he'd have to review the tapes in order to answer. You'd need an excuse for asking, beyond curiosity, but I'm sure you could think of something.”


Ethan has confidence that he can talk his way into seeing the footage, but he also thinks it’ll be extremely hard to cover up. Additionally, if this was a murder, then there’s a possibility of someone trying to cover their tracks, and exposing himself as an investigator so easily to the killer just seems foolish. As a result, he’s inclined to persuade Johnny to go by himself. Johnny has more opportunities to see the footage without it looking suspicious, if there is a killer he’ll target Johnny and not Ethan, and when the cops come asking questions Ethan will have plausible deniability.

Regarding Ethan’s persuasion of Johnny, Ethan doesn’t want to divulge how skilled at manipulation he is, so he’s attempting to guide Johnny towards the “right” answer in a rather roundabout way. Ultimately, Ethan wants Johnny to try to buddy up to the guard and try and get him to gossip about what happened, and hopefully get the guard to offer to replay the tape for his own entertainment (people after all LOVE to gossip and be involved.. even when they say they don’t.. it’s just natural). Ethan has no way of knowing if Johnny has the skills to pull off this type of manipulation, so as a backup he would try and come up with a means of getting the guard out of the office while Johnny is still there talking to him, hopefully giving Johnny time to at the footage.

[Ichneumon]

Seeing Ethan hesitate, John realises he was being careless. Especially, considering the fact that they aren't alone... I'm sure Clarita hasn't heard anything..., right?

When Ethan suggests using gossip and manipulation, Johnny at first doesn't know what to think of it. Actually hearing those words out of someone else's mouth, instead of just thinking them, made them ring strange in his ears. He realised it would clearly be crossing a line. It wouldn't be proper, it wouldn't be moral and he could get into a lot of trouble. But haven't I crossed that line already, merely by actually considering it? Didn't I, a minute ago, consider breaking in the video room?

He shrugs his shoulders. It doesn't matter. I want to know what is going on. We need to know.

Johnny fakes a confident smile. He nods and when Clarita isn't looking, hands Ethan a card with his phone number so they can keep in touch.

Johnny is finished for this scene. He plans on going to the video room when everything here quiets down, or else tomorrow, whenever it's convenient.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan feels very self-satisfied with his ability to get Johnny to go it alone with the security room plan, That should keep me out of the cross-hairs. Ethan takes the card and nods, "I'll send you a text message so you have my number." Realizing there isn't much more to do in the room with Clarita present, Ethan nods to the two security guards and says, "Great job tonight, both of you.", then turns and leaves the room. Once outside, Ethan pulls out his phone and sends Johnny a text message (which just says "Dr ER"). Ethan then looks at his watch to check the time, It's amazing how fast time flies on a night like tonight. He then walks off in search of Stella, while waiting for Chris to let him know Mr King is out of surgery.


I'm not sure when/how you plan on breaking up the scenes, but these are the things that Ethan still wants to accomplish:
1. Check on Mr King once he's out of surgery.
2. While already in the ICU checking on Mr. King, try to slip into the room of the old crazy man to further ask him questions (I realize that this may not happen since he's not intended to tell me anything, but Ethan would at least try non-the-less)
3. Find and speak with Stella about what happened

Also, does successfully manipulating Johnny into going to the security room alone, even though Ethan is confident he could do a better job of getting the footage himself, enough to break the Spooked Condition?

[Bennosuke]

Dr. Robert says goodbye to the two security officers and leaves the room. The two finish packing up and documenting the belongings of Mr. King. Everything fits in one bag. Once they are done, Johnny offers to take the belongings to the ICU, telling Clarita she can go back to the office. Thankful to be done with her responsibility, she does not put up any resistance. Johnny drops off the belongings in the MICU, spending as little time as he can on the floor, before making his way to the Video Room.

Despite the Security Office being located on the first floor, the Video room is located on the 6th floor of building M, in a small building near the MICU. Despite his job, Johnny had only been in the Video room, once before, on the day of his orientation. After knocking briefly, Johnny lets himself in. The room is cramped, and the lights are off, the only illumination coming from a series of multiscreened panels that flip video footage back and forth. The security officer working in the room is not one Johnny has met before. He has pale blond hair and glasses, his uniform blazer appears to have been starched and pressed, and he looks up at Johnny like a mother alligator whose nest has been invaded. "What do you want?", his voice is nasally and accusing.

************************************************** **********************************************

Ethan takes his leave of the two security officers, and makes his way down the hall. Common sense says any nurse not at her station, or in a patient room is in the staff lounge, and his suspicions are confirmed when he hears the muffled conversation of what sounds like Stella and another nurse coming from the lounge. Using his swipe key, Ethan enters to find Stella drying the last of her tears, being comforted by an older male nurse with a military crew cut, and a younger female nurse with glasses and dyed purple hair.

Seeing Ethan, Stella stiffens up, and begins sobbing again. "Dr. Roberts, I'm so sorry," she squeals. The other two nurses close in around her protectively, eyeing Ethan with concern.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan raises his hand to forestall her apologies, with his most compassionate voice he will attempt to ease her concerns, "There was no reason to suspect he was a jump risk, and he wasn't your only patient tonight. Sometimes inexplicable things happen that leave us wondering what we could have done differently, but that doesn't mean our our actions were wrong. Mr. King is in surgery, we got him there quickly, with luck he'll make it through just fine." Ethan gives a weak smile before walking towards the coffee pot to pour himself a cup, "Would any of you like a cup while I' am pouring?" Ethan will take his time preparing his cup of coffee and pouring coffee for anyone who requests one, then he will make his way over to the group, handing out the cups before sitting down. Ethan will put on his best paternal face and use his most un-threatening body language while saying to the two other nurses, "Would you two give me and Stella few minutes alone to chat?"


I assume a doctor offering to pour coffee for nurses is rather uncommon and probably considered very decent of him?

Ethan's goal here is to quickly calm Stella, then give her a few minutes to collect herself while he prepares the coffee. By the time he asks the other two to leave, he's hoping that Stella is in a better state of mind to have a conversation about what actually happened and what she may have seen. Also, the longer Ethan lingers in the room acting non-threatening the longer the other nurses have to grow accustomed to Ethan's demeanor and relax their concerns about Ethan yelling at Stella.

Ethan doesn't intend on yelling at Stella, at this point he wants information from her and he needs her in a calm state of mind for that. Plus, I think Ethan's anger at Stella would have subsided somewhat after seeing the room and hearing Johnny's concerns about foul-play.

In case you want a roll for something, here's a generic Man+Per (9-Again): [rollv]7d10[rollv]
As Needed: [rollv]5d10[rollv]

[Bennosuke]

Stella wipes away a tear from a mascara smudged eye, and looks up at Ethan with a fragile smile, "I'm glad he's doing okay". She looks at the two other nurses and says, "It's okay."

The male nurse pats Stella on the shoulder and starts to step out giving Ethan a questioning smile. The female nurse gives her a big hug, then whispers something in her ear. The two giggle for a second, then she also leaves the room. Stella looks up at Ethan expectantly, waiting to see what he will say.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan waits for the two to leave, taking a few sips of his coffee to kill the time. Once they're alone he'll raise his eyes from his cup and smile warmly at Stella. "Its been a long night, how are you holding up? Ethan waits for her response, doing his best to give her consoling and reassuring responses.

[Bennosuke]

It is just now that Ethan realizes that Stella is sitting up on the table, rather than at one of the chairs, so that the top of her head comes to about his chin level. At his kind words, Stella is now beaming with happiness, her big round eyes looking up into his. "You are so sweet," she says, "thank you. It's been such a long night. How are you?"

[XianTheCoder]

"I've had better, and worse." Ethan shrugs and then smiles at her. Placing a hand gently on Stella's knee, Ethan looks into her eyes as he continues, I think Joe will be ok. I just wish I understood what I missed.. Ethan's tone will take on the sound of someone blaming themself. "Will you walk me through the events of tonight?"


Ethan is attempting to sound unthreatening, and curious as to what actually happened in an effort for some kind of explaination and closure.

The touching of the knee is intended to further calm Stella and hopefully inject a touch of sexual tension in the room (which will hopefully cause her to be a bit looser with her words).

[Ichneumon]

For a moment, Johnny can only stare in awe at the dark room illuminated by all those screens. It's just like in the movies!


He raises his hand while he approaches the guy, ready to shake hands. "Hi, my name is John Smith. I'm new, started a few weeks ago. I don't think we've met before. I thought it would be good to make a round around the hospital, to get to know the other security guards. How are things are thing up here? "

Johnny tries to start casual conversation with him, showing interest in the guy's work, in a very non-suspicious manner. :smalltongue:

[Bennosuke]

The man's face screws up in a rat like look of frustration, and then self consciously the look evaporates. "Nice to meet you then, my name is Francis," he says. "things are fine. Can I help you with something?" Without waiting for a response, Harold turns back to the screens, and takes a hard pull from a silver thermos that was resting on the console.

************************************************** *********************

Stella sighs at Ethan's request. "Of course I would," she says and gives a weak smile. She looks down at Ethan's hand a the smile brightens, "Well I was in Mr. Flagg's room next door, because he had called for some pain medication. Before that, Mr. King had just been in his room. I think he had been trying to get a hold of his family. Anyways, while I was in with Mr. Flagg, I guess I heard Mr. King sobbing a little. But I was busy drawing up the Morphine for Mr. Flagg, because he's still getting IM (intramuscular) injections."

Again Stella's face looks troubled, she bows her head, perhaps focusing on Ethan's hand. Her speech begins to hasten, "then he yelled out, as if surprised or something... and then I heard the crash. I almost stabbed myself with the Morphine, I was so shocked by the noise. I ran next door... and well... he... had... jumped." Stella is now sobbing between words again. She is still in control, but seems to be fighting the urge to break out fully into tears.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan pats her knee in a consoling manner as she retells the story. When she concludes, Ethan will embrace her in a hug, and rub her back, "It's ok, it's not your fault. Thank You for being so strong and retelling the story" he will whisper to her as she calms herself. Ethan will continue to hold her until she appears to have her emotions under control. When she's done crying Ethan will pull her back, but not immediately let her go. After a long pause where he looks at Stella (designed to be sexually charged) Ethan will remove his arms from around her. You've had a long night, you should go home. We can manage without you for the rest of the night. I'll call you tomorrow to check in on you and see how you're doing.

[Bennosuke]

"That's very sweet of you Doctor," Stella says, grabbing hold of Ethan's hand before he can leave. "I can't leave the other nurses high and dry,", [OOC: also Ethan definitely doesn't have the power to make the call that she can go home]. "Um, Doctor," Stella's accent is just barely perceptible, "is there any chance you would give me your number?"

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan smiles at Stella, Of course. Rather than just hand her a business card with his hospital number, Ethan will find a pen and write his personal cellphone on the back of his business card. As he hands it too her he looks into her eyes and says, "And when it's just you and I, alone.. it's Ethan, not 'Doctor'." With one more smile, Ethan will ask, Is there anything you need before I go and check on things?


Yeah, I kind of figured that, but under the circumstances I'm sure Ethan could have made a convincing argument as to why he felt obligated to make the call.

[Bennosuke]

Thank you Ethan she says, her eyes now dry and a different form of smile on her face.

So, let me know if you are ending this encounter, and if you have subsequent plans. Still waiting on Ich

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods and leaves the room. If the other nurses are still around he will nod to them, indicating he's done with his private chat, as he walks past. So it sounds to me like Stella heard foul-play. I wonder how John is doing with the security footage. Ethan has been away from his rounds and other patients for a few hours now, so he feels obligated to make a quick round before continuing his investigation... it wouldn't be good if another patient had an 'accident'. As Ethan walks and checks in on patients, his mind continues to return to Mr King, why would anyone target the man? Did someone have a grudge against the man, or was he just in the wrong bed at the wrong time? What bothered Ethan more than anything was the thought that Mr King may have just been collateral damage and a distraction for something larger and more sinister.

Once he's checked in on any other patients, and he has a minute to catch up on any required paperwork, Ethan will get curious about why he hasn't heard from Chris about the surgery yet, and he'll make his way over towards the MICU.


The only remaining thing for Ethan to do tonight is go back to the MICU and check in on Mr King.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny pauzes for a moment. This turns out to be more difficult than I thought it would be. He doesn't seem like the guy to just let me have a look.. but how do I get him away from here? I can't just wait for him to doze off...

With a casual smile Johnny says,"No, thank you. Just wanted to say hello. I'll be going now. I was thinking about getting a soda from the vending machine just down the hall, do you need anything?"

He casually adds: "How often do you get to take a break from watching those screens?"

[Bennosuke]

Without taking his eyes off the console, Francis says, "A Sprite would be good", as if it were owed to him. When Johnny asks him about breaks, his eyes and mouth screw up as if he had sucked on a lemon. "Whenever I want. God, what's it to you?" Grabbing his coffee thermos, he takes a long slurping pull, before placing it back down. For one instant he looks over his shoulder at you with a look that says, what are you still doing here.

************************************************** ***********************

Ethan finds a computer to sit down at and begins working. He still does not have the hang of dictation, but his concentration is further disrupted repeatedly by the sound of scurrying that seems to come from under his work bench. As far as he knows, there has been no problems with rodents in the hospital, but every time Ethan starts to find a rhythm with his dictation, it is like some small animal is darting about at his feet. Every time Ethan stops and looks down at the dark under-desk, there is nothing there, and that noise is gone.

Eventually he is able to finish. Having not heard from Chris, and with nothing better to do, Ethan makes his way towards the MICU.

If you don't mind waiting, perhaps I can have Ethan run into Johnny on the 6th floor on his way to the ICU, that way we can finish ouot the last scene for the night together and have no loose ends? Or we can have Ethan go into the MICU and maybe meet up on the way out after RPing a small scene... I would just like to end this scene soon, get you guys some beats, and start the next scene.

[Bennosuke]

Re-entering the ICU makes Ethan feel slightly nauseous. It is now pretty late into the night, or early in the morning depending on how you look at it, and Ethan's shift is nearing its end. The overhead lights have been dimmed in most patient rooms. The elderly gentleman who Ethan previously spent time with is sound asleep. Chris sits at the main nurse's station chatting casually with a young male nurse. Seeing Ethan arrive, he looks up and says, "Hey man, what's up? What brings you back to the ICU?"

[XianTheCoder]

As Ethan makes his way back to the ICU he begins to feel the weight of the night's events on his body. The walk felt long, and he knew his mind was starting to lose it's sharp edge, but he knew he needed to complete this last activity before calling it a night.. or morning.. whatever. Upon entering and seeing Chris, Ethan will walk over, doing his best to hide his weariness. "Hi Chris, I wanted to check in on Mr King and see how things went. Did he make it through surgery?"

[Bennosuke]

Chris shrugs, "I think he's still in the OR, it took us a while to stabilize him for surgery, and you know how long Anasthesia can take in Pre-op. The plan is for him to be admitted to the SICU (Surgical ICU) after his procedure. I actually had to do my own little transfer note, though I saw you did your own. Strong work man, thanks. How are you holding up?"

The male Nurse, seeing this conversation won't involve him, quickly excuses himself, mumbling about having to check in on a patient.

[XianTheCoder]

"Thanks", Ethan liked compliments, even though he found people often gave them as platitudes. "It's been a long night, and I'm still perplexed by what actually happened. I just find it hard to believe he willfully jumped given his mental state prior to this evening. I suppose they will perform an investigation which may yield some answers. Anyways, I don't want to bore you with my personal ramblings and theories." Ethan looks around the room, noticing it has emptied somewhat from his earlier visit. So that older gentleman that was here earlier, how's his delirium? It's always hard for me to watch a patient get worse or exhibit new symptoms after entering care.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny nods. He knows when he is unwanted. I'd better go.

"Sure thing." he replies, before turning around and leaving the way he came.

When Johnny closes the door, he breathes a sigh of relief. Looking at his hands, he sees they are still trembling. A lot has happened tonight.

He thinks back, how the night had started. How he had been patrolling, how he had been frightened by flickering lights. How he had entered the Psych Ward. How his clothes had been soaked in another man's blood. It seems like weeks ago, not mere hours.

Slowly he walks to a nearby vending machine. I still think there is something creepy about this hospital, but now I don't base that belief on just the flickering lights anymore. Tonight I've encountered the mentally insane, people seemingly being pushed out of windows and I've also seen ghostly silhouettes.

He pushed a few buttons and two Sprites came rolling out of the vending machines. Earlier this night, I tried to distract myself by listing similarities between prisons and hospitals. A smile appeared on Johnny's face, while he picked up the two Sprites and walked towards the video room again. One thing I've learned from those lectures on the work of Foucault, a very long time ago, is that knowledge is power and it is through the surveillance footage that I will find out what is going on in this hospital. Sooner or later, Francis will take a bathroom break and I'll be able sneak inside.

I guess this is the end of the scene for Johnny. He'll give Francis the Sprite and then do some sneaking, waiting until Francis gets out.

[Bennosuke]

Chris nods, "Sleeping now I think. I'll bet he comes around once we get his breathing under better control and get him out of the ICU. I was actually reading a paper recently about how physical therapy can improve ICU delerium if started early enough." (OOC: *Cough* shameless plug *cough*).

"Anyways, things are pretty smooth now. You should get some rest man. Anything you need?"

************************************************** **************************************

Johnny brings the soda back to his fellow security guard, who barely offers up a thanks in return. Letting himself out, Johnny begins examining the hallway for an area to hide.

Please roll wits + stealth AND make a perception roll

[Ichneumon]

Wits (3) + Stealth (2) = 5 ... [roll0]
In case of 10'agains: 4

Perception
Wits (3) + Composure (2) = 5... [roll1]
In case of 10'agains: 4

[XianTheCoder]

Yeah, my shift is almost over, this was my last stop of the night. I'll check back during me next shift to see how Mr King is doing. If there's an emergency I'll be available as well. Thanks for all of your help tonight, and good luck with the old man. I greatly prefer the physical therapy approach, over a hit of Haldol. I don't think we spend enough time exploring the connection between the mind and the body. Ethan gives Chris a minute to see if he bites on the hook, and engages in further conversation, or if he lets the conversation pass. If he does not, then Ethan won't push and pester him, casually leaving after another 'thanks'.


Ethan likes the opening that Chris gave him, as it speaks to Ethan's personal medical philosophy as well as gives him something to try and bond over. At the same time, it's been a long day and Chris has basically dismissed Ethan, so Ethan isn't going to try and force further conversation. While Ethan is very curious to get more out of Chris about the old man's condition and what he's said/done, Ethan thinks the seeds have been planted were he can ask about the man's treatment (in the context of the physical therapy) in the future without it coming off as odd or out of place. So unless Chris bites on the conversation, Ethan will leave the situation as it stands until the next evening.

[Bennosuke]

Exiting the Video Room, Johnny takes a quick walk around the floor. There is a series of elevators for servants and patients that run down the middle of the room. The men's restroom is just a few doors down from the video office, meaning it would be easy to wait on the other side of the elevators till Francis went to the restroom, and then let oneself into the Video Room. Johnny was pretty certain he even had the key in case Francis locked it.

Johnny moves to the other side of the room and begins to wait, perhaps trying to look casual.

************************************************** **************************

Chris chuckles a little, "Well unfortunately he's going to be going to the SICU, where I think PT will be the last thing he gets. Not that I would bad mouth our surgical colleagues," he says with a grin.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan grins back, "That's smart. They have much bigger knives. And somehow I don't think that fact is going to help with the delirium." Ethan will casually look around at nothing specific before focusing back on Chris, "Well I'm hungry, I just realized that I skipped my last food break. What time are you off? If you have no were to be, I know a good 24-hour diner that serves better food than the cafeteria here. And at this hour you can sometimes catch the post-nightclub crowd, trying to sober up after a night of clubbing in their short skirts and skin-tight tops." Ethan gives a mischievous smile to Chris, "I'm going to stop over there and get something to eat before heading home. My treat if you want to join me. "

[Bennosuke]

Chris laughs at Ethan's joke. It's a bitter sort of laugh, as if it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. When Ethan invites him for breakfast, he says, "That sounds pretty good man, but I have a wife and kids I have to get back to. I have to go home to take care of the kids. A husband's duty is never done, if you know what I mean." He shrugs, looking honestly flattered, "How about this though; my wife doesn't work on Saturday so I don't have to be home right away. Why don't we plan for brunch then, post call? It will be my treat."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods, "Sounds good man. Happy wife, happy life... or so I've heard. Well I'll get out of your hair then and let you get back to work so you can get home to the kids. Ethan will smile and thank Chris again for his help tonight, then he'll turn and depart the MICU.

Happy with his progress in seeding Chris, Stella, and Johnny with various machinations, Ethan walks tall and confident down the hallway.

[Bennosuke]

Speak of the Devil no sooner has Ethan walked out of the MICU, the temperature increasing by a good 10 degrees, when he sees Johnny standing behind one of the service elevators, suspiciously trying to look not suspicious.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan grins to himself and quietly walks up to Johnny. When he's right next to him Ethan will whisper, "What are we watching for?"


I'm not sure what direction Johnny is facing, and if he sees Ethan coming. Ethan is trying to "sneak" up to him, but more in a joking sort of way and not at all serious. If Johnny sees Ethan coming it's fine and Ethan continues regardless (maybe making the "sneaking" a bit more flamboyant for comic effect). Ethan would keep things casual enough not to draw attention though, provided someone is around who might see.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny didn't see Ethan coming, at all. He was completely focussed on the difficult task of pretending to casually browse the internet on his mobile phone, while actually being completely focussed on the door of the video room. When Ethan whispered, Johnny jumped up, ready to scream a combination of words ranging from 'Don't hit me!' to 'Freeze! You're under arrest!'. He immediately relaxed when he saw it was just Ethan.

"Ethan! Glad to see you, I was just about to message you."

Johnny pauzes, looks around, and when he is certain no one else is near, he continues:

"I'm spying on the video room. I'm afraid the guy up there isn't very talkative, so befriending him and manipulating him wasn't really an option. But I know he occasionally talks breaks. If he goes out, we can go inside and quickly check on the tapes."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan grins as he startles Johnny, very pleased with himself. After listening to what Johnny is doing Ethan nods and speaks softly, "Do you know anything about the guard? Is there some information we could leverage to get him out of the room longer? Perhaps he has a nice car that if hit or vandalized he would feel compelled to handle immediately?"


Benn: How are you handling zero dots in Resources? Some GMs that I've played with assume you have a dumpy apartment and a broken down car, while others assume you live in your parents basement and don't even own a bicycle. Since this appeared to mostly be a single setting game, I didn't consider whether Ethan would have a car or not. If he does, and he could figure out which car is the guard's, then Ethan would consider creating a small "accident" while he's leaving from his shift. Nothing crazy, just a tap of the bumper that causes a little dent but no major structural damage. Enough that the guard needs to be called out to swap insurance info and whatnot. I figure that should give Johnny at least 20 minutes. It's not as elegant as I would like, but Ethan doesn't know anything about the guard so he's a bit limited in options.

[Ichneumon]

"I know absolutely nothing about him. But maybe there is a database of hospital staff. I'd rather we could avoid vandalizing his car. Personally, I was thinking about something less drastic. Maybe you could accidentally lock him up in the toilet or something?"

Johnny felt the need to object to Ethan's proposal, but if he was honest to himself, he only pretended to care and if Ethan would insist, he'd go along with it. Francis had been a jerk to him and he was an obstacle. He was standing between Johnny and the truth. Causing material damage was a small price to pay for the truth... right?

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods in acceptance, "I guess I could just spill some coffee on him when he's walking out of the bathroom." It lacked the same flare as Ethan's original idea, but it was a lot simpler. "Let me go find some coffee, text me if he leaves the room before I get back." Ethan will turn and depart, looking for the closest coffee pot.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan leaves to go back to the ICU, and retrieves a cup of luke warm coffee from the break room. He returns but it takes another 30 minutes or so for Francis to leave the video room and makes his way to the bathroom. By now it's about four in the morning. Both Ethan and Johnny's heads are starting to feel heavy, their eyes burning.

I'm giving Ethan the benefit of Johnny's stealth roll. I'll let you quickly describe what you are goint to try to do, then likely we will need some rolls.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan plans on waiting until the guard goes into the bathroom, then he'll go linger near the bathroom door while pretending to be preoccupied with his phone. Ideally, Ethan would place himself in a location where he can indirectly see the reflection of the door... maybe there's a mirror, or some metal fixture like a water fountain, or he could even just try and use the reflection on his phone's screen. The idea is to look distracted, but actually be watching the door to make sure he times the accident correctly (and on the correct person). Once the guard opens the door, Ethan will try and run into him "on accident", spilling the coffee down the front of his shirt and pants. Ethan would then be apologetic, delaying him longer by making a variety of genuine sounding platitudes.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny will go into the video room immediately once Francis enters the rest room. Johnny would lock the door and then immediately try to check the video footage. He'll take another soda with him, as an alibi. If he's caught in the video room, he could alway say he wanted to bring Francis another soda, found the room enter, so locked the door, just in case and waited until Francis had returned.

[Bennosuke]

OOC: Ethan, please roll manipulation + performance to see how well you perform this act.

Johnny, please roll wits + computer to see how well you can figure out the video monitor

[Ichneumon]

Rolling for Wits (3) + Computer (2) = 5, [roll0]
Rolling in case of 10's: [roll1]

[Bennosuke]

Both Ethan and Johnny perk up when they hear the door to the video room open. Peeking their heads around the corner, they watch as Francis makes his way to the men's rest room. The soda was a good idea.

Ethan moves first, strolling over to the bathroom, then Johnny makes his run for the video room.

************************************

Inside the bathroom, Francis is at one of the stalls. Suddenly, it hits Ethan just how bad of an idea this was. The hand holding the now look warm coffee is slick with sweat, and it takes all his willpower to keep cool.

Ethan stands awkwardly waiting for Francis, who looks over at the doctor with some discomfort. Ethan starts to walk towards the urinals, just as the guard is finishing up. He flushes and Ethan is able to cut the angle so their shoulders collide hard. Ethan's cup of coffee goes shooting out and splashes over the chest and abdomen of the guard, who shreaks in surprise. "What the hell are you doing!" he cries.

Ethan makes a few apologies and begins to collect paper towels to help wipe down the splattered security officer.

***************************************

Meanwhile, Johnny has entered the video room, and it takes only a few seconds to realize he has no idea how to operate the console. Most of the buttons and knobs are marked with written on tape which has mostly faded.

Johnny begins frantically pressing buttons and switches, trying to find a way to pull up old footage, but all he seems able to do is figure out how to toggle which camera is coming up on screen.

He does happen to catch a glimpse of two nurses making out in an empty patient room, but this is not very helpful.

Failure leads to frustration which leads to panic. Time ticks by and Johnny realizes he is getting nowhere near how to pull up previous footage. Fleeing in defeat, Johnny leaves before Francis is able to extricate himself from Ethan's apologies.

************************************

Francis returns to the video room and the two meet up again, behind the elevators.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan counts to 60 after Francis leaves before he takes a deep breath and leaves the bathroom. As he walks back to the elevators he scolds himself for how hasty and poorly executed the plan was.

As Ethan arrives back at the elevators and meets Johnny he looks hopeful, thinking John may have still had enough time to get the footage. "Sorry, I wasn't able to buy you more time. How did you make out?"

[Ichneumon]

Johnny rushes out of the video room. Damn it! Why can't they make those interfaces more easy to use!

He meets Ethan and with a somewhat disappointed face he says: "Sorry, I didn't get far. The console was more difficult than I'd imagined. Didn't have time to look at the footage. I did see a couple of nurses making out though in one of the patient rooms..." :smallamused:

"I suggest we go home, have a night's sleep and maybe meet again tomorrow? It has been a terribly eventful night already."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan frowns, but given his own failures, he doesn't say anything, but just nods. "Yes, I agree. I think it's been a long night, and I'm not sure I'm thinking clearly at this point. Perhaps after a good night's sleep we'll have a better plan.

Unless something happens to forestall him, Ethan will turn from the elevators and begin to walk away. He'll perform whatever tasks required to close out his shift, then he'll collect his things and head home. While doing so, Ethan will consider the issue of the footage, Mr King, Stella, and the crazy man in the ICU... not liking any of it.

[Ichneumon]

"Good night!", Johnny says, followed by a yawn. God, I'm tired.

Unless something eventful happens, Johnny finishes his shift, does what he is required to do and goes home.

[Bennosuke]

Both Johnny and Ethan part ways, exhausted by the night's occurrences. Both the Doctor and the Security Officer would rest uneasy during the day, their thoughts invaded by images of all that had taken place.

[Bennosuke]

Act 1 Scene ii

Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.

-Andre Malraux

While rest comes uneasy to both Johnny and Ethan, rising the next afternoon is even harder. Despite both men having become somewhat adjusted to the nocturnal lifestyle, their heads are just that much more clouded and heavy the day after Mr. King's death.

Ethan shows up just a little later than he usually does, to the frustration of his anxious Day Residents. The Resident who had cared for Mr. King asks Ethan a million questions about the nights events, and thanks him repeatedly for everything that happened. None of this makes the young Doctor feel any better, and in fact, he finds himself wanting to throttle the other Intern several times. Despite the fugue, Ethan's hands refuse to steady, and he cannot shake the dreams he had of something crawling on the floor, just about to catch him. These thoughts, more impressions than images, make it that much harder to concentrate as well.

When Johnny arrives, the other security guards seem to be acting like the previous night's events never happened. Clarita is just as cold to Johnny as she's ever been, and Steve seems to have only one or two words regarding what happened. In fact, it may just be in Johnny's head, but it seems like the other guards seem to avoiding him.

Fortunately, the beginning of the shift is quiet so far, and neither Johnny or Ethan are too tied up in their responsibilities when the sun sets.

Please describe what your character is doing following the initiation of their shift. This can be work or investigation related. Please be clear as to where your character is in the hospital when the scene begins. Also, in case you have not see, please see my most recent OOC post.

[XianTheCoder]

Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Conditions: Spooked
Tilts: None
Beats: 2

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't



When Ethan's alarm finally sounded, he groaned loudly and hit snooze.... for the third time. If it wasn't for his biological needs, he would have hit snooze for a fourth time, but he managed to roll himself out of bed and drag himself into the bathroom. It was mornings like this that Ethan appreciated his white doctor's coat, it would hide any wrinkles in his clothes that survived a rushed morning ritual. Knowing he might have to deliver bad news to the King family, Ethan selects a shirt that he believes makes him look more empathetic.. blue... apparently a nice soothing and compassionate color. Ethan had no idea why people were calmed by a simple color, but it worked, and that's all that matter.

When he finally arrived at the hospital Ethan was annoyed with himself for hitting snooze that last time. Promptness was important, it made people trust you and believe in your abilities. Again.. Ethan had no idea why, one's ability to get out of bed had little to do with their mental or physical faculties once out of bed, but again... people were strange creatures that seldom made logical sense. Those gaps in logic were easy to manipulate once you understood their fault lines.

After clocking in, Ethan puts his belongings in a locker [or wherever they put their personal stuff] and takes a walk around the General Medicine floor, stopping by each patient in turn. While his patient's talked Ethan did his best impression of someone paying attention, but his mind wasn't with it today, the old man's words and his dreams, the bizarre circumstances of patient King's fall.. it was all to distracting and Ethan very nearly rushed through the last few patients. he was sure that the last patient probably felt rushed and maybe slighted a bit, and Ethan knew he'd have to fix that later, but he needed some answers, he needed to speak with Mr. King, and if that wasn't possible, then he needed to speak with his wife. Ethan tries not to look rushed as he goes to check on the status of Mr King.


So two things here:
1. I'm assuming that Ethan can look up the status of Mr. King (or have someone look up the status) in the hospital computer system. Assuming that is accurate, he would do this first. If Mr. King died then he'd want to find out of the family had already been alerted. Ultimately, he wants to speak with the wife since Stella believes that Mr. King was trying to call her right before the incident and presumably succeeded. If Ethan needs to actually walk over to the SICU to get the status of Mr. King, then he would do so.
2. In the scene intro Ethan speaks to the Day Resident, is he still available to chat with Ethan by the time the scene is open to player actions? Ethan may want to ask him some questions (and he probably knows the status of Mr. King, thus saving Ethan a trip to the SICU).

[Ichneumon]

The next day, Johnny had trouble concentrating on his job. In his head, he kept analysing the events that had occurred yesterday, as if he was constantly rewinding and re-watching a movie over and over again. What am I missing?

The situation seemed very surreal to him. A man had died yesterday, under very unusual circumstances. A man had fallen out of a window. Whether he had jumped, was pushed or thrown, was still up in the air, but that a man had hit the pavement and was now dead, that was very clear. There is no doubt about that, Johnny thought. During his break, he just sad in the Main Security Office, gazing into nothingness. Not even touching his sandwich.

If someone had attempted to kill Mr King, to make him silent, they had definitely succeeded. This is all very suspicious, very unusual, yet everyone around me acts as if it's just a regular day. As if nothing happened. Why? I know it is not normal. Is there some kind of conspiracy going on? Are they all in on it? For a moment Johnny thought he was becoming paranoid. The fact that the other guards seemed to avoid him, didn't help. I should be careful. I shouldn't do anything that is too out of the ordinary, at least for today.

After finishing his sandwich, Johnny decides to check the roster first, to look at the working schedules of the different security guards. He hopes to find the schedule for manning the video room. If someone asks me why, I can just say I am looking if there is a chance I might take a day off soon.

After checking the roster, Johnny has 2 main goals. First, he is going to search for ways to get access to the security footage, maybe through some other guards. Second, he think the other guards are acting suspicious and he will likely try to socialise with them / spy on their casual conversations, to understand why they are avoiding them and what's going on

[Bennosuke]

After checking in, Johnny quickly opens up his email, to review the schedule. The Supervisor ([email protected]) sends out an email every Thursday with the next week's schedule. In reviewing the most recent one, it looks like Francis does three to four day blocks, alternating with another officer named Larry; another officer that Johnny does not know. Francis is on tonight, then one more night. Everyone in Security force has received this email, so it should be pretty easy to figure out how to email any officer.

OOC: Sorry for the short email. I figure this allows Johnny a way to check the schedule and an easy way to communicate with the Supervisor. I've asked Xian one last question, which I will wait for before "starting" his IC scene.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny starts writing a short e-mail to the Security Supervisor in which he simply asks if it would be possible to be scheduled in for the video room sometime. He motivates his request by the fact that he is new, wants to try different things and thinks he'll be good at it. There really is nothing all to suspicious about my e-mail, Johnny thinks as he is typing.

After he sends it, he takes his mobile phone and sends a text message to Ethan: "Hey Dr. R, did you have a good night sleep? When you got the time, let's meet up. There is lots to discuss."

[Bennosuke]

Ethan sat across from Becca, the last day resident. He could tell she had waited to sign out to him last. Ethan covered about three day residents' services. During the night, it was his job to "put out fires", medically speaking, and to help with admissions that came in through the emergency department. Most sign outs consisted of the day resident rushing through their patient list, repeating, "nothing to do, nothing to do", and stopping at a patient or two to really explain what was going on, and if Ethan needed to be mindful of anything overnight. Usual requests were "don't give him any extra pain meds, he's a Seeker", or "follow up on the abdominal X-ray way ordered; it's to rule out small bowel obstruction". The other day residents had exhibited bilious frustration with Ethan's late appearance and sluggish appearance. It wasn't anything to take personally, they all just wanted to go home. They all just wanted to get the hell out of there.

But Becca was nervous; twitchy. Ethan knew that Mr. King had been her patient, and he knew that Becca was just a little too soft, and a little too hard on herself. She was the type of resident that didn't take constructive advice, let alone criticism well.

Her first words to Ethan had been, "I'm so sorry", and it looked like she was about to start crying. But she didn't. Instead, after batting at her eyes a few times, she had asked Ethan every question under the son about what had happened. Ethan had done her best to answer her questions, but it was her last question which nearly left him speechless, "Why did this happen?"

************************************************** ********************************************

After finishing his email, Johnny looks up from the computer. Clarita is playing some game on her cellphone. Steve has just laid out a set of cards to play solitaire with. Another guard that Johnny does not know as well, maybe his name was Mickey, was watching the TV. One of those UFC caged fights, where two overly tattooed goons paint themselves in each others blood was playing. Mickey, if that was his name, was a younger man who had joined the force maybe a few months before Johnny.

The room seems charged, as if each person was intentionally avoiding the other. It had never been like this before.

Thank you for the patience these last few days. Ich, please roll Presence + Persuasion for the email. Also Ich, I think you have forgotten about one lead, I recommend you read the first IC page. Last hint.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan had done her best to answer her questions, but it was her last question which nearly left him speechless, "Why did this happen?"


Caught somewhere between glee and disgust, Ethan watches Becca. Zero control over her emotions... pathetic, really. Knowing that someone else was nervous did make Ethan feel better about his culpability. If Becca was taking things this hard then it was likely she thought she was to blame for what happened… and she was just enough of a martyr to give Ethan a scapegoat if eyes turned towards him. It's not that he disliked Becca, he didn't really know her that well, but he was certain that he liked himself and his reputation more.

Trying his best to look empathetic and equally distraught over the previous night's events, Ethan will attempt to mimic body language that suggests he has similar feelings as Becca while not saying much beyond answering her questions. When the final question came, Ethan sits quietly with a frown on his face for several long seconds. Finally he answers in a quiet voice, "I spent most of last night asking myself that same question, and I don't think that there is a simple answer. Ethan will reach across and lay a consoling hand on Becca's shoulder, You look like you could use a friend to talk to… someone who is feeling the same thing you are feeling.


So there are a few things going on here:
1. Ethan sees Becca in a fragile mental state, giving him an opportunity to be a "friend" and build a relationship with her.
2. Ethan wants to feel Becca out and see if he can position her as a scapegoat if needed, this requires her to trust him.
3. Ethan sees Becca as a challenge to break given her personality traits.

Ethan is attempting a Social Maneuver on Becca. Ethan's intent is to break through Becca's mental defenses to get her to open up and discuss what she is feeling about this whole situation. Once Ethan has broken her down, he would use the opportunity to find out what she knows about Mr. King and seed the conversation with options for getting closer in the future. Ethan will NOT use Sympathetic in this situation.

Man + Per or Emp (9-Again for either): [roll0]
As Needed: [roll1]

[Bennosuke]

Holy heck that was a good roll! I would go with empathy, but 5 successses. Excellent. Ethan is entrenching himself really well with the hospital staff. From the below response, Ethan knows that Becca implicitly trusts

Becca's eyes well up with tears, but she smiles at Ethan. "Thank you for being so sweet. Ya, this is my first patient death. I don't really know how to handle it. I mean, there's nothing I could have done, right? I just... I just don't know what to do, but I have this sick feeling deep in my stomach; you know what I mean?". She reaches out and squeezes Ethan's shoulder. "Thank you again."

[XianTheCoder]

Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️
Conditions: Spooked
Tilts: None
Beats: 2

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't




Becca's eyes well up with tears, but she smiles at Ethan. "Thank you for being so sweet. Ya, this is my first patient death. I don't really know how to handle it. I mean, there's nothing I could have done, right? I just... I just don't know what to do, but I have this sick feeling deep in my stomach; you know what I mean?". She reaches out and squeezes Ethan's shoulder. "Thank you again."
Ethan nods in agreement, Yeah, I couldn't sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see the image of him laying on the patio. Ethan's eyes turn inward and he looks like he's seeing the image again right this moment. After a second his eyes focus back to the present, There was nothing suggesting this was going to happen, you did great work with him, he was healthy and going home. During my last round he even talked about how much he liked 'The pretty doctor that's here during the day'. Ethan tries giving a consoling smile that possess just a hint of mirth, an attempt to lighten the mood. Getting a sense that his manipulations have worked, Ethan decides to take a riskier tactic than he normally would. While looking into Becca's face Ethan leans in and speaking a bit more softly, Honestly, I'm not convinced he jumped. Ethan pauses for just a second before continuing, There were no signs he was suicidal, I think this was a flukey accident. Maybe he tripped while walking to the bathroom? Or maybe he was looking out the window and the window gave out through some bizarre circumstances. I read about this house that unexpectedly collapsed for nor reason. Police thought it was foul play, but it ended up being 40+ years of vibrations from the nearby airport that loosened the nails until eventually it just collapsed. Sometimes... weird unexplainable seemingly supernatural things happen. Ethan looks down towards the floor. The delivery of his theory held a hopeful tone, like Ethan didn't want to admit that he missed the signs that Mr. King was suicidal, and this would weigh less heavily on his heart. Has his family been notified yet? Did you talk to them? The night nurse told me he was trying to call his wife last night. I can't imagine what she must be going through right now.


When Ethan pauses, it's to try and read Becca's reaction. Is she surprised, nervous, fearful, relieved, etc.? Basically Ethan is looking for signs that Becca knows more about the situation than she has let on. Perhaps she suspects something or has seen something (I.E. Slithering and clawing monsters in the shadows) or perhaps she's in on a mass conspiracy and feels guilty for the collateral damage? When Ethan continues with the theory of it being an accident, he's saying this to walk back on any potential red flags he raises (if Becca really knows something or is involved in some scheme). The usage of the word 'Supernatural' is always placed purposefully, Ethan would watch Becca's reaction here as well for signs that she may know something that he doesn't.

The last few questions that Ethan asks are where the investigation side of the conversation starts. He's trying to be subtle about the whole thing, because IF there's some truth to what the crazy old man was yelling, then Ethan doesn't want to let on that he's investigating the incident.



Ethan will respond to your text message after his chat with Becca.

[Bennosuke]

"You don't know", Becca says with surprise. "Oh god! Well it's just awful. I honestly don't think I can talk about it! And I probably shouldn't say anyways. I mean, I called Mrs. King up early and discussed everything with her. She was so torn up, and it's pretty private." Becca now looks very uncomfortable, and maybe a little embarrassed. She clearly feels uncomfortable discussing her conversation with Mrs. King.

I think I'm gonna make you roll to get her to spill her guts. Manipulation + Persuasion seems obvious. I'd give you a -3 because Becca has a strong moral code, but I'll also give you a +2 for having gotten into her head with Empathy. So Man + Persuasion -1

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan leans in to listen as Becca begins to speak. At her hesitation Ethan attempts to appear as concerned and understanding as he can, I understand why you would want to keep it private, but Mr. King was my patient too and I could really use the closure. It's probably selfish of me to ask, but I just keep seeing the image of him laying there, and I keep remembering that he really wanted to speak to his wife... it's heart-breaking.

[Bennosuke]

"I know, I know." Becca smiles, nodding to Ethan. "He was your patient too." She takes a a deep breath before beginning, "Well apparently Mr. King's son had been killed in a car accident yesterday. We don't know for certain, but that's apparently why he jumped out the window. The police still have some investigation to do though. It's just, so awful! Mrs. King is just beside herself. And she refuses to believe he". Finishing this, she looks Ethan in the eye, trying to gauge his response.

[XianTheCoder]

Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️
Conditions: Spooked
Tilts: None
Beats: 2

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't



Ethan doesn't need to fake his surprised reaction, part of him really believed that this was going to turn into a conspiracy, but it was simply a matter of chance combined with the fragile human mind. It explains the sobbing, the suicide, probably even the overturned nightstand. He was distraught, he threw some stuff around in a tempter tantrum, then in the midst of the anguish he jumped through the window. It all makes sense. A part of Ethan was disappointed, there was something exciting about grand conspiracies.

Leaning back Ethan is quiet for a moment as he stares towards the ground in thought. Finally, he looks up into Becca's face, quietly he says, It explains everything, in a tone that indicates a feeling of closure. That poor woman... to lose them both in one day... she must be a complete mess. Sounding as sincere as he can, Ethan will thank Becca, Thank You for telling me all of this.

[Bennosuke]

"Of course" Becca says with a smile. "Just, keep it a secret please. I mean, it's the family's private business." She looks down and takes a deep breath in and out. When Becca looks back up, she looks as if a great weight has been lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you for talking with me, and being so kind. Well, do you have any other questions about the sign out before I go?"

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan Roberts (http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/46135)
Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️
Conditions: Spooked
Tilts: None
Beats: 2

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't







ATTRIBUTES






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL



POWER
Intelligence:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Strength:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Presence:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️


FINESSE
Wits:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Dexterity:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Manipulation:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️


RESISTANCE
Resolve:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Stamina:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Composure:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️







SKILLS






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL




Academics:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Athletics:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Animal Ken:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Computer:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Brawl:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Empathy:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Craft:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Drive:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Expression:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Investigation:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Firearms:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Intimidation:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Medicine:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Larceny:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Persuasion:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Occult:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Stealth:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Socialize:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️




Politics:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Survival:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Streetwise:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Science:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Weaponry:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Subterfuge:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️





Ethan smiles, No, I am good. Ethan attempts to make 'Good' sound as if it's loaded with deeper meanings. As Ethan stands he will extend his hand to assist Becca in rising from her seat, using the contact to then initiate a warm and friendly hug, intended to come off as consoling and appreciative. Enjoy your time off and try and get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow evening. After a long moment, Ethan releases the hug and backs away from Becca, giving her one more smile before departing the Residents Room.

Unless something disrupts Ethan he would go to perform any initial administrative work that he needs to perform followed by an initial Round with his patients to let them know he is now on the clock. Once he is done with his rounds he'll want to make it a point to travel over to SICU to learn what happened during Mr. King's surgery. When Ethan gets Johnny's text he will respond back, "I'll be walking from M3 to SICU in about , you free to join me for the walk?"



Anyone else feel like Ethan is just loading up the double and triple meanings in this scene? It must be exhausting manipulating people all day long...

[B]Re Mr. King: So Ethan's initial thoughts are that the story makes sense, and could explain everything about Mr. King (he doesn't know about the silhouetted figure or the odd behavior in the Psych Ward to cause him to believe that there still might be something larger happening). Going to SICU is really to close the chapter on the patient and to give him a reason to continue building relationships within the hospital.

Re Becca: Ethan feels like he hit it out of the park during his interaction with Becca and would want to further capitalize on it. Since she is emotionally distraught and told him something she shouldn't, Ethan believes that some kind of action that implies appreciation and understanding would further solidify his relationship with her. So Ethan would spend some time this evening trying to learn what he can about Becca, specifically her likes and dislikes or hobbies. Basically, Ethan wants to buy her something (or do something) that says, "I'm thoughtful, I did my research, and I got you something to both show my appreciation of you and to help take your mind off of what happened". An example of the type of thing he'd consider would be tickets to her favorite play/musician. I'm not sure how you want to handle this. I could either carve out specific investigative time later in the evening or we could handle it as an ongoing investigation where he takes opportunities through his nightly activities to try and learn things. I think a lot depends on how much the night staff knows about Becca, if there isn't much they know, then Ethan probably needs to carve out time where he can do a deeper investigation and maybe use some google-fu. If Becca is known by the night staff, then Ethan probably could use the latter method and learn what he needs through normal hospital interaction. Just let me know how you want to handle it.

Re Johnny: Since Ethan is now under the impression that Mr. King probably did jump, he wouldn't be so concerned about secrecy. So now Ethan would want to be seen talking with Johnny to help support the reputation he's trying to build as a person who is nice and approachable, treating everyone with respect. His hope is that the other support staff see the interaction and eventually seek out Ethan when they have issues in hopes they find a doctor with a sympathetic ear. Also... Ethan is dying to know about the two nurses that were hooking up, and last night wasn't the proper time to ask about it.

Re Stella vs Becca: Ethan would be careful when asking about Becca's interests. He doesn't want to give the wrong impression to someone who may turn around and give Stella something to go crazy over.

Re Old Crazy Man: Now that thoughts of a grand conspiracy seem unlikely, Ethan would bring his focus back to wanting to speak with this man again. Ethan's intention would be to try and sneak for a quick chat after visiting the SICU.

Re Aspirations: Are we counting this interaction with Becca as the completion of "3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't"?

[Ichneumon]

For moments Johnny watches the other guards. What is going on here? Why are they avoiding each other? He is uncertain about what to do next, afraid to make a mistake.

Then he knows, he stands up and walks towards the television. Mickey... that was his name right? Johnny takes a seat next to Mickey, pretending to be interested in the fight as well. God this is awful. They call this type of television 'entertainment'? How could anyone watch this mindless violence and be entertained?

After a while, during the commercials, he breaks the silence. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. My name's John. Nice to meet you."

Pointing at the television, he adds: "Which of the two are you rooting for? "

Since I am a bit late, I propose to largely skip over interacting with the other guards (that can wait for another time). Johnny's main objective here is to just get a better impression of Mickey. Who he is, his personality etc. and hopefully make a friend. After some quick small talk, he will answer Ethan and meet up with him, to tell him about all the things he hasn't told him before.

[Bennosuke]

Mickey had a long gaunt face and a strong chin. Strands of brown-blonde hair hung just too perfectly in disarray from his head down to his shoulders. He was long and thin, and very confident in how he appraised Johnny. "Nice to meet you John", he says as if trying a foreign taste in his mouth for the first time. His eyes roll back up towards the TV, "Eh, this is just the prelims. I don't really know either of these guys." He watches for a second as one man with a mullet climbs behind his enemy and begins choking him. "You like MMA?", he asks with piqued interest.

The others in the room seem to be watching out of the corner of their eyes, trying not to show discomfort with the disrupted silence.

************************************************** ******************************************

After parting with Becca, Ethan begins to head towards the floor to make a quick rounds. His phone buzzes, pulling it out there is a text message; 'Hey cutie. I just wanted to say thanx for being so sweet last night' The text ends with an emoji blowing a kiss, followed by an emoji of a big smiley face with hearts in its eyes. The text is from Stella.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan would ignore the text for the time being, not wanting to respond until he knew how best to play the situation. Also, he may decide not to respond at all, since he'd be concerned about there being "evidence" that she could use against him later if she felt slighted.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny was somewhat relieved from Mickey's reactions. At least someone was still acting normally.
"To be honest, I have never actively followed the championships on television before. But I did take some basic martial arts lesson's while in college. I really enjoyed the thrill and found the techniques I learned quite fascinating, but I've been out of the sports for a few years now. What about you?" , Johnny said, genuinely interested.

Furthermore he adds, speaking somewhat softly, "By the way, is it just me or is everybody acting a bit weird and quiet?" The only way to find out was just to ask it directly, Johnny figured.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan finishes rounding quickly. During rounding his phone goes off, but he ignores it till he is done. This is when Johnny's text comes in. Ethan responds, "I'll be heading to the SICU soon, can meet there in 10-15 minutes", then he decides to head up to the SICU. This would give Ethan some time to wrap up with Mr. King before joining up with the security guard.

He heads to building H, the surgical side of the hospital. Stepping through the double doors that separate the two buildings is like stepping into a different dimension all together. While the walls in building M were a tarnished stucco egg shell, the walls of H were freshly painted and blazing perfect white. The fluorescent lights were twice as strong, and the sound of air conditioning was like a jet engine. Overall the change in environment was like an assault on the senses, at it took at least 10-15 seconds for Ethan's eyes and brain to adjust.

He took the elevator up to the top floor and came to a series of doors marked General SICU and Neuro SICU, each with their own card swiping panel.

************************************************** ********************************

Mickey tears his eyes from the screen, "I mean I play some basketball and things like that. I don't fight or anything," he says with a chuckle. In response to Johnny's second statement, Mickey's voice becomes hushed as if talking about someone's dead grandma, "Ya, the police showed up earlier today and were questioning everyone about what happened. I mean, no one was at fault, but I guess it put everyone on edge a little bit." He picks up a coke bottle, uncaps it and takes a long swig of the caramel liquid.

At that moment, Johnny's phone buzzes, and he gets a text from Ethan, "I'll be heading to the SICU soon, can meet there in 10-15 minutes"

[XianTheCoder]

As Ethan walks he's struck by the differences in appearance between the departments. It seemed contrary to reason that the surgical unit would be more well-kept than the General Medicine floor, in SICU most of the patients were unconscious and couldn't appreciate the effort, but on M3 the patients were all conscious, the whole thing seemed like a colossal misallocation of hospital resources. Well I guess we know who the cool kids are. I wonder how we squeeze some money out of the budget to get a sexy sleek looking paint job for M3? Mr. King's acrobatic performance probably cost us any money we might have gotten anyways. Putting his jealous thoughts aside, Ethan steps into SICU and walks up to the nursing station, looking to see who is working this evening.


So generally speaking, what is the protocol when a doctor from one department enters another department? Does the Dr. need to alert the staff or anything, or does he pretty much have free reign as long as he doesn't touch anything?

[Ichneumon]

Johnny smiles and listens as Mickey talks about his hobbies.

"Oh I see, I missed that. Now I understand," Johnny replies to Mickey's statements about the police. This explains a lot. I figured the police might show up sooner than later. I wonder what they found... Would there be any way to find out?

When Johnny gets the message from Ethan, he jumps up from his chair. "It was very nice talking to you, Mickey. I'm afraid I don't have more to sit and watch the fight. Let's do this again sometimes. " he says, while nodding politely and leaving for the SICU.

Let's see what state of mind Ethan is in.

[Bennosuke]

Mickey looks up at Johnny with a look of casual surprise, one eyebrow cocked in mock questioning. "Suit yourself man". His eyes slide back to the TV, and he again becomes oblivious to Johnny. With nothing more to say, Johnny gets up and begins to head towards the door. As he is leaving, he hears Clarita over his shoulder. "And where are you going?", she scolds, looking up from her cellphone. She does not look truly angry, more uncomfortable or anxious.

************************************************** **************************************

In general Ethan should be able to walk around, though it would be polite to introduce himself. Usually there are many more nurses on the floor than residents. I usually introduce myself to a nurse, explain why I am there, and either ask to see the patient or the resident covering the patient.

Ethan steps into the SICU. It is strangely familiar in that it is essentially a larger version of the MICU, only with newer equipment, brighter lights and a cleaner paint job. It is also bigger overall; except the patient rooms are smaller. The nursing staff seems to be made up primarily of petite 20 something females scurrying from room to room, with the exception of a few sedentary, larger, and older senior nurses. The ambient noise of patients moaning and heart monitors chiming is almost familiar at this point.

Sitting at a computer station with a "pan-optic" view of the floor, is a group of younger men who are clearly residents, despite their lack of white coats. One still has his surgical hair net on. The four look like they could be high school football team flunkies, all muscle and bone and extra padding.

[XianTheCoder]

As Ethan steps up to the desk where the residents are seated he will put on a smile and speak to the group, Hi Guys, I'm Ethan Roberts, from M3. I was patient Joseph King's night Resident last evening. Could one of you kindly tell me who I can speak to about his surgery?

[Bennosuke]

The four residents look up from their conversation, perhaps frustrated by the interruption. They seem to scrutinize and size up Ethan before one speaks up. He looks like some Middle Eastern Prince, dark skinned, muscled, and hair perfectly pompadoured. "Nice to meet you Ethan", he says with a smile that may be more "at" than "for" Ethan. "What would you like to know? I mean the surgical reports are all in Valiant." One of the others, a heavy browed Neanderthal of a man, gives a short low chuckle. The others just smirk.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan looks at the wise-ass with an unruffled gaze, So much unwarranted arrogance. I believe a personal touch is required in my area of medicine. I realize robots are replacing much of what you do, but sadly, my specialty can't rely on computers to do the thinking for us. So I'd love if you can point me to the doctor who performed the surgery on Mr. King. Ethan's smile is sharp, it's a look that reads, "Tread carefully if you plan on getting into a battle of wits with me."


So this is the first time where someone in the game has been directly disrespectful or dismissive of Ethan, and Ethan doesn't like it (we ignore the opening scene because Ethan realizes that the Attending was looking for an outlet and it wasn't personal). Ethan wouldn't be directly confrontational, but he is going to respond in such a way that these four think very carefully of disrespecting or making sport of him in the future. Ethan's goal here is to produce a sharp enough wit that these four think carefully about how they interact with him in the future. Ethan assumes the speaking resident will likely dislike the response, but he's hopefully the other three will be amused enough by the exchange that they don't really care about departmental loyalty.

This feels like Presence + Persuasion... ?

Pre + Persuasion (9-Again): [roll0]
As Needed: [roll1]

[Ichneumon]

"Don't worry, I just really need to stretch my legs a bit." Johnny says, trying to sound casual. I must avoid eye contact. People can tell if I lie... I've never been good at lying... "I'll be back in sec. Promise." Why have I never felt comfortable lying to people?, Johnny thought. Other people lie all the time. Even though I know it is justified, it doesn't feel completely right...

Quickly, walking out of the room, hopefully before Clarita can ask him anymore questions, Johnny starts marching towards the SICU, where he'll hopefully find Ethan.

[Bennosuke]

Johnny offers up his excuse and tries to get out of the room as quickly as possible. However, before he can turn heel, Clarita calls out, "Well, keep your radio close". It sounds like more of a request than a command, "The city police are going to be coming by again tonight, and I think they want to talk with us. I know Steve already spoke with them, but they left before we got in." It seems like there is something more she wants to say, but her words seem to trail off.

************************************************** ********************************

"Well that escalated quickly," a skinny resident with long oily brown hair chortles. The others chuckle in response, except for the one with the surgical cap who remains silent.

The "Prince", whose name tag reads "Fadi Shah D.O.", grins. His teeth are perfectly white and straight, but his eyes are full of mischief. "Bro, chill out. No one is challenging your wits." He looks over his shoulder at the others, who each half laugh under their breaths. "I just asked you what it was you wanted to know." He stands up now, hanging a good number of inches over Ethan so that he is looking down at the Medicine Intern. The others look on with wide eyes and growing excitement. There are now a few nurses paying attention too.

"I mean, not all of us can be brilliant Medicine Residents", his tone implying that specializing in medicine was nothing special. "So, Ethan, how can I help?"

For the most part, Ethan's roll was not good enough

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan looks up at the Resident in front of him, seemingly unconcerned with the height difference, I would just expect to receive the same level of professional courtesy and respect when entering the SICU that I would show any of you when entering my department. The look Ethan gives them each indicates disappointment in how they've chosen to carry themselves and how they have behaved. Turning to the oily haired Resident and ignoring the 'Prince', Ethan says in a tone that indicates exasperation, I've asked twice now already, can one of you please tell me who performed Mr. King's surgery and where I can find the doctor?


Ethan realizes that there's far more downside for him than upside by continuing this dialogue. Ultimately, he's looking to appear as though he's taken the higher road, and end the conversation while not appearing to have been cowed. The 'Prince' looming over him is actually a good thing for Ethan, as Ethan would view this as an opportunity to create the appearance of a four on one bullying session of a doctor who simply came to check on his patient's surgery. Nurses gossip, and most wouldn't have witnessed/heard the initial dialogue, allowing Ethan to spin what they do see into what he wants them to think they see (IE that Ethan is a caring doctor who is trying to get simple answers about his patient, but these four would rather harass him than be helpful and answer his questions).

I think this qualifies as a Manipulation + Persuasion roll (it's subtle, the goal is not obvious, and what and how Ethan says things both matter. Subterfuge could also work, but the dice pool and modifiers would be the same so it wouldn't make a mechanical difference). If you disagree then feel free to adjust the roll accordingly.
Man+Per (9-Again): [roll0]
As Needed: [roll1]

[Bennosuke]

The oily haired resident shrugs. "Well that would be Dr. Shah," he says with a shrug. "I mean, you were with Dr. Merchandani, right?" he says to The Prince, "but I mean, it's only us residents in house right now."

The oily haired resident seems less malicious, but he still smiles at Fadi knowingly.

[XianTheCoder]

Damnit... Ethan's had relatively good luck the last day... except for the 'patient jumping out of a window' thing, so probability demanded that eventually he'd be in this situation. Turning back to the Prince, Ethan gives another disappointed look. After a moments pause while he scrutinizes the Prince, Ethan turns away from the desk, I think I have my answers. Ethan decides to cut his losses and leave the SICU.


Ethan now knows the Attending, he's not going to give Shah the satisfaction, so he'll wait until he can speak with the Attending.

From here, Ethan would go and try and research Becca and meet up with Johnny.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan turns on his heels and begins walking away from nurses station where the four surgery residents sit. He can the four laughing to themselves as he storm off, their correspondence only fueling the fire of rage and frustration that was boiling under the young resident's diaphragm.

As he made his way towards the SICU doors, there came a strange scraping noise from over Ethan's right shoulder. It was like the sound of something heaving scurrying very quickly across the floor. It was a noise that Ethan could almost swear he heard in his head this morning as he started to fall asleep.

But looking around there was nothing, no possible source. Then something peculiar catches Ethan's eye. Along the wall, near the SICU exit is a wooden door with a plexi-glass window. On the door was a sign which read, "A6-26". While this door looked to be of some traditional European style, though the wood was near rotting, the other doors on the floor were all modern. In fact, the entrances to the patient rooms in the SICU were all sliding glass, so that the nursed could look into the room without having to open the door. And the non-patient room doors looked nothing like this.

Ethan checked his watch, Johnny should be arriving any minute! And there it was again, that strange clawing sound. Was it coming from that door?

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan does a double take on the door, this department was immaculate... except for one door? Rotting wood likely meant it was old, Ethan didn't know much about wood, but he assumed that couldn't be a recent damage... why wouldn't that have been changed? Ethan looks around trying to see if anyone is paying attention to him or interacting with the door. Maybe I can just take a quick peek... Ethan takes a few casual steps towards the door, trying to see if anyone notices him and tries to stop him.


Is anyone interacting or even acknowledging the door?

[Bennosuke]

No one seems to pay Ethan any mind as he opens the door to a dimly lit room. Shapes made clear by what little street and moonlight poured in from a distant window, Ethan could tell he was in some sort of patient room.

There was a hospital bed with something massive, almost too big to be a man in it, though something round and bald did protrude from under what must be bed sheets. The room was incredibly dark though, not lit by the electronic monitors and beeping machines, and this made it hard to see all too clearly.

Lets have a perception check, and possibly Ethan's next attempted action before either you or I post IC again.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan passes the perception test with one success. He also clears himself of the spooked condition because of choosing to pursue this strange avenue (this will be worth a beat at the end of the scene)

Ethan's eyes begin to focus, and now he can see that yes, it is a man laying in the hospital bed; a giant walrus of a man. Ethan was used to seeing obese and morbidly obese people; it was something that came with the territory of working in medicine. But this man was on the far end of that scale. As his senses sharped, Ethan could make out rolls of flesh; under his chin, around the one arm hanging over the covers, even under his ears. The man's entire skeletal structure had been warped by the change.

Then came the smell, like a chicken breast that had been left in the refrigerator for way too long. It was slightly sweet, but relentlessly overwhelming, drowning Ethan's nose and mouth. It was inescapable.

The room was strange. Even though Ethan's eyes had begun to adjust, the walls and surroundings of the room were all indistinct, as if the window's light only shone on this man. The man appeared to be asleep.

Despite his better judgement, Ethan decided to get closer, to see what was going on with this man in this strange room. Lifting up on his toes, the young Intern took one step forward, then another. And then, just has his shoe touched down for the third step, the man's eyes open with a look of pure rage. Their gazes locked, and as Ethan put his weight down, his ankle inverted and he rolled hard, falling on his side.

The man was up, out of the bed in an instant. He was still a good 10 feet away. Standing the man was even larger than Ethan previously realized. The hospital gown stretched tightly across his massive abdomen. The man stared down at Ethan, hammy fists balled, his eyes wordlessly accusing the doctor of some terrible offense. And then the hospital gown began to stain a yellowish red along the abdomen; a large football shapes smear that spread and spread. As his heart pounded and his senses heightened, Ethan could make out a stirring from below the garment. It was subtle at first, then slowly grew wild, like a sea of waves just below the fabric. Ethan stumbled back as large yellow maggots began to pour forth, out from behind the man's gown. Some crawled down his legs, some just fell with sickening pops.

The giant man opened his mouth to scream, but all that came out was that strange primitive skittering sound from somewhere far off.

The man took a step towards the prone doctor.

Breaking point time!!!! Ethan's Resolve+ Composure is 5. He gets +1 for his Integrity, but he gets -2 for this supernatural horror. Regardless of the results, Xian is taking a dramatic failure for his stealth roll. Because he has fallen and rolled his ankle hard, Ethan gains the Leg Wracked tilt. This makes him suffer a halved speed and -2 penalty on physical rolls that require movement. I am not forcing any damage on Ethan for this. He gains a beat for the converted dramatic failure. Also, please state how Ethan reacts and what he is going to try to do, if he passes his Breaking point.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan Roberts (http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/46135)
Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️
Conditions: Spooked
Tilts: Leg Wracked
Beats: 2 (2 Pending: Dramatic Failure on Stealth, Resolution of Spooked)

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't







ATTRIBUTES






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL



POWER
Intelligence:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Strength:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Presence:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️


FINESSE
Wits:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Dexterity:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Manipulation:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️


RESISTANCE
Resolve:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Stamina:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Composure:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️







SKILLS






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL




Academics:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Athletics:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Animal Ken:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Computer:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Brawl:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Empathy:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Craft:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Drive:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Expression:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Investigation:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Firearms:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Intimidation:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Medicine:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Larceny:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Persuasion:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Occult:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Stealth:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Socialize:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️




Politics:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Survival:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Streetwise:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Science:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Weaponry:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Subterfuge:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️





Ethan's curiosity is piqued as he enters the room and sees the man in the bed. Something felt off with the entire situation, why weren't there beeps or lights of machines? Why was it so dark in this room? Ethan covered his mouth against the smell as he approached the bed, and it was probably that minimal distraction that caused Ethan's misstep. As the patient leaped from the bed, Ethan was shocked by how quickly a man of his size could move. Ethan tries scrambling back towards the door as the man moves in his direction, but he immediately halts as the maggots begin to fall. Letting out a scream, Ethan scrambles to the door on all fours.


Breaking Point: [roll0]

If Ethan succeeds at his Breaking Point, he would try and scramble out of the door, all while letting out a scream for someone to come and help him.

[Bennosuke]

The man's mouth opens wider still, the jaw unhinging with a click as a flood of maggots vomits forth. A pressure builds behind Ethan's forehead, causing his vision to blur. The maggots begin to crawl toward him, as he struggles to get away. Ethan is screaming now, or at least it feels like he is, the pressure pushing harder and harder against his head and eyes, till it feels like he is going to explode.

************************************************** ********************************

And then the headache begins to fade. As Ethan comes to, he is on his hands and knees, on the 6th floor of building A, in the hallway outside the SICU. The doors are closed, and he is alone; until Ethan hears the fall of footsteps. An attempt to stand brings shooting pain up Ethan's leg, causing him to collapse again. Maddened with fear, Ethan tries to turn and run again, but it's Johnny who appears from around the corner, the Security Guard from the night prior.

Ethan loses a point of Integrity, (cough, Humanity, cough). He gains the Shaken condition.

Enter Johnny

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan Roberts (http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/46135)
Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️
Conditions: Shaken
Tilts: Leg Wracked
Beats: 2 (2 Pending: Dramatic Failure on Stealth, Resolution of Spooked)

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't







ATTRIBUTES






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL



POWER
Intelligence:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Strength:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Presence:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️


FINESSE
Wits:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Dexterity:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Manipulation:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️


RESISTANCE
Resolve:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Stamina:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Composure:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️







SKILLS






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL




Academics:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Athletics:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Animal Ken:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Computer:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Brawl:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Empathy:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Craft:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Drive:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Expression:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Investigation:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Firearms:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Intimidation:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Medicine:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Larceny:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Persuasion:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Occult:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Stealth:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Socialize:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️




Politics:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Survival:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Streetwise:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Science:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Weaponry:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Subterfuge:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️





All semblance of composure lost, Ethan awakens in near panic. When recognition of his surroundings begins to set in, Ethan tries scrambling to get to his feet, but the pain is a sharp reminder of what he just experienced. For half a second Ethan thought, just maybe, he'd passed out and dreamed the entire thing. Maybe the old man's words were getting to him after the stress of the last few nights. The thoughts were washed away when fear took over at the sound of footsteps. Trying desperately to get his feet working, Ethan tries ignoring the pain in an effort to get out of the hallway, but his ankle just won't cooperate. When Ethan sees Johnny round the corner, he takes a giant sigh of relief but doesn't stop trying to get walking.

As Johnny approaches, he would see that Ethan is limping while visibly trying to control his emotions. In a voice that fails to hide that something is wrong, Ethan says, Hey.. ahh... John. What's going on? As he greets Johnny, Ethan's eyes dart in multiple directions as he looks for signs of the fat man and maggots.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny had ignored Clarita's shouts, he really wanted to meet Ethan as soon as possible and discuss the things he hadn't discussed before. Maybe I should have mentioned the silhouette earlier? He didn't know why, but he had the eerie feeling something wasn't right.

That the police was showing interest in what is going on, was a good sign. That people were strangely nervous about it, wasn't. What were they hiding?


When Johnny sees Ethan he immediately starts talking. "Hey man! How are you?"

He doesn't wait till he has a reply, relieved he finally has the opportunity to tell what was bugging him all this time.

What comes out of his mouth is a rambling mix of thoughts: "I've wanted to speak with you about the case of Mr King. I haven't yet been able to see the video footage, but with any luck, I'll be assigned video duty soon. Oh and there were a couple of strange things I hadn't managed to tell you yet. During the riot, there was this girl, a patient, who seemed strangely... 'present'. We should look into that more. Oh and while we were investigating Mr Kings room, I thought there was this woman spying on us, but she disappeared in a puff of smoke. It really creeped me out. Oh and this morning, all the security guards.. they were acting so strangely... as if they are trying to hide something... oh and I heard the police..." then Johnny stops rambling, when he actually sees the condition Ethan is in.

"... wait.. Everything allright, man?", he asks, visibly shocked.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan struggles to initially stay focused on Johnny's ramblings, constantly looking over there shoulders for some monster to jump out at them. When Johnny starts talking about some of the odder events, Ethan is able to bring his focus back to the conversation. I ahh... Ethan isn't used to showing weakness, and didn't want to admit that he was scared witless, but Johnny had already proven he was invested in an investigation and seemed somewhat trustworthy. I saw something strange... Ethan looks back at the SICU doors. Do me a favor, poke your head into the SICU and look over to the [specific direction], and tell me if the door that you see looks odd to you. The longer time passes, the more Ethan regains composure, but he's still clearly out of sorts. While waiting for Johnny to do as requested Ethan will give color on Mr. King, I learned a few things about Mr. King, which may bring the case to a close. His son was killed in a car accident, and it's suspected that he couldn't handle the stress of losing his son. It could explain why his room looked like it was torn apart and why a seemingly healthy patient jumped through a window. It doesn't explain everything else though.... Ethan looks around nervously, Outside of Mr. King though, I still think something unusual is happening around here.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny slowly walked towards the SICU, intending to do what Ethan has asked. Meanwhile he occasionally turned his head to look at Ethan again. Looking confused, while listening to what he had to say. Odd how the impression you have of someone can change from day to day. I barely recognise the doctor I've met yesterday...

"Yeah, I guess that could explain Mr King's death," Johnny says, sounding not entirely convinced.

He arrived at the door of the SICU and reached towards the door, but waited to open it... What would I see? Judging by Ethan's appearance, it must have been something.... I can't even imagine what it would be. Let's just open the door and see.

Johnny opens the door and peeks inside.

I'll make a perception check in the OOC-thread.

[Bennosuke]

Johnny enters the SICU and looks I. The direction Ethan described. There's no door and nothing strange, as far as Johnny can tell.

[Ichneumon]

For a few seconds Johnny keeps staring into the room, to make sure nothing fishy is going on. Then, with a stoic face he walks back and returns to Ethan. He looks around, to make sure no one else is listening. He offers his hand, to help support Ethan if he needs help standing straight. "There is no door at all, man. What is going on? You don't seem to make any sense, whatsoever.", he says, while looking somewhat concerned.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan waves off Johnny's hand. Shaking his head, Ethan leans against the wall to take pressure off of his ankle. Maybe I just passed out and dreamt the whole thing? Yeah, that has to be it. I must be overly tired or something, or maybe I hit my head when I rolled my ankle... I don't know, it's been a strange few days. Anyways, I had a 'dream' that I went through an odd door in the SICU and encountered a patient that was covered in maggots. I know it sounds strange, but the dream was so lucid. Ethan shrugs, and then pushes himself off the wall and tried to walk cautiously. I need to get back to M3, do you mind if we walk and talk? Ethan will turn and start limping along. Once Johnny catches up to Ethan he will ask, So did you get a good look at the girl who was spying on you? I didn't see anyone out in the hallway when I arrived. And which patient were you referring to? I don't know the psych ward patients very well, but maybe I can catch a glimpse of the patient's chart to see if her being 'present' is something unusual.

[Ichneumon]

"Sure thing, let's walk."

"It was a young female patient. She had short hair and a very intelligent in-control look about her. During the riots, she shouted something at me, but I couldn't hear what. She ran off into one of the rooms and I couldn't follow."

"No, I didn't get a good view of the woman who was spying on us. In fact, it was just a silhouette of a woman staring at us.... not sure what the hell was going on with the lighting to cause such an effect in a well lit room.... I... I was distracted for a moment and when I looked again, she had disappeared completely. Clarita, the other security guard, hadn't seen a thing. That is one of the reasons why I wanted to see the video tapes. Where could she have gone?"

Listening to Ethan's description of the fat maggot man, Johnny seems to hesitate, uncertain whether it would be wise to say what he was about to say, but then he did: "What you experienced... it seems seems too unbelievable to be true. But.... I propose we work from the hypothesis that it wasn't a dream and that, in some way we can't yet explain, is true and it really happened. Now, as investigators, as scientists, can we figure out a way to refute this theory?" Johnny couldn't help but somehow feel excited about this 'puzzle' that needed to be solved. I'm like a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Karl Popper.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan gives Johnny a sideways look as they walk, He's so excited by all of this. He really wants there to be some great mystery. For Ethan, the prospect of something he couldn't understand and control was terrifying, and he didn't want to believe any of it. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that his 'dream' was just a little too real, and an objective analysis of the past two days seemed to indicate that something unusual was happening in the hospital.

Ethan remains quite for a few moments while hobbling along. One benefit to rolling his ankle was that it gave him an excuse to go seek out Stella, females loved the opportunity to 'fix' males, and it would give him an opportunity to put his Stella plans into action. She didn't know it yet, but she was going to help Ethan bring down the SICU residents.

Finally, Ethan responds to Johnny, I see no reason to disagree with you. If you're wrong, we've wasted some time but no one gets hurt. If you're right, then we could uncover a mystery and possibly save some lives. And regardless, I will have a willing tool at my disposal. Ethan can't help but smile, but he does his best to hide it before making his next comment. Did I tell you about the crazy old man in the MICU? Met him yesterday, he wasn't fully with it, and he kept rambling about everyone working for 'It' and how it slithers and claws. Normally, it wouldn't be worth mentioning, but in light of more recent events it now seems relevant. There was a moment of lucidity when I was speaking to him, for a second, I wanted to believe him. Now we have another event where a crazy individual has a moment of clarity and tries to convey a message and an encounter with a man who's covered in slithering things. Ethan can't help but think that the whole thing sounds thin, barely even circumstantial. He wasn't sure where the disappearing spy fit into the equation, but his interest in seeing the security footage suddenly resurfaced. It could have been a nursing or a guest just passing by, Johnny seemed like the type that was wiling to jump to conclusion if it meant some excitement or conspiracy, but it was worth looking into it again anyways.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny was intrigued by Ethan's story about the crazy old man. "Wouldn't it be fascinating if, to quote Shakespeare, it turns that there is actually a method to his madness?" Johnny says, smiling somewhat uneasily. Although these clues and coincidences certainly invigorated the conspiracy theorist in him, the idea that these... things... could actually be real... he couldn't really oversee what the implications of such a discovery would be, but they were enough for him to start doubting his own sanity for considering it.

"Now... working from the premise that the obese guy that attacked you is... or was once a patient in this hospital, it might be worth checking the hospital records or archives for someone that fits this description..."

"Furthermore," Johnny says while taking his mobile phone, "we now have another reason why we need access to the video footage." Johnny checks his e-mail, hoping to find a reply from the Security Supervisor to his earlier email.

Lives could be at stake....

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan is les enthusiastic about finding monsters in the hospital than Johnny, but he tries to appear as eager as his new friend. I didn't have a chance to look at the patient's chart before my ankle rolled under me, so we won't have much to go on, morbidly obese patients aren't uncommon around here, though the maggots would make a file and be significantly more uncommon, so that's probably the search phrase. You keep working on the footage, finding out who was spying on you could be a case-breaking moment. In the meantime, I'll keep working on the Psych ward and I'll keep looking into the Patient King situation. Let's both research the hospital history independently and see what we each come up with.

[Bennosuke]

Johnny checks his emails via his smartphone. There is a response from The Supervisor. It appears that a training session can be arranged for during the day tomorrow. This means Johnny may be sleep deprived at work.

OOC: Please let me know if/when you guys are splitting up and what each character is going to attempt to do next.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny listens carefully to what Ethan says, while checking his phone. He starts smiling when he sees the email from the Supervisor. Excellent.

He looks up from his phone, looks at Ethan and nods. "Yeah, that sounds like great plan" Pointing towards his phone, he says: "Just got an e-mail. It seems I'll be having a training session for the video room tomorrow." :amused:

"If I find anything on the hospital or something else happens of important, I'll let you know. Good luck and stay safe.", he says, padding Ethan on his shoulder, before they part ways.

Johnny rushes to <wherever he is supposed to be at that moment, as a security guard>.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan smiles, Excellent, that will be helpful. Take care as well. Ethan will then begin to hobbled back to M3, specifically looking to "accidentally" run into Stella.

[Bennosuke]

The two decide to split ways after their talk. Ethan decides to head towards M3, while Johnny plans on meeting with the other security guards back at the main office in M1. This ultimately results in the two taking the elevator down together. Ethan gets off at A3 where he can take a bridge across.

Ethan's ankle greatly slowed his ability to walk. Sharp aches of pain shot up his leg with every step, and after a couple of yards it felt like his foot was going to go numb. Ethan was sure it would be swollen in the morning.

Finally making it to M3, Ethan finds Stella sitting at the main nursing desk on her cell phone. When she first looks up at him, she looks frustrated. Her mouth opens, as if to scold Ethan, but then she sees him hobbling. "Oh my, what happened to you Ethan", she says standing up from her position at the desk.

************************************

Johnny is just out of the elevator, when he gets a buzz over the radio "Johnny are you there? Johnny are you there?". The young security guard picks up his radio and responds, "There's a situation down in the ED" it sounds like Clarita, maybe, "Nothing big, just a drunk being too rowdy. Would you go down there and handle it?" it sounds like someone giggles in the background, but it could just be static from the crumby radio.

Again, sorry for the delay in posting. Been busy in real life. Thank you for your patience.

[Ichneumon]

Without thinking it through, Johnny replied: "Got it, I'll be there in a sec."
While walking towards the ED, he replayed the very short conversation in his head. Was it Clarita speaking? I'm not sure. If it wasn't her, who else could it be?

There was giggling in the background... Could it be possible they are laying a trap for me, one that I'm walking right into? Could it be an elaborate hoax? No, Johnny, you are over-thinking it. There could be lots of reasons people would giggle and who would lay a trap for me anyway? The giggling might not even concern you.

"It is no use thinking about this. Agreeing to it was the only sensible thing. Let's go calm this drunk down.", he says to himself.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan notes the body language of Stella, She's a wild card and could be dangerous if not kept in check. Ethan hobbles over to the desk, Oh nothing, I just twisted my ankle while visiting the SICU. Would you mind getting me an ice pack and something to wrap my ankle with? Ethan will wait for Stella to do as asked before speaking again, taking the time to find a place to sit and put his foot up while waiting for her to return. Once Stella returns, Ethan will smile and move to take the ice pack and bandages from her. I got your text, I would have responded but I was in the middle of a conversation with the SICU doctors. Ethan's tone when he says the word 'conversation' indicates his disgruntlement with the recent events. Ethan pulls his shoe and sock off and rolls up his pant leg to get a look at the damage. Hmm.. looks like a bad sprain. Annoying, but nothing too serious. While inspecting his ankle Ethan will ask Stella, Have you dealt with SICU much while working here?


Goals for this interaction:
1. Get his leg wrapped up
2. Give a good justification why he didn't respond to her text message (Ethan will limit his conversations over traceable media as much as possible where Stella is concerned)
3. Give Stella a reason to get closer to Ethan, but in a reasonably plausible scenario
4. Began to plant the seed in Stella's mind that she should scour the SICU rumor mill and report back what she learns to Ethan (without Ethan actually asking her to do it)

[Bennosuke]

Johnny took a flight of stairs down to the catacombs of the basement. The basement was a labarynthine series of halls that connected all three buildings to the ED. Different tunnels had been built at different times, and overall there was little forethought to the development of the tunnels.

It was humid and poorly lit in the basement, with cramped non-description halls. Only the staff who spent their entire day in the basement knew how to navigate it well, and Johnny was still not sure he could find the ED.

Let's have a Wits+Composure roll to see how well Johnny navigates

*********************************

Still are turns with the ice pack and a couple of ACE wraps. But rather than handing them over, she says, "Here, let me take care of this." She props Ethan's wounded leg up on a chair, oh so gently, before removing his shoe and sock and placing the ice pack on the already swelling ankle. "My dear, you have to be more careful. How did this happen?"

To Ethan's question about the SICU staff, she says "Oh, the SICU nurses are the worst. They think the sun only shines on them."

[Bennosuke]

Despite the maze of darkly lit twists and turns, Johnny is able to make his way quickly and without struggle to the Emergency Department.

The ED is a relatively open and well lit area. Nurses, doctors and technicians hurry between patient rooms, or chat at nurses stations. Patient cries and the blip of machines make up a frenetic music the plays through the ED, forcing everyone to yell to be heard in conversation.

When Johnny steps into the ED, one of the nurses, brown hair, glasses, and stinking of cigarettes grabs him and starts leading him towards one of the patient rooms near the ambulance entrance. "Thanks for coming down," she says, "this patient, Mr. Trask was brought it by the police and is really causing a ruckus."

Inside the patient room is a man of possible 50s. He has a long scraggly brown beard, a dirty trucker hat that says "Kiss me, you're Irish", and vomit stains all over his dirty white tank top and denim pants. He is restrained by both wrists to the patient table and he kicks and screams threatening everyone and their mother with bodily harm.

The nurse says "We've given him three doses of Ativan, but he just won't calm down."

[Ichneumon]

Walking through the maze of corridors in the basement, Johnny remains calm. "I'm glad I have such a good sense of directions. I guess, many people are not so lucky and could get seriously lost in here."

When the nurse thanks him for coming, he politely tips his hat and says. "My pleasure. Just doing by duty."

He takes a few moments to observe the scene. Right, so this guy is going berserk... what to do... Is he drunk? Let's find a way to calm him down, but first, I guess I need t know why he is here in the first place.

"Ma'am, can you tell me what is wrong with him? What he is in for?"

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan allows Stella to handle the icing and bandaging of his ankle, but attempts to make himself look as professional about the process as possible, in case a fellow coworker happens to witness the interaction. I rolled it while I was leaving SICU. I was distracted and tripped over something. I'm sure it will be fine in a day or two though. Yes, the doctors in SICU don't appear to be much better; for individuals who took an oath to 'do no harm', they certainly take certain liberties in how they interpret that oath. Ethan shakes his head as if in thought and then begins inspecting the ankle wrappings. I suspect that as long as Dr. Shah has his hooks in the other three Residents, my patients may need to be sent to other hospitals. Ethan looks up at Stella, That's a nice wrap. You do good work. Thank you for the assistance. Ethan will slowly put his foot down and begin to stand. I need to make another round, I'm way behind now. Let's keep this conversation between us, I don't want people thinking I'm a klutz. And I know you're not super close with the SICU nurses, but if you happen to hear anything about Dr. Shah that might be helpful in forcing him to be friendly to M3, feel free to pass it along, I don't suspect relations will improve naturally.


Ethan is absolutely being intentionally vague about how he hurt his ankle, the reference to the Hippocratic oath was intentionally placed in order to give Stella a reasonable logically leap into believing the SICU doctors somehow caused the ankle injury. This prevents Ethan from having to outright lie, allows him to clarify the misinterpretation later if issues abound, and begins to plant the seed in Stella that Ethan has an issue with SICU.

The reference to sending his patients to other hospitals is a similar ploy to earlier, he never says 'why', but he's left the interpretive path open for Stella to think he means "they don't care if they hurt patients and I'm concerned for them", but Ethan can always fall back to claiming he meant: "they won't provide timely information to me about my patients without a struggle and they spend more time joking around than working."

Ethan wraps up his dialogue trying to further plant the seed that she should spy on the SICU doctors, but never clearly states it and leaves it open to interpretation.

Let me know what/if you want for rolls.

[Bennosuke]

Stella looks concerned while Ethan talks, keeping a petite but warm hand on the young Intern's forearm. When Ethan mentions Dr. Shah, she says with a small bit of surprise. "Oh, you know Fadi? He can be such a pig head! I'm sorry he was unpleasant to you. I know what you mean. And I thought he was such a nice guy." She says this last bit, as if what she is saying is almost funny. "Will do though", she says in response to Ethan's joke.

As Ethan starts to leave, her hand holds tight to his forearm, "Are you sure you have to go so soon? I mean, are you sure you are okay to start walking on that foot already?". She brings her body in close to Ethan's but makes no further attempt to initiate physical contact.

************************************************** ***************************************

The nurse rolls her eyes, "The cops picked him up off the street; he obviously wasn't sober. We're running a U-tox on him now (urine toxin screen), but it's not back yet. Labs are showing he's in renal failure, maybe even a case of Rhabdo (this term goes above Johnny's head). The docs want to admit him for the renal failure. Likely just needs a few liters of saline and some time to sober up."

She looks sternly at the man who is now red in the face from screaming. He is still hoarsely going on about how he's 'gonna get' whomever tied him down.

"Ah, quiet up already!", the nurse half yells and half sighs at Mr. Trask. He looks up at the nurse and tells her to go screw herself.

"We are gonna give him another dose of ativan, then try to get an IV in him. We need you to help hold his arm down."

[Ichneumon]

"Right. I get it," Johnny says to the Nurse, feeling somewhat stupid for having to ask such a thing.

He walks to the man. Stays quiet for a few moments, just staring at him. I wish I was better at intimidation. I could try it, but... no. Intimidating people never helped. It would only make the man more distressed.

He keeps staying right next to the man, in a non threatening way. Then, when he has the man's attention, he says: "Sir, we are not here to hurt you. We are here to help you. There is no need for you to resist. You'll be able to go home soon."

"Don't be alarmed, Sir. I will now take your arm. My colleague...", he points to the nurse, "will need to give you a medicine."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan observes Stella's response with interest, So that's interesting, though not surprising. She may not be as easy to convert against Shah as I thought. When Stella encroaches on Ethan's personal space, he will smile and place his hand on her forearm and gently squeeze her. With his hand placed as it is Ethan is able to physically connect with her, hopefully appeasing her need for physical attention while also preventing her from getting too close. My Dear, I'm way behind in my night's work because of my ankle, and what would people think if they saw us here instead of working. After another squeeze, Ethan will gently step away from her, keeping his hands in place to preventer her from following. Perhaps we can sit and talk once the work is done, and I've figured out a solution for dealing with Shah. Ethan will then begin to hobble away.

[Bennosuke]

The bedraggled man's struggles subside slightly as he looks up at the approaching security guard. His fists are still balled, but he allows Johnny to get within arm's reach. The man whimpers, "Medicine? What medicine?". He looks over at the approaching nurse, who is looking just over Johnny's shoulder.

************************************************** ************************

With Ethan's contact, Stella gives out a small sigh, her lips spreading into a moony smile. "Of course", she says at his suggestion. As Ethan steps away and mentions "Dr. Shah", she gives him a quizzical look. Before he can step away, Stella says, "What do you mean, a solution for dealing with him?"

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan will give Stella a quizzical look, We have a duty to our patients. The hospital can't function properly if its staff can't work together and trust each other.

[Bennosuke]

"But what do you plan on doing?" Stella says uncomfortably.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan looks at Stella as if he doesn't understand her question, I don't believe it's my job to do anything about another department's doctor's bad attitude. However, I still need to ensure the best care for my patients. Ethan gives Stella one more quizzical look before turning and going, if she attempts to continue the conversation he casually waves her off and continues on his way. Ethan attempted to portray a tone that indicated he had no intentions of doing Shah physical or professional harm, but just wants his patients to be taken care of.


From Ethan's perspective it appears as though Stella is observant enough to know what he's asking of her but too emotionally conflicted to be of real assistance. This is valuable interaction for Ethan as he's learning how far he can push Stella and a bit more about her past. Ethan is leaving this conversation with two pieces of information: Stella may have hooked up with Shah (he doesn't seem like the type to worry about rules and Ethan knows how aggressive Stella can be) and that Stella may not be as easy to manipulate when it comes to ethical gray areas. However, Stella may have already given Ethan enough information to take Shah down, since he knows that Stella is the type to get aggressive and put herself in situations with doctors that can have the appearance of impropriety, even if nothing actually happened. Regardless, Shah is a lesser concern and Ethan doesn't want to waste more of the night engaged in these activities.

For now, Ethan is going to keep his distance from Stella for the remainder of the night and move on from Shah to the other tasks at hand: Research the room/fat man that he saw, and see about repaying Becca for her information earlier.

[Bennosuke]

"Okay then..." Stella says slowly. Again Ethan turns to go, but before he can, she steps closer again. Expectantly, she says, "so can I see you later tonight? Maybe we can meet in one of the private staff lounges." The offer has obvious implications, but her tone sounds innocent

[XianTheCoder]

I think that it would create too many complications if we were to be seen together in a private lounge, but the universe rewards the patient.

[Bennosuke]

Stella nods her head, though her eyes seem to become even rounder and her lip pouts. She opens her mouth as if to speak, but then seems to think better of it. This allows Ethan to step away if he wants.

Scene? At this point what does Ethan want to do, or where does he want to go?

[Ichneumon]

"It's a sedative. Nothing to worry about. Please hold still", he says before grabbing the patient.

Trying to keep the patient under control, Johnny is reminded of college, the long lectures on Foucault and the power relations in medical clinics. He was painfully aware of how his uniform was meant to intimidate, painfully aware of how hospitals tried to gain control over the human's body. Sometimes it manifests itself in quite invisible or illusive ways, like the design of the patient's rooms enforcing the doctor-patient relationship. But now it isn't something illusive at all. Now, it is I, I am the one restraining him. He started to feel dirty. Surely, I am just a cog in a wheel. If I wouldn't do it, there'd be some other security guard...

Once he gains control, he makes eye contact with the nurse, to suggest she'd do what needs to be done.

I'll make a restraining attempt role in the OOC-thread.

[Bennosuke]

Johnny takes hold of the man's nearest wrist with his right hand, but makes the error of using his other arm to try to pin the man's shoulder which is less restrained. The man bucks and bounces with his torso, making it hard to control either his arm or his body. Straining against the man, Johnny can't seem to hold the man down. Cursing at Johnny, the man twists, causing Johnny's left arm to slip off the shoulder towards the man's face. The security guard is forced to act quickly and withdraw his arms, when the man tries to take a bite at his left arm.

The nurse looks at Johnny concerned. "Are you okay?", she asks.

Johnny fails his first attempt. Because he failed the first attempt, he must now make a successful grapple initiation roll, then the resisted restraining roll. We will assume the man does not have the ability to grapple back, but the restraining roll will still be a contested action. If Johnny fails again, he may have to call for backup.

[Bennosuke]

After separating from Stella, Ethan finds a resident room on M3 and closes the door. He pulls up to a computer and accesses Valiant. After logging in he begins playing with the software, trying to find a way to search patient's by conditions or non-traditional identifies. He quickly realizes that there is unfortunately no obvious way to do that, and after about 30 minutes, gives up.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan Roberts (http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/46135)
Integrity: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️
Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Conditions: Shaken
Tilts: Leg Wracked
Beats: 2 (2 Pending: Dramatic Failure on Stealth, Resolution of Spooked)

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't - Stella spy on Dr Shah


1. Saturday post-call brunch with Chris
2. Stella investigating Shah?
3. Johnny and the security footage
4. Gift for Becca







ATTRIBUTES






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL



POWER
Intelligence:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Strength:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Presence:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️


FINESSE
Wits:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Dexterity:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Manipulation:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️


RESISTANCE
Resolve:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Stamina:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Composure:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️







SKILLS






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL




Academics:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Athletics:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Animal Ken:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Computer:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Brawl:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Empathy:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Craft:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Drive:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Expression:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Investigation:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Firearms:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Intimidation:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Medicine:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Larceny:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Persuasion:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Occult:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Stealth:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Socialize:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️




Politics:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Survival:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Streetwise:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Science:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Weaponry:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Subterfuge:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️





Ethan pushes himself away from the desk, a bit frustrated. After the previous night of victories the universe had clearly decided to fall back into balance by handing Ethan failure after failure tonight. His ankle still throbbed, he'd failed in the SICU, couldn't work this annoying software, and even Stella felt less controlled tonight. With a sigh, he stands up and begins thinking about his next move. John was still working on the security tape and hopefully he'd be successful soon, the mystery room and the maggot man were still a mystery, he'd already done what he could do about Shah and Stella, so that really just left his work on seducing Becca. Stella might be a problem, he'd have to be careful about how he went about his investigation so that it didn't get back to her. Deciding that the best place to start would be by speaking with other internal medicine doctors, Ethan closes out what he was working on, trying to make it look like he wasn't snooping around the hospital computer system, and then leaves the room in search of his fellow doctors.


Ethan will look for whichever doctor is also working with him on the same floor this evening.

[Ichneumon]

Johnny curses when the man almost bites him. This isn't going well.

When he continues to try to gain control over the man, but fails, he considers pepper-spraying the guy for a moment. But he quickly drops the thought. Pepper spray from such a close range could be quite harmful and I'm sure it would be a breach of... quite a lot of rules. Why can't things ever go my way!?


When the nurse asks if he's okay. He snaps at her and says, in a bit too angry tone: "Hardly."

[Bennosuke]

Johnny goes for a two on one wrist grab, just barely locking both hands over the man's wrist. Isolating the arm, Johnny is then able to easily slide his left arm under the man's and wraps his forearm from below to above. Sliding his left elbow up into the man's armpit, Johnny is able to apply a fairly standard Wrestling style straight armbar, extending out the man's elbow so that he is practically helpless.

The man gives a quick whimper from the pain and stops struggling immediately. The nurse is able to slide in pushes the syringe needle into his shoulder muscle, administering the sedative. The man's face goes slightly slack after a moment, though his eyes never leave Johnny's . The man almost seems to be questioning or imploring something of the young security guard. And before Johnny realizes it, the nurse has placed the IV in his forearm.

"Thank you for the help" she says, hurrying over to a cabinet to get a saline bag. She hangs the bag on an IV pole, running the long tubing into a small mechanical box midway down the pole, then attaches the rest of the tubing to the man's IV. The nurse begins to punch numbers into the IV box, and says, "Hold him for just a second longer". The box beeps to life, then begins feeding the fluid in the bag, down the line, into the man's arm. "Perfect", she says as she tapes the IV and tubing to the man's forearm so that he can't reach the line and pull it out. "Okay, you can go ahead and let him go. Thank you for the help".

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ethan pulls out his cellphone.

The other intern on call with him was an awkward fellow everyone referred to as "Big Nick". His name was Nicholas Wolfe, but there was another Nick in the residency, and Big Nick sure was BIG. Many of the other residents had learned to avoid or shun Big Nick. He was unkempt and although friendly, unquestionably awkward when it came to social interaction. While he meant well, it always seemed like Big Nick was just one blunder away from saying something offensive to those around him. Surprisingly, Big Nick seemed fairly oblivious to the almost cruel way the other residents treated him, and in his jolly sort of way always seemed to be trying to start his awkward conversations with the anyone he could get to listen.

Perhaps it was this reason that Ethan had avoided Big Nick the last couple of nights. However, it was clear that the giant was fairly intelligent, if not somewhat oblivious. However, now that Ethan thought about it, Becca had seemed to refuse to treat Nick coldly. Perhaps Big Nick could provide some insight for Ethan.

Rummaging through his contacts, Ethan found Big Nick's number, remembering back to the first day of Orientation before Ethan could know how the social hierarchy would pan out. Yep, Ethan still had it.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan smiles to himself. Perhaps it was the fact that Nick exemplified how Ethan usually felt inside, awkward and unable to grasp regular human emotions or perhaps it was how superior he felt around him, but there was something that Ethan really liked about Big Nick. Around Nick Ethan could, theoretically, let his guard down a bit.. he didn't, but it was comforting to Ethan to know that he could. Finding the number, Ethan considers calling or texting, but realizes that he doesn't really have a good enough excuse for the call, and doesn't want to be too obvious about asking about Becca, so instead Ethan decides he'll wander around passively looking for the giant man.


How easy is it to track a doctor? I assume he has to check in at various points in his rounds and make notes or whatever. If Ethan just wanders around, how long before he naturally stumbles across Nick?

[Bennosuke]

Ethan sets out from the Resident Room, and up to M5, one of Nick's floors. The nurses there surround Ethan, trying to get him to make decisions for the other intern's patients. It takes several attempts to make it clear that Ethan won't be helping, which then results in their disinterest in helping him. Eventually, Ethan is directed down to M4.

But again, Nick is not there either. Apparently he had been there, but it takes finding the right nurse to know where he went. Finally, the nurse instructs Ethan that Nick had just left for the ED to do an admission, about 10 minutes earlier. In hot pursuit, Ethan takes the M elevator down to the basement.

Can I have Ethan roll wits + composure to see how he navigates the labyrinthine basement corridors?

Ethan makes his way into the narrow, darkly lit halls of the of the basement, shuddering as the elevator door creaks closed behind him. It was about 10 steps into the hallway before realizing just how little he remembered his way down here. But things looked familiar enough, and despite the buzzing and popping of failing lights, and the growing sensation of claustrophobia, he was able to make his way back to the ED.

To his surprise, even before seeing Nick, Ethan recognized the young security guard Johnny by the ambulance entrance helping out one of the nurses.

Over in one of the far corners of the ED was Nick. The tall, heavy set and greasy haired intern stooped over a patient bed; his size and balance so preposterously arranged that it looked like he may tumble and crush the little old lady he was examining any second.

[XianTheCoder]

As Ethan attempts to wade through the throng of demanding nurses he is careful not to be too harsh or dismissive of his colleagues. As they continue to make requests, Ethan will continue to remind them that he isn't familiar with each of the specific patients and it wouldn't be appropriate for him to make a decision regarding their care outside of an emergency. Once he has a recent lead on Nick's location, Ethan will make haste in catching him.

Walking through the basement was disconcerting given recent events, Ethan couldn't help but look over his shoulder expecting to see the fat man with the maggots. When he finally came out to the ED, Ethan gives a larger sigh of relief than he would have liked. Seeing John gives him a confused start.. why would John being helping a nurse? Ethan figures it's best not to call too much attention to their familiarity with each other, and continues to walk towards Nick. As he approaches Nick, Ethan will put on a confused expression. When he arrives within conversational distance Ethan will wait for an appropriate opening and say to Nick, "Hey Nick. You're already here? Someone must have miscommunicated something because I was told an intake needed to happen too." Ethan shrugs, "You look like you have it under control though."


Kind of a weak excuse, but I've been a bit mentally drained the last few days and my creativity has been lacking. Ethan is pretty much just creating an excuse as to why he's there to not tip off anyone that he has an ulterior motive. From here he'll make small talk with Nick for a minute and then just linger around while looking busy in hopes he can walk back to their respective floors with Nick once he's done with the intake. Ethan would try and use the walk as an opportunity to talk with Nick in a somewhat casual and friendly manner.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan gets one success on his medical observation roll on Nick's patient

Nick is towered a little old lady with rosy pink cheeks and a slight scowl. She has no IV in, and while looking a little bored, she looks a little too well to be admitted. If Ethan had to guess, she was a B.S. admission.

Turning around, Nick recognizes Ethan and his overly moist lips curl into a big goofy smile. "Well, Dr. Roberts! Being my friend I've said you should call..." he stops mid sentence as if Ethan should get the joke.

Regardless of how Ethan responds, he chuckles to himself then says, "Ya, I've got this under control, but... well wait up a moment. Do you mind waiting in the ED till I finish this admission?" He gives an awkward shrug and looks down at his feet.

[XianTheCoder]

Nick is towered a little old lady with rosy pink cheeks and a slight scowl. She has no IV in, and while looking a little bored, she looks a little too well to be admitted. If Ethan had to guess, she was a B.S. admission.
Ethan makes a quick observation of the woman and determines that his presence wouldn't be a distraction nor hamper Nick's ability to care for the patient.


Turning around, Nick recognizes Ethan and his overly moist lips curl into a big goofy smile. "Well, Dr. Roberts! Being my friend I've said you should call..." he stops mid sentence as if Ethan should get the joke.
As Nick delivers his "joke" Ethan will give a polite, yet non-committal chuckle, hoping it passes as an acceptable response to Nick.


Regardless of how Ethan responds, he chuckles to himself then says, "Ya, I've got this under control, but... well wait up a moment. Do you mind waiting in the ED till I finish this admission?" He gives an awkward shrug and looks down at his feet.
Well this worked out perfectly Ethan gives a pleasant nod, Of course, man. I'll grab a cup of coffee, just let me know when you're done. Unless something stops him, Ethan will wander around the ED looking for something interesting to observe, eventually actually getting himself and Nick a cup of coffee. If Johnny is still in the area when Ethan breaks from Nick, he would attempt to casually get John's attention and indicate he hasn't made any progress yet (if there are too many people around then Ethan wouldn't risk trying to signal Johnny).


Not sure there is anything to roll for, but just in case you want some:

Perception: [roll0]
As Needed: [roll1]

Man + Subterfuge: [roll2]
As Needed: [roll3]

Generic 6d10: [roll4]
As Needed: [roll5]

[Ichneumon]

While the nurse is standing just a few feet away, Johnny doesn't really hear her voice. How could he, really? While he had succeeded in his task, he couldn't really understand how he had. Instinctively he had performed the motions he had learned at the security guard academy. But is it really fair to say that I did it?, he thought to himself.

I merely performed, did the things they taught me.... I grabbed that man's arm, without a single thought. The way the man looked at me... I was shaped by years of training, I internalised those horrible practices and techniques. Johnny didn't like it. He didn't like what he did, what he had to become to do this sickening job. What is left of me? What.... Ironically, the only thing that kept Johnny from continuing this train of thought and drowning in his own existential doubt, were the man's piercing eyes staring at him. What does he want?

The man's gaze brought him back to reality.

"Right, yes, right," he replies to the Nurse, somewhat confused. "You're welcome. I'm Happy to help."

He steps away from the nurse and the man and, without looking away, staring into the man's eyes, he walks towards the door.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to navigate this $*(&# maze again.

While trying to find his way back, he takes his phone. Would I have any signal here?
He was thinking about calling one of his old buddies from the academy. Not only might they have some useful information for the investigation, but Johnny really felt like he had to talk to some people who would understand how difficult being a security guard really is and he didn't want to show any weakness towards the other guards at the hospital...

Johnny has a dot in conctacts (security guards) Can Johnny make a few calls, to see if he knows anyone who might have previously worked at the hospital, to hear them out about 'mysterious' things that they might have experiences? Maybe someone guard who worked there in the past but left etc.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan wanders around the ED floor briefly. The floor is busy, but not overwhelmed. There are a few empty beds, and some of the nurses and doctors have time to huddle in small groups and chat. While in the ED a nurse comes up to Ethan and mistakes him for a surgical intern, otherwise, his wait is uneventful.

Eventually Nick waddles over to Ethan a little sheepish. "Hey man, thanks for waiting. It's really a BS admission, just an episode of presyncopy", he says with a shrug (the woman felt faint but did not pass out. "Cardiac workup is negative. We'll watch her overnight, and probably send her home tomorrow."

He looks over towards the back ED exit, which enters into the labarynthine tunnels of the basement floor of the hospital. "Let's get out of here," Nick says, his voice wavering.

I haven't included that the two of you leave, because I don't know if you wanted to do more in the ED. If you choose to leave it is assumed that the two of you are able to make it back to the main floor without much difficulty. I won't make you roll a second time.

************************************************** *******

Johnny struggles to internalize his roll in the hospital, feeling like he may be doing more harm than good. But after the nurse gets fluid running into the patient, his color begins to improve and his aggitated, though sedated movements begin to settle. Overall, the man looks more comfortable and a little healthier.

The nurse gives Johnny a sideways look after his reply. "I think he's going to be okay. My guess is he was going into alcohol withdrawal, the labs will confirm in a little bit. Without this fluid and a few medications, he would be in for one nasty night."

Johnny shrugs, but perhaps this did make him feel better. Even if he had to be brutal, and work against some patients, perhaps he was still doing some good.

Johnny exits the ED, back into the basement, only to realize he has absolutely no cell coverage. He rushes quickly through the various corridores, trying not to think of the rotten metal smell, or the sounds which just may be animals scurrying off in the distance. Rather than wait for the elevator, he tracks down one of the hidden stairwells which lead up to the main floor. From there he thumbs through his phone.

Yes, there was an old buddy, one of the instructors at the academy that had actually helped Johnny get the job at Purity Hospital; and Johnny still had his number

Johnny just barely passes his breaking point test. I added a little to help suggest how he may have justified everything to himself. I hope this is okay. TBH, I do believe despite some of the cruelty and dehumanizing that happens in hospitals that we are doing good for patients. Great idea using the contact. I have not named the character, or given much more detail, because I'd like you to fill in some of the blanks. I am also leaving int open as to whether Johnny texts or calls this contact.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods as Nick explains the admission, After last night, I don't mind seeing a few 'easy' cases. Ethan hands a cup of coffee to Nick before turning towards the exit, Sure Ethan will wait until the relative privacy of the tunnels before speaking again, They really made these hallways as difficult to navigate as possible, didn't they? So what's on your mind?


There isn't anything Ethan specifically wants to accomplish in the ED, except possibly talking to Johnny, but since he is clearly preoccupied that isn't happening.

[Ichneumon]

After walking for a few minutes through the maze of corridors, Johnny did feel better. It's just these philosophy lectures, they're getting to my head. It isn't that bad here.

He searched through his contact list for that one name. One of the younger instructors at the academy. The one person who had helped him get this job in the first place. I wish I had remembered sending him a Christmas card...

Johnny started to panic when he couldn't find the name. "What? How... surely his surname was...I couldn't have deleted his name... could I?" But then he remembered.... and he laughed. "How silly and childish we had been, that one night, so much alcohol, we gave each other these stupid nicknames on our phones...."

He continued scrolling. It was a very long list of contacts. Most of them worthless. Hundreds and hundreds of acquaintances, people Johnny had only talked to once, people who's faces he could hardly remember. Only a few of these names belonged to people Johnny considered actual friends. He scrolled past the multiple Bobs, Michaels and Sarahs (as well as past the one Ethan he had recently added to his list, was he a friend? Johnny liked to think so.), until he reached the U... A warm nostalgic smile appeared on Johnny's face when he saw a nickname he hadn't seen for a while... Ultra-FatFace. So many good memories.

He pressed the button and waited for Ultra-FatFace to pick up the phone. His real name was George, a tall round-faced man, whose strange type of humor (he himself had made up that nickname) and his unbridled enthusiasm had made him one of the most popular instructors among the students at the academy. He was the type of guy who switched girlfriends quicker than he switched clothes. He frequently dated female students and somehow seemed to get away with it every time. He often told the most incredible stories of wild adventures, real or imagined, he had experienced while dating.

Then, a voice breaks the silence. "Yeah? George here. Who's this?"

"Hey... hey George, it's me. John Smith. I guess I'm a few months late, but thank you for that Christmas card you send me. hahaha How have you been?"

After some casual conversation, Johnny asks

"I'm now working at Purity Hospital. It's been... quite an experience. You had worked there before, didn't you? How did you experience it?" First, I'll ask a general question, then, go into specifics, if I have to.

[Bennosuke]

Johnny hears George chuckle over the line before he speaks up. "Well, old Skinny Butt, my man. Good to hear from you." He chuckles again, his deep voice booming. Johnny can imagine his smiling face and rosy cheeks under a thick bristling beard.

"What time is it? Jeez, they must still have you on the night shift, huh? Purity Hospital; well it wasn't bad. I liked the people there well enough, and the pay is good..." His voice trails off for a second before asking, "Is Steve Lang still there?"

**************************************

Nick shrugs, again flashing a sheepish grin. "To be honest," he says, "I got so lost on my way down here tonight. I hate it down here. It's just... creepy". He shudders, looking a little embarrassed at what he is admitting.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan chuckles, How do you think you beat me down here? I haven't managed to make it to the ED without taking at least one wrong turn yet. Ethan will walk a little ways, trying to get his bearings as he walks. I think it's this way. Ethan takes a turn and then begins making small talk, So have you thought about your career path and residency once we're done with our internship?

[Bennosuke]

Ethan hobbles ahead of Nick, his ankle still throbbing with hot pain, but now feeling more stable. He turns to his fellow intern and asks his question. Nick shrugs, "Well, I guess after we finish residency... I've been thinking of maybe a geriatrics fellowship, or maybe Palliative care. With my Grandmother's Alzheimer's, and my Mom's alcoholism and pancreatic cancer, they both are kinda important to me." The shunned intern's face screws up a little before he gains control of himself.

It was a little shocking how easily Nick gave up so much personal info. Looking down at Ethan's leg he asks, "Golly, when did that happen?"

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods, Those are both very laudable reasons for picking your specialty. Are your mother and grandmother close enough for you to visit often? Ethan will attempt to appear empathetic to Nick's disclosure.

When Nick addresses Ethan's leg, Ethan will shrug and respond casually, Oh that? I had a disagreement with four of the SICU doctors, and... well... accidents happen when you're distracted. It's nothing. Ethan will continue to hobble along for a bit before suddenly putting on a smirk and a mirthful tone, I got lost down here once and I totally walked in on two people hooking up. I can see why they'd think they would be safe from prying eyes. Using the story to transition topics Ethan asks, You're a big sweat guy, you have yourself a special someone?


Ethan is really just trying to get Nick talking, hoping he finds a casual way to bring up Becca without it seeming to obvious.

[Bennosuke]

Nick trots forward a little bit. In response to Ethan's question about family, he gives a sheepish grin, "I have an older brother who lives down in the city... but I don't see much of him. I try to see Grandma when I can, but, well, it's not like we have much free time, and she lives in Rhode Island." He peers around the hallway corner, at a fork in the path and points, saying, "I think there is a stairway this way."

Ethan asks his second question and a big grin spreads across Nick's rosy cheeks. His chest seems to swell with a little bit of pride. "Me?" he asks with a laugh, "naw, no girl in my life. I mean, I feel like you are the heart throb between the two of us. I heard a couple of the nurses gossiping about you."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan grins, Me? The heart throb? I don't know about that. We do have some really cute nurses around here though, but they're more attracted to the white coat than the person in it. I wonder if it's the same for female doctors like Becca. She's a pretty girl, but there aren't many male nurses and I could see them being intimidated of a woman above them, male ego and all. Not that we can date nurses anyways, but you know what I'm saying, right? I actually feel bad for Becca, she's taking last night's events hard, she was the day doctor for my patient that jumped out of the window last night.



I'm assuming there aren't many male nurses at the hospital... seemed like a reasonable assumption, but feel free to correct me if that assumption is incorrect.

And now we get to Becca... honestly, I've been struggling to figure out the best way to roll into the topic, so this feels a bit ham-fisted, but it's the best I could come up with. Ethan is trying to transition casually transition the conversation over to Becca.

[Bennosuke]

Nick initially looks at his colleague quizically, but then the lines of his face furrow in saddnes when it is mentioned how Beccas has been down. "I heard all about that from her actually. That sounded CRAZY! How are you holding up?" He sounds hungry for gossip as he speaks, but then seems to catch himself.

"Becca sent me at couple of texts about it today. She's definitely taking it hard... but I think it's because she's such a nice girl."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan shrugs, I'm fine. I've done my research, reflected on what I could have done different, and I have made my peace with it. I wish it could have gone differently, but... Ethan shrugs again. I tried getting the details of the surgery from the SICU doctors, but they were... well... unhelpful. Ethan listens to Nick discuss Becca and responds, Yeah, I agree, Becca is really nice. She holds herself to an unrealistic standard though, which I fear is going to continue to drain her mentally. I didn't realize you were text-buddies with her. Ethan will grin and say with a bit of boyish amusement,Maybe there's something a bit more there?


Ethan obviously looks for signs that Nick is romantically interested in Becca, since that could drastically change how he engages with both of these NPCs.

[Bennosuke]

Nick's face turns beet red at Ethan's suggestion, "What, Becca and ME? No, I mean, we are just friends." Giving Ethan a confused look, Nick looks down at his feet and says, "She's just... well, she's like the only other Intern who is nice to me; I mean, other than you of course." He looks up and now there is that goofy boyish grin spread across his face.

Uncomfortable again, Nick looks away, and then pointing up ahead says, "Oh, thank god! There are the stairs. I was starting to wonder if we were going to be down here for eve."

The smell of the Basement has changed from that of corroded metal to what Ethan would imagine an unchanged hamster cage would reek of. The light's have become dimmer in this part of the basement, but sure enough, there is an exit sign above a portal for a staircase, right where Nick is pointing.

[XianTheCoder]

So he isn't completely oblivious to his surroundings. Ethan nods sadly, I wouldn't take it personally, I don't find many of the people around here nice either. The nurses are apathetic, the doctors are unhelpful and don't seem to have the best interest of the patients in mind, and it feels like an absentee administration. It's almost like... Ethan looks down and thinks about his next words carefully for a moment, Like there is a hospital code or secret that no one told me about. Looking back up as they round the last corner Ethan continues, Have you ever... thought you saw or experienced something, that later you realize you couldn't have? Ethan will stop at the bottom of the staircase waiting for Nick's answer before climbing the rest of the way up.


TANGENT! I know I am suppose to be asking about Becca here, but for some reason this alternate line of questioning just felt... "right" in this situation.

[Bennosuke]

Nick's eyes goes wide for just a moment, and he gives Ethan a confused glare. Then, giving an awkward chuckle, the gigantic Intern says, "Come on, don't be mean. I mean, I know I'm weird... but I'm not crazy or something."

Ethan does not pass his Empathy test.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan stares seriously at Nick for a second... Damn... Suddenly a smile splits Ethan's face and he gives a mirthful chuckle followed by a playfully slap on the shoulder, Ha, you got me. You can't fault me for trying, after we were stuck traversing this spooky basement. Ethan turns towards the stairs and takes the first step up, Seriously though, I was thinking I wanted to do something nice for Becca. She's one of the few nice people around here and I'm really afraid that she's going to burn herself out. I was thinking I could facilitate a relaxing evening or a distraction for her, maybe tickets to a show or play that she likes, or if she's into sports... Ethan glances over at Nick as he rises up the stairs, If you have any ideas, or if she's ever said anything to you that might guide me I'd be really appreciative. Giving Nick a suggestive look even continues, I'll can even tell her about the catch of a guy that gave me the idea.


The dice rolling curse of Night 2 continues...

Ethan is basically trying to make it seem like he was just kidding around because they were in the spooky basement and then transition away quickly. Ethan is being pretty straight forward and honest with Nick about his intentions for the gift to Becca. He also doesn't want Nick thinking that he's trying to bed Becca either (in base Nick really does like her).

[Bennosuke]

When Ethan brings the subject back to Becca, he seems to relax and his interest piques. "Well I know she has an unhealthy love of Rice Crispy's Treats. Her mom always makes them for her when she isn't feeling well." He seems to become thoughtful for a second, "but if you were really going for a big romantic gesture," giving a wink, "I think she likes musicals. I suppose you could get her a ticket to something if it's playing."

At this point the two have climbed the stairs and emerged onto the main floor of Building M; stepping out of a doorway that Ethan had never noticed before.

[XianTheCoder]

Hmm.. Rice Krispy treats and musicals, I can make that work. Ethan smiles at Nick as they reach the top of the stairs. Thanks Nick. I owe you one. And you know how the rumor mill is around here, so maybe we should keep this conversation between us. Last thing I want is to bring her more stress by having people gossip. As the exit the door, Ethan looks a little puzzled. That's... not the door I went down. He looks around and looks back at the door and stairwell. Huh, I guess I never noticed this door before. Deja Vu...

[Bennosuke]

Nick shrugs at Ethan's suggestion, "Uh... ya, sure. Mum is the word, as they say in the spy movies." Exiting the stairwell, Nick looks around, then identifying the nearest elevator, says, "I guess I should go up to the fourth floor. I have a few pages to answer."

Assuming you two split now, please tell me what the next step is.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan thanks Nick again before parting ways with him. Well that could have gone better, but it worked out alright. Certainly better than the SICU debacle. Looking at his watch, Ethan decides to take the stairs up to M3, rather than the elevator, giving him time to think. It only took a couple steps to realize what a dumb idea the decision had been as his foot began to throb. With a sigh, Ethan hobbles out of the stairwell on M2 and walks to the elevator to take it up the last flight. This night was turning into a hodgepodge of successes and failures. He couldn't really do much about the SICU doctors now, and that was a low priority. He still didn't know exactly how he was going to figure out the details of that strange room and the fat maggot man. John didn't seem to be making any progress with the video footage. But at least Ethan had managed to come up with an idea related to Becca that shouldn't reach back to Stella. With a sigh, Ethan steps out of the elevator onto M3 and goes to check up on things. Feeling a bit stymied, Ethan decides he either needs information from someone who knows the hospital better than he does, so he's going to have to take a trip to go and visit Chris after he ices his ankle for a few minutes.


I'm a bit stumped as to where to take Ethan at the moment. He's kind of hitting some dead-ends with his investigation and other things are in flux and he's in a hold-pattern. So he will check on the floor, make sure things are going fine, then he'll ice his ankle, then he'll go talk to Chris. All while trying to avoid Stella.

[Bennosuke]

Just after pushing the button for the elevator, his ankle still a throbbing balloon filled with wire, Ethan gets a text from the security guard, Johnny. It reads "Just spoke with a friend who used 2 guard here. Sounds like Stranger Things are pretty common!!! He said go talk to a nurse called Mamma Fontaine. Said she knew and could help!!!"

Before Ethan can respond, or put his phone away, he gets a second text from Johnny. It reads, "Running around with guard duty! Maybe u can chk it out when u have time!"

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan Roberts (http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/46135)
Integrity: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️
Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Conditions: Shaken
Tilts: Leg Wracked
Beats: 2 (2 Pending: Dramatic Failure on Stealth, Resolution of Spooked)

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't - Stella spy on Dr Shah


1. Saturday post-call brunch with Chris
2. Stella investigating Shah?
3. Johnny and the security footage
4. Gift for Becca







ATTRIBUTES






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL



POWER
Intelligence:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Strength:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Presence:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️


FINESSE
Wits:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Dexterity:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Manipulation:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️


RESISTANCE
Resolve:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Stamina:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Composure:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️







SKILLS






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL




Academics:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Athletics:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Animal Ken:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Computer:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Brawl:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Empathy:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Craft:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Drive:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Expression:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Investigation:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Firearms:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Intimidation:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Medicine:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Larceny:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Persuasion:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Occult:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Stealth:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Socialize:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️




Politics:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Survival:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Streetwise:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Science:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Weaponry:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Subterfuge:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️





Mamma Fontaine? Is she a nurse or a psychic? At least it's a lead. Ethan sends a text message back, [Sounds Good. Thanks for the recon. Will check it out in a bit.] With his foot still throbbing Ethan takes the elevator up to M3 to ice his ankle and to learn in what department he can find Mamma Fontaine.


In light of the new information Ethan will still go and check on his floor and ice his ankle, but then he'll sip Chris and instead go and fine Mamma Fontaine.

Does Ethan know who this nurse is? Is there a hospital directory that he can look her up?

[Bennosuke]

Ethan heads up to M3 to get an Cold pack and some ACE wrap for his ankle, but as he gets to the floor entrance, he sees Stella, bent over a young African American patient in a Wheelchair. If he is going to access the supply closet without Stella noticing, Ethan is going to have to be very careful.

[XianTheCoder]

Wanting to get some relief for his ankle before having to walk on it further, Ethan tries his best to blend in as standard hospital background activity and not draw Stella's attention.

Dex + Stealth: [roll0]
As Needed: [roll1]

EDIT: BAM! I think that's my first successful roll all night!

[Bennosuke]

Ethan does his best to move quickly and quietly, despite his bad ankle. He hangs back till Stella starts to walk down the hall, and then quickens his pace. He turns off of the hallway he saw Stella walk down, and then relaxes his pace. Coolly, he walking past another M3 nurse who passes with so much as a nod of acknowledgement.

Finally making it to the supply closet, Ethan begins treating his swollen ankle. After icing it for about 10 minutes, then re-wrapping it, Ethan exits the supply closet, catches a glimpse of Stella passing the hallway entrance. He turns in the opposite direction, and exits the floor via an alternate route.

Taking an elevator, his ankle still angry despite the recent icing, Ethan enters the top floor and the MICU. The attention of the floor appears to be turned towards one room, where Chris is scrubbed in an appears to be performing some sort of procedure on a patient.

From the MICU entrance, Ethan is a little too far away to see just what is going on though.

Nice roll though!

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan walks up to the receptionist and gives his best smile, after giving a pleasant greeting Ethan asks, I see Dr. Varghees is in the middle of something. Do you have any estimation how long before he'll be free? I have a few, non-emergency, things to discuss with him.

[Bennosuke]

The receptionist, an Indian man in his probable late 30s, with an oily mustache, looks up from his cellphone game. He gives Ethan a queer look, "Doctor, I don't really know. I know he is in with a patient, but you may want to ask one of the nurses. It's not my responsibility to know what he is doing, or how long it will take."

Before waiting for a response, he returns to the flashing screen of his smart phone.

[XianTheCoder]

DON'T... STRANGLE... HIM... Ethan clenches his fists tightly by his side and tries hard to keep the glare off of his face. Why is everyone so apathetic? I have to talk to Chris about this... With few options, Ethan looks for the closest nurse that isn't in the middle of something. If he finds one he will walk up to her and inquire if she knows anything about Chris's current activities.

[Bennosuke]

The closest nurse, is actually one Ethan recognizes; it's the one from the delirious patient's room last night. Walking over to her Ethan asks about Chris. She is wearing a blue disposable gown, which is stained purplish red with blood from Chris's room. She looks a little occupied, but politely says, "We are in the middle of placing an IJ (Internal Jugular catheter; a large bore IV placed in the neck to provide large volumes of fluids or medication). Dr. V is just finishing up. I have to go get more Tegaderm." She hurries off, keeping her ungloved hands in front of her so as not to contaminate anything.

About 10 minutes later, Chris is stepping out of the room, and ripping off his disposable gown. His now unmasked face glistens with a light sheen of sweat. He smiles when he sees Ethan and says, "Damn, back here again? They must not be working you too hard." He chuckles and raises one finger as if to say 'give me one moment'. He finishes removing his cap and gloves, then comes over and pats Ethan on the back. "How long have you been here man?" he asks, "I would'a let you scrub in and help out. Have you done an IJ before?"

As a beginning intern, Ethan may have done at most one or two, though most fresh interns have never. In fact, I went through my entire internship without placing any large bore peripheral lines, but that's because it was not important to my specialty. That said, Ethan may have spent extended ED or ICU time as a medstudent and gotten an unusual number done, or he may choose to lie to try to impress Chris.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan thanks the nurse, pleased that someone was going to answer some questions and do their job.

During the 10 minute wait Ethan wanders a bit, trying to determine if the old crazy man was still a patient in the hospital.

When Chris comes out, Ethan will smile and give a cordial wave. Oh it's been busy. I feel like I've been all over the hospital tonight. It's not as chaotic as it was last night, but there has been plenty of administrative annoyances that have been keeping me moving. Ethan looks past Chris to the room he was just in, I'm going to take you up on that offer next time, I'd love to get my hands dirty. I've had some experience with the procedure, but I welcome more when I can get it. Anyways, I know you're busy so I won't keep you, I just wanted to check in and see if you heard about Mr. King's surgery and to voice my concern about how hard Becca is taking it and see if you have any advice in how best I can console a colleague.


Ethan is obviously slow rolling Chris a bit, the Mamma Fontaine question will be a "door knob" question, making it seem like it wasn't the main reason that Ethan came to talk to Chris. Since Chris seems like a nice guy who likes to be a leader and mentor, Ethan is setting up the dialogue to play right to Chris's personality.

[Bennosuke]

Chris looks at you a little shocked. "I think Mr. King is stable, though they still have him vented [on a breathing machine]. Becca's not doing well? Good looking out man. Well, I guess the best thing you could do is just be there for her. It's something that happens to all of us. She's a tough chick, I'm sure she'll be fine, especially if she has friends like you."

He leads Ethan towards the nurse's station, plopping himself down on a chair, obviously a little exhausted from his procedure. "She's not... real bad, right?"

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods, Ok good, so you've heard. Those SICU doctors don't seem like the most forthcoming with information so I wanted to make sure you'd heard. Turning the conversation back to Becca, No, not real bad. She just pushes herself to hard and holds herself to unrealistic standards, and you can tell it weighs on her emotionally. You're right though, she's strong and will push through. I just hate to see her beat herself up so much. I'll keep an eye on her though. Anyways, thanks for the advice. You look tired so I'll get out of your hair. Ethan will turn half-way before stopping and turning back, Hey, actually any chance you know a nurse named 'Mamma Fontaine'? I had an older patient mention her from a previous visit, and I want to ask if she remembered him? I was going to try and track her down at some point tonight.



So Ethan is attempting two things with the Becca talk: 1. Make himself look like a compassionate friend and teammate, someone who looks out for others and is loyal. 2. Play to the subtle and subconscious sexism in American culture that tends to consider crying and emotions a "weakness" and thus females weak by association. By bringing up Becca is this way, Ethan hopes he drops that little seed into Chris's brain that is conditioned to subconsciously perceive a woman as less qualified.

Obviously, there's the "door knob" Mamma Fontaine drop. Ethan is attempting to just slip her in as an afterthought to try and obfuscate that being the main purpose of his visit.

[Bennosuke]

Chris' grin broadens at the mention of Mamma Fontaine. "Nurse Mamma? You've heard of her? Of course I know her, she is a legend of this hospital. She's probably been around longer than some of the surgical floors. She's a tough old cookie, but I don't think the administration would be able to get rid of her if they tried. She's working right now on M4. Careful though, she can be a bit crotchety if she doesn't know you yet.

Chris sighs, and logs into the computer in front of him. "So, are we still on for Breakfast tomorrow?" Chris asks, knowing that tonight is Friday.

[XianTheCoder]

Hmm... Nick's floor, seems like getting in good with him might be extra helpful. Of course, M4 is awfully close to Stella... Ethan is pleased that his investigation into Mamma Fontaine went so smoothly considering his earlier failures. Sounds good, thanks. I'm surprised I haven't run into her yet since she's only a floor away. As conversation turns to breakfast, Of course, assuming you're still up for it and no family business pops up in the meantime. After the week we've had it'll be nice to unwind for a bit over a hearty meal.


I forgot to mention in the last post that Ethan would be very surprised to hear that Mr King was stable and not dead... mainly because as the DM you used the adjective "dead" on multiple occasions so it seemed like a forgone conclusion. Ethan would have done his best to hide his surprise though.

[Bennosuke]

"For sure man," Chris says with a nod of his head. "I don't think there will be any issues. Everything smooth on your floors? Want any help with anything?"

[XianTheCoder]

Yeah, I have things under control tonight, nothing to worry about so far. I should probably get back though, I've spent a decent amount of the night running around doing administrative tasks and I'm due to make another round. I'll swing by tomorrow night to make sure we're still on for breakfast. Unless something stops Ethan, he would thank Chris for the information and help and then he'd turn and leave.


So Ethan has two objectives now, I'm rather indifferent which one happens first, so if you have a preference or if one makes more sense feel free to push for that direction:
1. Go check on Mr. king
2. Go meet Mamma Fontaine

And before looking for Mamma Fontaine, he'd check back on his floor to make sure everything is going alright and no one is looking for him.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan says goodbye to Chris. Pleased with his progress in this avenue, he barely notices the throbbing pain as he walks out of the MICU. Catching the elevator, Ethan rides down to the fourth floor, then walk onto M4.

Nick is not around. The lights are dimmer on this floor, and thing seem relatively still. Sitting at the front desk, is a secretary dark haired and heavily made up and a nurse with long blond hair and a bad rash of acne, both younger women who seem to be giggling over a video on the nurse's phone.

Down the hallway, an older man sits in a chair outside of a patient room. He's either asleep or deep in thought, though he is too far away to tell.

The chatter of various television programs can be heard coming from different patient rooms, but otherwise, all is quiet.

[XianTheCoder]

Sigh... they all play on their phones all night long. Don't they teach etiquette in schools? Since Ethan doesn't want to draw too much attention to himself and the receptionists are occupied already so Ethan decides he will make a casual loop around the floor to see if he stumbles upon an older nurse that fits the description of Mamma Fontaine.


Ethan will basically just casually walk around, making himself look busy but really he's just keeping an eye out for Mamma Fontaine. If he completes a full circuit around the floor without seeing a very old nurse, then Ethan will proceed to the front desk and ask the receptionists.

Wits + Investigate: [roll0]
As Needed: [roll1]

EDIT: BAM! You feel that? That's the feeling of the winds changing! The dice gods are back to blessing me.. all hail the dice gods!

[Bennosuke]

Ethan makes a quick circuit of the floor, which is primarily made of two long hallways with patient rooms attached which branch from the floor entrance at a right angle from each other. There is a third, hypotenuse hall that arches between the ends of the two main halls, lined with windows overlooking the side of the mountain.

Sitting in a rocking chair, talking to an obese wheezing gentleman in patient scrubs, is Mamma Fontaine. Ethan is sure of it. The sky outside is turning from black to purple, and waves of blue light shine in from outside, bathing the two subjects. The patient is hooked up by IV to a pole with a bag of fluid dripping into his arm, and he laughs a phlegmy laugh at something Mamma Fontaine just said.

She is a squat woman, of African American descent, with waves of long curling grey hair. She is dressed in floral patterned scrubs of yellows and oranges, unlike most of the other nurses who wear monotones. She is clutching a pair of knitting needles in one hand and a ball of yarn in the other. As Ethan approaches, she gives him a sideways look, and as if making a joke that the male patient is supposed to get, she says, "How can I help you, boy?"

Lol, nice roll, Got more successes than your initial dice pool.

[XianTheCoder]

Old People... always the wild card in Ethan's mind, making them an obvious demographic that Ethan tended to tread carefully with. People like to say 'With age comes wisdom', but Ethan knew better. It wasn't age that brought wisdom, it was experience and the capacity to logically process those experiences. Old people just tended to have more experiences, giving them more opportunities to stumble upon a few logical conclusions. Mamma Fontaine though... she made Ethan nervous at first glance, here sits a woman that had obviously had many experiences and was cunning enough to use them to create near legendary fame within the hospital... you don't accomplish that feat without the ability to read people and situations... and play politics. Ethan suspected he was playing a weak hand against the older woman and disingenuousness would damage his chances of gaining information.

Ethan doesn't bother with his typical large warm smile, perhaps it was his own paranoia, but it didn't feel right here. Instead Ethan makes a small smile, almost a smirk, You must be Nurse Mamma Fontaine? Ethan asks, trying hard to sound amused yet respectful. Turning to the patient Ethan says with a smile and wink I hear she's an institution around here. The only nurse with enough clout to have the administration in her back pocket.

[Bennosuke]

The patient's wormy lips spread into a confused smile, but Nurse Fontaine wears a mask of cold concern. She tilts her head towards the heavy set patient, "Perhaps you wouldn't mind giving me a moment with the young doctor.". Her voice is warm, but she does not remove her eyes from Ethan.

The man nods and says a quick goodbye.

Mamma Fontaine rises from her rocking chair, her knees threatening to buckle under the weight of her flabby torso. Her arms across her chest, she says, "The administration in my pocket. Boy, I do not believe we have met, but that is some wild bull**** to be throwing around." Ethan can see that her nails are long and painted a firetruck red, on fingers that are thick and callused like that of a man's.

She scowls at Ethan, and he can feel any confidence he had about this conversation shriveling up.

[XianTheCoder]

While use of the disrespectful appellation 'boy' grates on Ethan's nerves, he isn't surprised. Based on Chris's description of the old bat, it was to be expected that she would take a confrontational position with him, if for no other reason than to establish dominance in the relationship. It was transparent, but it was likely effective after so many years of practice.

Ethan gives a knowing smile and responds, You certainly live up to your reputation. I prefer 'Ethan' or 'Dr. Roberts' to 'boy', you're free to use either Mrs. Fontaine.* Ethan will glance towards the patient, It wasn't my intention to disrupt you while working with a patient. I was told that you were someone I should go out of my way to meet when the opportunity presented itself, so I apologize if I was a bit too invasive in confirming your identity.** If you'd prefer, I can come back later where we can re-attempt our first meeting?***


*Ethan's tone here attempts to convey that he recognizes what she's doing, but he isn't going to take the bait, and he would prefer they start off by treating each other with respect.
**Ethan is making a true and direct statement, delivered in a matter-of-fact tone.
***Ethan is playing a little game here. Offering to come back later does two things, it tells her that she isn't going to avoid this meeting but it also puts her in position to seem small and petty. She could dismiss a doctor, something that would be ballsy and require her to show disrespect to someone who has thus far taken a respectful tone towards her (and if she's an institution around here, especially with the nurses, then Ethan would hope his constant efforts to seem a 'man of the people' have made their way to her ears. This is, after all, why he offers to get nurses coffee and makes sure to say 'hi' to them and treat them decent). She would come off as power-trippy which is not a typical characteristic of someone who's managed to become an institution within a large organization while not actually holding a position of authority. So Ethan is banking on the fact that she's politically savvy enough to realize she gains nothing from trying to bully Ethan and moves on to the next most likely persona you'd expect someone to take in this situation (the disapproving motherly figure).

Here are some rolls, take what you need:

Empathy (9-Again): [roll0]
As Needed: [roll1]

Persuasion (9-Again): [roll2]
As Needed: [roll3]

Random: [roll4]

[Bennosuke]

The patient nods at both of you awkwardly, says "Excuse me", and shuffles away, dragging his IV pole with one hand behind him. Mamma Fontaine looks over her shoulder, waiting till he is out of earshot. Once satisfied, a shark like grin spreads across her face, one eye brow raised in opposition. "I'm someone to meet?", she says with more than a hint of sarcasm, "Honey, I think you are best off just being straight with me."


Now your rolls are on fire. Ethan can tell that Mamma Fontaine is still guarded, but now she appears to be intrigued by him.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan matches her shark-like grin with one of his own, I couldn't agree more. I'm Ethan Roberts, first year Resident. Ethan will extend his hand towards the nurse, waiting for her to shake it. I was told that you've worked here so long that few people can match your knowledge of the hospital and its history, so if I ever had a question you were the person to ask.

[Bennosuke]

She takes Ethan's hand, while still observing him slightly cockeyed. "I have been here quiet some time", she says modestly, "but I'm sure I don't know anything of interest."

[XianTheCoder]

Everyone knows something of interest, even if its only interesting to small crowds of people with specific interests. Ethan releases her hand and takes a slightly more casual posture, as if to say 'now that the formalities are done with'. Looking around to make sure there is no one close enough to eavesdrop, Ethan will speak softly so his voice doesn't carry, I recently had... an experience... and a friend of a friend indicated that you may have had similar experiences and would be willing to discuss them with me. Ethan will watch for a reaction before continuing, Unusual behaviors of patients and staff, shadowy figures following me and then disappearing, and I swear I'm occasionally noticing new doors that weren't there before. At first I thought it might be my mind responding to the overnight schedule, but... I'm less inclined to believe that as new experiences continue to roll in.


Yeah, this is a bit blunt and out of character for Ethan, but I want to get the game moving and I don't think that Mamma Fontaine is going to react positively to a lot of back and forth dialogue.

[Bennosuke]

A look of amusement spreads across Nurse Fontaine's face as she shakes his hand, but this quickly disappears when he starts talking about the "strange things". Her already wrinkled brow furrows deeper, almost hiding her eyes, and her lips pucker as if she were about to spit at him. "Boy, you must be some kind of foolish." Her voice is hushed, as if she were trying to keep from being heard.

She looks around, shielding her eyes briefly from the rays of the slowly rising sun. After reassuring herself that they are alone she says, "Tell me, what exactly have you seen?"

[XianTheCoder]

She thinks I'm foolish for speaking, then asks me to say more? Sigh... people and their illogic. Ethan tries his best to remember his conversation with Johnny and keeps his voice down as he responds to the nurse, Mostly what I've already told you. I'm sure you've heard of the patient that jumped last night, well I'm not convinced it was suicide and when investigating there was a shadowy figure... female I think... she that was watching and then disappeared. I didn't think much of it until the mysteriously appearing and disappearing SICU patient room. I may not work in the SICU, but I've been there often enough to notice a room that magically appears and then disappears.

[Bennosuke]

"The man who jumped... what room was he in?" Her tone is dead series when she says this.

Ethan tells her, and she nods her head. "It figures", she says, turning to look out the window momentarily. She presses a hand to the glass, then turns back to Ethan and says, "Well, I ain't saying this hospital is haunted... or at least any more than any other such institution, but... Well Purity Hospital has its share of shadows left behind. It's just a shame Mr. King had to be in her room..."

[XianTheCoder]

Her room? Who was she and what happened to her? Ethan listens carefully to the old nurse, intrigued to find someone with knowledge on the matter, but also suspicious that she may be pulling his leg.

[Bennosuke]

The nurse gives out a slow sigh, seeming to deflate a little physically, as she does so. "There was once a woman named Sarah Collins, who once stayed in that room. She was a lovely lady, and she had a lovely family. But she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer; something that was supposed to be curable. And despite everything the doctors did for her... all the Chemotherapy, and the radiation, and the surgeries... well she just got worse and worse." Mamma Fontaine seems to deflate even more as she tells her story. Her legs seem to weaken, and she reaches a hand out to support herself agains the glass window.

"Her husband and her two boys, both fine young gentleman, had to watch as she became sicker and sicker. Some of it was to be expected with the therapies she was on; her hair fell out, her gums bled. But she was supposed to get better, her tumor was supposed to be responsive to the drugs they were giving her. Try as we did, she just got worse. She became a skeleton of a girl, her skin bruised and peeled. As time went on, she started to break mentally. She died a miserable wretch in that room, and well, I guess a part of her never really left. Something in that room is still suffering, and hungry for more." The nurse spits these last few words out. Ethan can see that she is staring into him, possibly even accusing him. He has never felt a glare like this, such cold passion in a woman's eyes. It was like she had found that he had peed himself. It made Ethan feel small, and guilty for even asking. "I can only imagine that her presence had something to do with poor Mr. King."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan listens carefully as Mamma Fontaine tells the story. Ethan was sure that a normal person would feel sadness for the dead woman and her family and compassion for the old nurse at having to live through such a case, but Ethan never really understood those emotions. The story left Ethan with a lot of questions, like why would the ghost of a seemingly nice woman hurt Mr King and wouldn't her degenerating condition imply that there was a problem before her death. The story also didn't account for the fat maggot man and the mysterious room in SICU. Ethan didn't think it was the correct time to point out the inconsistency though, he'd gotten mamma Fontaine talking and now the way she was looking at him gave him the impression that her continued willingness was temperamental. Realizing he needed to say something empathetic, Ethan does his best impression of a sorrowful frown and takes a sympathetic tone to his voice, That's a horrible case to have to care for. The young patients with families are the hardest for me, the prospect of a child without a mother is nothing short of heartbreaking. Ethan will give the nurse a moment to compose herself while he stands reflecting on her words. Have incidents always been confined to that single room or have they spread to other areas of the hospital?

[Bennosuke]

Grimly, the nurse responds, "There have been similar imprints left throughout the history of this hospital."

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods as he considers the nurse's words. So we have a bunch of.. ghosts(?).. of dead patients running around and killing current patients? Sounds like the plot to a really bad horror movie. With little additional thought Ethan decides that he isn't satisfied with the nurse's hypothesis and chooses not to believe her theory. Something strange was definitely happening, but a bunch of random ghosts didn't seem likely. Death happened a lot so if ghosts were common, and real, then every hospital would be overrun with them and he'd have been forced to take a class or two on how to deal with ghosts while in medical school. Thank you, for all of the information. It's a lot to consider and process. After a second of thought, Ethan asks one additional question, Do you recall a patient, a very obese man, who had an issue with maggots covering his body? He may have had a room in what is currently the SICU.

[Bennosuke]

The nurse nods her head to the negative. "I never worked in the SICU", she says, "I take it that means you saw another one?" Her nostrils flair and her lips curl like the thought is forcing her to fight back a retch.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan nods at her question, but doesn't go into more detail. It seems like a lot more research is required to uncover any true understanding. Anyways, I should probably get back to my rounds.


I guess I got my answers and don't really have anything further to discuss with the nurse. From here Ethan will likely need to research the patient Sarah to see if it leads him anywhere.

[Bennosuke]

Mamma Fontaine fixes Ethan with a scowl of pure bile, as if whatever bone she had to pick with him had just snapped, and now she was going to use the jagged ends as a shiv. "What the hell are you getting at boy?" Her tone is harsh, but her voice barely rises above a whisper, "First you come to me as if you is trying to get to know Mamma because she knows this hospital. Then you hit me with these questions about what spirits may or may not still be here. Then you try to leave like my input don't satisfy nothing. It smells to me like you're about to go do something real foolish; like you don't want me to know about your big deal. You reek of mischief boy, and I don't know if I should try to stop you."

Her eyes narrow, as if this would focus them into weapons that could pierce Ethan. But before he can even respond, she gives a huff and turns her massive body around. She starts hobbling away from Ethan, though her pace does not take her too far too fast.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan shakes his head as she begins to hobble away, Old crotchety people... sigh... Ethan will fall into step next to her and speak softly, You're correct, I am not satisfied with the explanation. That does not mean that I do not believe you and do not appreciate the information. I'm a natural skeptic, I've always required... more, but I'm here to care for patients, not to do something foolish. Ethan will continue to walk along next to her, giving her an opportunity to respond (if she chooses to) before he continues. The past clearly weighs heavily on you, yet you've stayed. May I ask why?

[Bennosuke]

"Because I believe that kindness and hope will always win. And despite all the bull****, I still believe what we do in this hospital is good and important." She says this without any sarcasm, or any hint of being pedantic. This is simply a fact to her, it's obvious.

[Bennosuke]

As Xian is going to be busy this weekend, I am going to close out the scene. I will post shortly in the OOC thread with a tally of the beats, and will post separately IC to start the knew scene. Should overall take me about 30min to 1 hour

The nurse's answer was not all that unfamiliar to Ethan, but the way she said it made the young intern freeze. It was almost an accusation, as if she could X-ray Ethan and see his callous insides. She continued walking, seeming to not care that Ethan was not following. She walked down the hallway, and turned the corner, leaving Ethan standing dumbfounded in the now crimson light of the rising sun.

It took Ethan, what felt like a long time to compose himself. His skin felt slick with sweat. It had been a long night. A really long night. Ethan didn't know if he could keep going at this rate, with everything that had been happening; and it was only his first month as an Intern.

He collected himself, and hobbled back to the elevator and down to the resident room. His ankle throbbed worse than before, forcing him to take the elevator rather than the stairs down to the first floor. It was already about 5:30 in the morning. The day teams would be showing up for morning sign out within the hour. In the Resident room, Ethan logged onto a computer, ran his patient lists to make sure he had done all his overnight work, and checked in on Mr. King. It looked like his situation was guarded; Mr. King was still sedated, incubated, spiking fevers, and requiring IV pressers to maintain his blood pressure. He had been receiving regular blood transfusions, and appeared to be septic (a term used to describe when the heart can't maintain necessary blood pressure due to infection). They were waiting on blood cultures to confirm an infection and identify a source. It didn't look good.

This news didn't help Ethan's mood, making it harder to maintain a 'happy face' when signing out to the other interns, even Becca. And it made it that much harder gathering the courage to meet up with Chris for brunch. All Ethan wanted to do was to go home, close all the blinds, hide his head under his pillow, and try to sleep off this worsening head ache. At least it was the weekend, which meant he had a whole day off.

[Bennosuke]

Act 1 Scene iii

The modern hospital system is based off of the military, to maximize efficiency and safety. This also means that all hospital staff get treated more like cogs in a machine than like individuals. Thank God I'm retiring.

- Dr. H who will remain anonym

Hank leaned back in his oversized creaking leather desk chair. It worked! He had been contracted to help set up a new encrypted Wifi for the hospital, which would only be available to the Hospital staff. This Wifi would be kept separate from that which the patients could use. Though he would mostly be working nights, Hank had come a little early to test out the new routers by setting up the system in the Hospital Technologies office.

And it had worked. Now Hank just had to set up the systems throughout the hospital. His colleague, Jessie, who worked during the day, said she would set up the systems in the Surgical wing of the hospital, and in the ED, which was good. Hank had been down in the basement before, and even as a grown man, it gave him the creeps.

So now Hank just had to decide where he was going to start. He had loaded up a dolly with a few of the routers, plenty of cable, a tool box, and the rest of his supplies. He supposed, whichever side he started on, the Medical or Pediatric, he would either start from the top and work his way down, or do the opposite.

He stood up from his desk. It was time to go.

[baerun]

Hank stood up, stretching his back side to side. Probably should have taken it easier in the weight room yesterday, gonna be a long night if muscles are getting tight already. He takes a look at the faded facilities map on the wall, trying to map out a route to the pediatric wing. This map is probably older than my parents. Hank sets off, pushing the cart in front of him, hopeful that all the sticky notes and additional writing on the map over the years would help him navigate the hospital.

Hank smiles and says a quick 'Hello' to anyone walking by. I guess I should start at the top and work my way down, should be able to gauge where to place the wifi systems to get maximum coverage this way. Arriving to the elevator, Hank presses Up and waits while drinking his barely warm coffee. Hank places his coffee down as the elevator slowly opens and he manages to get the cart in, even with the two inch raise to get into the elevator. I see the elevator's haven't been calibrated in a while, I'll have to ask someone about that. Hank mentally adds that to his todo list and heads to the highest floor.

Upon reaching the top floor, Hank heads to the nearest nursing station, looking for the charge nurse, or whomever he can talk to about the work he will be doing tonight to make sure he doesn't interfere with patient care.

[Bennosuke]

There are two wings to the sixth floor of Building A. To the North is the Pediatric Surgery floor, and to the East is the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), two of the most depressing wings in the hospital.

Hank had never had to walk onto either floor. The PICU entrance was a large sliding glass door. Looking inside, he could see a well lit and modern looking long hallway with large glass-walled patient rooms. A few nurses wearing bright scrubs with superheroes or animal printed on them, walk calmly between rooms or sit at computer stations.

In contrast, the Pediatric Surgical unit had large painted metal swinging doors, preventing Hank from being able to see inside. Hank would have to swipe his ID card to get into either unit. The lights in the hallway flickered on and off, making him slightly anxious to get on with his work.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan Roberts (http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/46135)
Integrity: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Conditions: Shaken
Tilts:
Beats: 5

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't


1. Gift for Becca
2. Stella investigating Shah?
3. Johnny and the security footage
4. Research Sarah







ATTRIBUTES






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL



POWER
Intelligence:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Strength:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Presence:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️


FINESSE
Wits:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Dexterity:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Manipulation:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️


RESISTANCE
Resolve:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Stamina:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Composure:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️







SKILLS






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL




Academics:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Athletics:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Animal Ken:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Computer:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Brawl:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Empathy:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Craft:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Drive:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Expression:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Investigation:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Firearms:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Intimidation:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Medicine:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Larceny:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Persuasion:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Occult:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Stealth:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Socialize:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️




Politics:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Survival:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Streetwise:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Science:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Weaponry:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Subterfuge:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️






The nurse's answer was not all that unfamiliar to Ethan, but the way she said it made the young intern freeze. It was almost an accusation, as if she could X-ray Ethan and see his callous insides. She continued walking, seeming to not care that Ethan was not following. She walked down the hallway, and turned the corner, leaving Ethan standing dumbfounded in the now crimson light of the rising sun.
Watching her go, Ethan thinks to himself, I really don't like her. I wonder how much of those glares are practiced and all-purpose versus actual knowledge. Still, she is... formidable.


He collected himself, and hobbled back to the elevator and down to the resident room. His ankle throbbed worse than before, forcing him to take the elevator rather than the stairs down to the first floor.
As Ethan walked he tried to clear his head, so much had happened that his mind was spinning. It was hard to believe that the SICU events were the same night and the leap Mr King took was only a single night ago. In many ways he felt like he'd been on an emotional rollercoaster as his basic beliefs in universal truths went from firm, to questioning, then back to firmly confirmed, and now back to questioning. Ghosts... so silly, but... the fat man and the maggots... he couldn't have imagined that. Maybe tomorrow he'd find a way to run a brain scan on himself, make sure there wasn't anything wrong upstairs.


In the Resident room, Ethan logged onto a computer, ran his patient lists to make sure he had done all his overnight work, and checked in on Mr. King. It looked like his situation was guarded; Mr. King was still sedated, incubated, spiking fevers, and requiring IV pressers to maintain his blood pressure. He had been receiving regular blood transfusions, and appeared to be septic (a term used to describe when the heart can't maintain necessary blood pressure due to infection). They were waiting on blood cultures to confirm an infection and identify a source. It didn't look good.
Well.. there's a chance. The knowledge that Mr. King wasn't dead did make Ethan feel better, people asked questions about dead patients. He was still surprised that no one from the administration or the police had asked him any questions yet. There was a large part of Ethan that was annoyed he waited all night to get this information though. Those SICU doctors were going to have to pay at some point, there time would come.

----------

During his brunch with Chris, Ethan attempts to keep things light and cheerful, even though he isn't feeling it. Chris seemed like a genuinely good person, and one that actually enjoyed what he did because of the people more than the challenge... Ethan didn't really understand that train of thought, but it didn't mean he couldn't take advantage of it when the time came. Chris was going to be a good contact, he already had been with the Mamma Fontaine information, and Ethan was quite proud of himself. While eating Ethan would mention Becca again, just to reassure Chris that he could handle it, which he hoped had the added benefit of making Ethan look like a compassionate problem solver with leadership potential. Ethan also makes sure to thank Chris with Mamma Fontaine, and puts a rosy picture on his conversation with her (IE "Yeah, she remembered the patient, she had some useful information, but I can see what you mean... she really makes you work for her respect"... stuff like that). Ethan would try and turn the conversation to Chris and his family, with the goal of learning as much useful information about Chris as he can, ideally to locate leverage points with him.

----------

After brunch with Chris, Ethan would sleep... a much needed sleep, but he would set the alarm for an hour earlier than normal to give him time to try and determine a gift for Becca. Without any knowledge of which musicals Becca specifically likes or has seen, Ethan would rely on online reviews to pick a good one. Once he figures out the tickets he'll google a recipe for rice krispy treats, he felt the homemade effort would be appreciated by Becca more than store bought. Thankfully the recipe looked easy... a little butter, a bunch of melted marshmallows, and a box a cereal... then stir and stick in a pan for cutting... easy. He needed to get a card for the tickets anyways, so Ethan quickly runs to the nearest store where he can buy all the ingredients, a card, and something to package it all in. Once he has everything he quickly returns to his apartment to construct the gift. Now how do I give it to her without making a spectacle and Stella seeing? Maybe I just leave it in the car and walk her out with her to give it to her? Ethan does his best to construct something that resembles a decent packaging job, but well.. this isn't exactly his area of expertise.

Once he's done, Ethan gets himself ready for work and then drives to the hospital, leaving the gift for Becca in his car with something covering it so that no one can peek and see.


So... I'm not sure if you want a roll for the gift wrapping and rice krispy treat construction. If so... Wits + Crafts - 3, I'd guess? But that only leaves me with a chance die (which feels a bit punitive for the specific tasks), but let me know.

Re Willpower: I had 4/5 at the end of the last scene, so my character box assumes I've regained my nightly willpower and I'm back to 5/5.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan leaves the Kirspy Treats in his car, and makes his way to the residents room. He takes sign out from the weekend on call intern, who basically covered all of Ethan's teams/patients that day. The intern, an short and stout Egyptian man by the name of Salem seems burned out from the days activities, and rushes through the sign out, trying to get out of the hospital.

Per the sign out, there is apparently a very sick man, Mr. Brooks, 94 year old man with stage 5 heart failure, COPD, who presented with an aspiration pneumonia secondary to recent undiagnosed stroke. The patient was well enough to be kept on a medicine floor, rather than the MICU, but was tenuous, and worst of all was adamant about being full code. This meant that if the man started to crash, they would have to do everything in their power to intervene, including CPR, chemical and electric cardiac rescussitation, and intubation; all despite the fact the he would likely not survive despite this intervention.

Ethan was given strict instructions to keep a close watch on Mr. Brooks, and was told the ICU team (Chris) was well aware of the patient and the situation. The patient was on Ethan's other floor, M5. It sounded like the other resident had not laid eyes on the patient in a few hours, but re-assured Ethan that everything was okay.

[XianTheCoder]

The intern, an short and stout Egyptian man by the name of Salem seems burned out from the days activities, and rushes through the sign out, trying to get out of the hospital.
After taking the sign-out from Salem, Ethan can't help but lose respect for the intern, So blatantly showing his mental weakness...


Per the sign out, there is apparently a very sick man, Mr. Brooks, 94 year old man with stage 5 heart failure, COPD, who presented with an aspiration pneumonia secondary to recent undiagnosed stroke. The patient was well enough to be kept on a medicine floor, rather than the MICU, but was tenuous, and worst of all was adamant about being full code. This meant that if the man started to crash, they would have to do everything in their power to intervene, including CPR, chemical and electric cardiac rescussitation, and intubation; all despite the fact the he would likely not survive despite this intervention.

Ethan was given strict instructions to keep a close watch on Mr. Brooks, and was told the ICU team (Chris) was well aware of the patient and the situation. The patient was on Ethan's other floor, M5. It sounded like the other resident had not laid eyes on the patient in a few hours, but re-assured Ethan that everything was okay.
This new patient sounded a lot like a babysitting job for a kid that you knew was going to be a troublemaker, still, Ethan couldn't help but respect the patient's desire to remain alive... if only Mr. King had that same will to live. Good thing I was so productive last shift, because I might not be able to wander as much tonight with this patient. Ethan decides he should make this patient his first official stop of the night, and once he's settled in and caught up, he makes his way over to the patients room.

[Bennosuke]

After briefly rounding through his patient lists, Ethan makes his way up to M5, to visit Mr. Brooks. He mulled over the rest of his list, and couldn't help but be thankful that he did not have more sick patients. If he had the Heme/Onc floor on top of his current teams, he would have been up for a rough night. Still, Ethan's mind wondered to the events of the prior night, his head still clouded by all the strange things that he had seen.

Stepping out of the elevator, Ethan's phone vibrated, alerting him to a text message from none other than Stella. "Heya cutie, are you on tonight?", it read.

M5 was relatively quiet. The young intern made his way to Mr. Brooks' room, M516. The patient was an elderly man, with little hair left on his head. He had a gaunt face, with sunken eyes and evidence of malnutrition, referred to by physicians as temporal wasting. A nasal cannula was shoved in his nose, blowing at well above the recommended 2L. His breaths were labored, and there were audible wheezes and crackles that could be heard without a stethoscope. He was hooked up to a monitor, which showed that he was tachycardic, that he was in A-fib (his atria were not contracting properly leading to an irregular heart rhythm; probalby his norm), and that his oxygen saturation was just barely above 92%. Any lower and he would need more aggressive management.

The man looked up at Ethan with surprisingly aware eyes, and he coughed twice before saying, "Doctor, how are you this evening?"

[baerun]

In contrast, the Pediatric Surgical unit had large painted metal swinging doors, preventing Hank from being able to see inside. Hank would have to swipe his ID card to get into either unit. The lights in the hallway flickered on and off, making him slightly anxious to get on with his work.

Hank decides to go to surgery wing first, inclined to get that area up and running in case an emergency surgery came up. He takes off his badge and swipes it, replacing it around his neck before pushing the cart through the doors.

At the first nurses station, Hank stops briefly, grabbing the attention of the head nurse. "Excuse me Ma'am, I believe the day staff may have sent word ahead, but in case they didn't, I am here to install Wi-Fi. This is part of a hospital wide effort to improve patient care. Is there anywhere specific you'd like me to start first?"

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan Roberts (http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/46135)
Integrity: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Conditions: Shaken
Tilts:
Beats: 5

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't


1. Gift for Becca
2. Stella investigating Shah?
3. Johnny and the security footage
4. Research Sarah
5. Research Myles Sharp







ATTRIBUTES






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL



POWER
Intelligence:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Strength:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Presence:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️


FINESSE
Wits:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Dexterity:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Manipulation:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️


RESISTANCE
Resolve:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Stamina:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Composure:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️







SKILLS






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL




Academics:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Athletics:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Animal Ken:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Computer:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Brawl:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Empathy:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Craft:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Drive:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Expression:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Investigation:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Firearms:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Intimidation:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Medicine:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Larceny:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Persuasion:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Occult:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Stealth:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Socialize:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️




Politics:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Survival:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Streetwise:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Science:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Weaponry:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Subterfuge:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️





Stepping out of the elevator, Ethan's phone vibrated, alerting him to a text message from none other than Stella. "Heya cutie, are you on tonight?", it read.
Ethan looks down at his phone, She really is aggressive. Ethan weighs the situation in his mind. On one hand, Ethan knew that he needed to play things carefully and not create a paper trail that could be used against him later, but on the other hand Stella would eventually grow annoyed at his lack of responses... he wasn't always going to have a foot injury to he could blame for his unresponsiveness... and tonight he was going to be more chained to the floor than normal, thus unlikely able to avoid Stella. Deciding on his course of action, Ethan types a response [Yup, with a patient now. You need me?]


Ethan is choosing to respond, giving a short vague text that he could easily defend as "work related" if Stella ever tries using it against him.



The man looked up at Ethan with surprisingly aware eyes, and he coughed twice before saying, "Doctor, how are you this evening?"
Ethan smiles as he steps into the room, genuinely pleased that the patient seems to be cordial and pleasant thus far, My evening is off to a good start, thanks for asking. I'm Dr. Ethan Roberts, I'll be your overnight doctor. How are you feeling?

[Bennosuke]

The Pediatric Surgery floor is a relatively well lit series of hallways with large patient rooms, divided between three patients. Families huddle around patient beds, with each unit separated by a drawn curtain. Mechanical clicks and beeps provide a constant cacophany to the room.

Hank makes his way to the nearest nursing station and introduces himself to a 30 something nurse with shoulder height brown hair, and a forgettable bespectacled face. She smiles politely, and laughs, "I guess you should just set up in whatever way gives us the best connection." She smiles and shrugs at Hank, before turning back to her computer, leaving him to decide.

Hank gets to work, first perusing the floor for good locations to place routers, and by finding all the available Ether jacks. It takes a good 45 minutes to install and wire everything. He then goes about installing software onto the local computer server to allow for encryption of the network.

Lastly, Hank begins test running the network, but is frustrated to find that there seems to be a dead zone, directly at the main nurse's station!

Can I please have an Int + Computer roll for Hank's trouble shooting/problem solving of this anomaly

************************************

The elderly gentleman shakes Ethan's hand with a dry and wasted grip. "Oh, I've been better", he says with a laugh choked with mucus. The laugh is then followed by a short coughing fit, turning the emancipated man red in the face. "Excuse me," he says, "how are you doing Dr. Roberts?"

Ethan's phone vibrates, alerting him to another text.

[baerun]

Health:8
Willpower:5
Beats/Experience: 0
Aspirations:
Successfully 'upgrade' or 'enhance' a working system with unauthorized improvements
Get first paycheck
Make a friend at work




Just my luck, first stop of the night, already found a dead zone. Hank pulls out his phone and his laptop and begins diagnosing what could be the cause of the dead zone. He starts by thinking of the obvious possibilities like interference of other wireless devices and works his way through troubleshooting, down to determining whether the nurses station is painted with lead paint. Would be odd in a pedi department for there to be lead paint.

[roll0]

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan Roberts (http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/46135)
Integrity: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Willpower: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
Health: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️
Conditions: Shaken
Tilts:
Beats: 5

1. Manipulate Chris into breaking his moral code, disappointing his family, or engage in an action that would be considered unprofessional while on the clock.
2. Convince a patient to disclose something they haven't told another doctor
3. Seduce an admin/receptionists/nurse/or similar into giving up information that they shouldn't


1. Gift for Becca
2. Stella investigating Shah?
3. Johnny and the security footage
4. Research Sarah
5. Research Myles Sharp







ATTRIBUTES






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL



POWER
Intelligence:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Strength:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Presence:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️


FINESSE
Wits:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Dexterity:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Manipulation:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️


RESISTANCE
Resolve:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️
Stamina:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Composure:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️







SKILLS






MENTAL

PHYSICAL

SOCIAL




Academics:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Athletics:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Animal Ken:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Computer:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Brawl:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Empathy:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Craft:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Drive:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Expression:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Investigation:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Firearms:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Intimidation:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Medicine:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Larceny:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Persuasion:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️



Occult:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Stealth:
⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Socialize:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️




Politics:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Survival:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Streetwise:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️



Science:
⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Weaponry:
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️
Subterfuge:
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️






The elderly gentleman shakes Ethan's hand with a dry and wasted grip. "Oh, I've been better", he says with a laugh choked with mucus. The laugh is then followed by a short coughing fit, turning the emancipated man red in the face. "Excuse me," he says, "how are you doing Dr. Roberts?"
Oh, I'm good. Ethan will proceed to do whatever doctors do in this situation: take some vitals, read the chart, look at the machines, etc. So I really don't like that cough and the wheezing, how long has that been going on?


I assume most of the information Ethan needs will be in the chart, so Ethan's real goal here is to just get the patient comfortable and talking with him.



Ethan's phone vibrates, alerting him to another text.
Ethan would apologize to Mr. Brooks and glance at it quickly to make sure there wasn't an emergency.

[Bennosuke]

Mr. Brooks gives another throaty chuckle to Ethan, and says, "Oh, for about the last 15 years." He grabs a tissue and coughs up a sticky plug of green phlegm, "Though I guess the pneumonia is new."

Though I gave you plenty of info, we can have Ethan make a Int+ Med roll to see if he can pick up on anything with a more thorough physical exam

The text message is from Stella, of course.

******************************************

Hank runs a quick diagnostic, but is frustrated to see that everything has been installed properly. The router nearest to the nurse's station is working, and should have adequate "reach". Nothing comes immediately to his mind as to what could be causing this or what to do to fix it, other than upgrade the router, and he didn't have the parts for that tonight.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan cracks a smile, more for show than from any feelings of actual mirth, That's a long time. have you been a smoker? Ethan will make it a point to check Mr. Brooks lungs and see how they sound.

Ethan ignores the text message for the moment... he can reasonably guess what it says.


Int+Medicine: [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Now your rolls are on fire
The man smiles and nods. "I was for about 40 years. A pack per day", he says.

Ethan auscultates Mr. Brooks' lungs, having the man lean forward so that he can listen from the back. Both lung bases have consolidated where there are no breath sounds, consistent with aspiration pneumonia. The rest of the lung fields sound very very wet to Ethan. Listening to the chest, Ethan can tell that Mr. Brooks does indeed have a-fib, as well as a failure of the mitral valve, very common in a man with this much heart disease. Examining the man's legs show that there is swelling all the way up to his knees, consistent with marked fluid overload in heart failure.

The man is on an IV drip for Antibiotics, and his blood pressure appears stable, however, Ethan wonders if diuresing the man may help him breathe a little easier, by removing some of the fluid from his lungs; assuming his pressure would hold. Ethan would have to take a look in the chart and see what heart failure Meds the man is taking, and how they have been affecting his blood pressure.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan shakes his head, 40 Years? You should consider yourself lucky. Strong genes you must have. Ethan will make a few notes and then make a few adjustments to the patient before prepare to continue his rounds. I'll be back to check in on you and that cough a bit later. If you need anything buzz the nurse and she'll track me down. If nothing conspires to stop him from leaving, then Ethan will give a friendly farewell to Mr. Brooks before exiting the room to perform the rest of his round.

Once outside the room, Ethan will check the text message from Stella.


Ethan plans on completing his round and then trying to find Johnny to check on the status of the video surveillance (which I assume Ethan will now need to find "another" person to help him with the video... perhaps someone techie...).

Intentions for later in the evening include research into Sarah and the reporter.

[baerun]

Hank runs a quick diagnostic, but is frustrated to see that everything has been installed properly. The router nearest to the nurse's station is working, and should have adequate "reach". Nothing comes immediately to his mind as to what could be causing this or what to do to fix it, other than upgrade the router, and he didn't have the parts for that tonight.

Frustratated, Hank connects to the routers closest to the nurses station and begins changing the configuration and frequencies that the signal broadcasts on, attempting to enhance the signal strength and minimize any interference from other devices in the area. If my whole night goes like this, I might not even get done with the 5th floor. Old buildings always have their share of issues with new technologies.




Not sure if this would fall under hacking, programming using computer or jury rigging using crafts skill?
[roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Just to try it, Hank tries playing with the wiring, changing which cable connects to the nursing station router. It takes about twenty minutes to do, and after words he steps back to the spot he had been in before at one of the nurses station computers.

He opens up his cellphone and accesses the server. His phone loads, and loads, and gets... one bar of reception. He shrugs, and tries loading up Valiant on his phone, only for the phone to lose Wifi reception. Hank walks back and forth through the nursing station, and is unable to re-obtain even that one bar!

Now more frustrated than before, Hank wonders if he would have better success with a more powerful router.

I would call it a Wits (problem solving) and computer (they include working with hardware in the rule book) roll. That would be four dice, and one success. Unfortunately, Hank is combating forces greater than a router here :smalltongue:

*************************************

Mr. Brooks shakes Ethan's hand one last time as he steps out of the patient's room. He pulls out his cellphone and opens Stella's text. It read, "I've needed you all weekend ;). Even if it's just to say hi, can I see you tonight?"

Before responding to this, Ethan gets a pinged text from none other than Johnny, this reads, "Hey Dr. Roberts. So I busted my butt all weekend and am working in the video room tonight. I've figured out how to work everything, and seen video footage from that night. I don't know what to say, you have to read this!"

I saw your OOC bubble about Ethan and Hank meeting up, this will happen soon enough, but not just yet.

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan will ignore the text from Stella for the time being, he already told her that he was with a patient so he was going to milk it as long as possible. Upon receiving the message from Johnny, Ethan grows very excited and responds immediately, [Coming down now.]. Ethan will do his best to slip away unnoticed to the security room.

[Bennosuke]

Ethan makes his way up to the security booth that he and Johnny had tried to sneak into the week prior. He knocks on the door, half expecting the rather ornery security officer, Francis, to open it, but he is relieved to see Johnny peaking around the frame. The young security officer has a look of mixed excitement and terror; his eyes wide and his hands fidgeting erratically.

"Come in," he says, "you've gotta see this." The two sit down and Johnny begins hitting a number of buttons, before pulling up on the main monitor what must be footage from the previously identified security camera that looked into Mr. King's room.

In the video, Mr. King could be seen sitting in his bed, his back to the camera, talking on his cellphone. Over the course of about a minute, the man's gestures become more and more erratic. As if struck by an idea, he stands bolt upright, removing the phone from his ear so that he can talk into with the device held in front of his face. He starts to turn, so that the side of his face can be seen, and there are what appear to be tears wetting his cheek. "This is it man!" Johnny says.

Mr. King turns back and sits back down on his bed, as if in defeat, but as he does a woman begins to walk onto screen from the bottom of the camera's view. As she comes onscreen, Ethan can see that she has long brown hair, and is wearing a patient gown. While there is no sound, she must have said something, because Mr. King again stands bolt upright, and turns. As he does the bed sheets go flying, Mr. King gets tangled and falls, knocking over his nightstand.

The woman advances on Mr. King, who begins crawling on his back away from her. As she starts to round the bed, you can see clumps of her brown hair, falling to the ground. She raises her right arm towards Mr. King, and Ethan can see dark bruises, and open wounds spidering across the yellowed skin.

Mr. King reaches the far wall, by the window, and stands, just as she starts to grab him. He pushes her away and then dives head first out the closed glass window. Silvery fragments splash everywhere as Mr. King's body disappears through the window. The woman turns towards the camera, as if looking directly at Ethan. Her lips are shriveled and pulled back from white crooked teeth and bleeding gums. Her eyes are round and bloodshot. She begins to open her mouth, as if to scream, but then seems to dissolve into a cloud of nothingness.

The video leaves an unmoving shot of Mr. King's room. The only evidence that it is not a photo, is the timer in the bottom left of the monitor, counting up the seconds. Johnny turns to Ethan, as if to say 'what do you think', but says nothing.

Lets have a breaking point. Resolve + composure +1 for base morality score, -2 for witnessing video of the supernatural with a murder (could give more but since it's on video and the end result was known), and another -1 for still having the shaken condition. If you feel this is unfair, I am happy to discuss. The above roll would be 3d10

[XianTheCoder]

Ethan stares at the screen as if frozen, not even noticing Johnny turning to face him. WTF?!? She's right... Mamma Fontaine is right... It takes a long time before Ethan finally turns to Johnny, What the **** was that and how has no one seen this yet? Ethan turns back to the screen just staring for another long minute. I talked to Mamma Fontaine. She told me the ghosts of the dead walk these halls and Mr. King was in the same room as a known ghost of a former patient named Sarah who met an untimely death. Yesterday I found an article claiming this hospital is the 'gateway to hell'. Ethan turns towards Johnny, looking dumfounded and terrified.